Days of Thunder
REDISCOVER RETRO GAMING - CLASSIC 8-BIT NINTENDO NES
NINTENDO NES
Game Title:Days of Thunder
System:Nintendo NES
Players:1 Player
Genre:Racing
Developer(s):Beam Software
Release Date(s):1990
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Days of Thunder is a 1990 NASCAR racing simulation video game loosely based on the 1990 movie of the same name. The game utilized elements from the movie, using a movie license from Paramount Pictures for its graphical elements, plot, and music soundtrack.
You play the race car driver Cole Trickle and you enter the Daytona stock car racing championship. You only have one car and you must race up against strong opponents in your quest for glory.
You race each track twice. You first race by yourself in the qualifying round. The faster you go in this round, the higher your position on the grid in the actual race. The actual races consist of more laps involving 13 racers. You have several indicators for the status of your car. There is the fuel gauge that tells you how much fuel you have left. The other indicators are given in the car diagram. As you take damage, certain parts of your car go from green to yellow to pink to finally red. Your tires gradually wear down regardless of how you race, but the engine will get damaged from collisions. As that takes damage, you’ll be able to drive at gradually slower rates. If you run out of fuel, your race is instantly over. Inevitably, you’ll have to turn into the pit stop at some point during the race. The pits are indicated by the “pits” words along the side of the road. You have to slow down enough before entering the pits or else you’ll simply fly completely through and get kicked back onto the race track. If you do manage to make it around again and successfully pit, you’ll get control of your pit crew. The flashing crewman is the currently selected crewman. You can toggle between crewmen with “B” and “A” is your action button. To change tires, one crewman has to lift the one side of the car while another gets to change the tires. To fix the engine, the right side of the car has to be lifted and the crewman with the wrench is the one that goes under the car and fixes a whole engine with a simple wrench (wow is that ever talented!). The fuel is the easiest to replenish as you just have to select the crewman with the Jerry can and simply get him to the fuel tank to fill up. Once the car is on all four tires again, you can hit Start to continue racing. The totally fair part of the game is that all of your other opponents will also have to pit as wear and tear occurs in their vehicle. Just kidding. While you are pitted, you’ll get to see all of your opponents fly past you as your ranking gradually sinks down to 8th place. When you get back on the track, you’ll be so far behind your opponents, catching up is almost an impossible task, let alone getting a reasonable ranking. Meanwhile, your opponents don’t register any fuel loss or damage of any kind. Practically speaking, for most gamers, this means this game is pretty much impossible. Sure, at the beginning, you might be able to challenge first place for a while, but inevitably, you’ll have to pit which basically means you forfeit the race. You can’t complete any of the races without pitting because of the fuel alone as your gas mileage is non-existent. As you inevitably lose races, you’ll get angry telegrams from your sponsors who demand that you complete a time trial race within a certain amount of time. Each time you lose the races, the times gradually get tighter and tighter until you fail to beat the clock. At the point, the game is over!. And the Verdict is...
Overall, this is one of those games that is decent enough, but with a critically fatal flaw that makes it completely unplayable. That critical flaw revolves around your opponents not having to pit, rendering this game impossible for most players. As a result, its ruined the whole concept of the game. Shame!. |