PALGN: NASCAR 09 Review

PALGN writes: "Some games can be many things to many people. Quite often, a videogame will reach out, surpass all limitations and speak to a great number of people far beyond what may have initially been considered its target audience. In that case, let’s get one thing out of the way straight off the bat. NASCAR 09 is not that game. This is unequivocally a game designed for NASCAR fans, by NASCAR fans. It’s a game reared on the smell of petrol, or rather, gas, and it proudly acknowledges it. That’s not to say you won’t get any enjoyment out of it if you don’t like NASCAR, as it’s not completely diffident to the non-converted. However, and though it seems obvious, it is worthwhile noting it is inescapably about a very particular type of racing.

This somewhat obvious preamble is necessary, because in reviewing this game, we face a problem of sorts. NASCAR is perhaps a uniquely American phenomenon, or, at least, not an Australian one. And it’s probably fair to say that this game was made by those sharing a common dislike for right turns, while most petrolhead Australians will fancy turns in both directions, if you get our meaning. Our own personal challenge, then, is to review, from our Australian perspective, a profoundly American game for an Australian audience. Not so difficult, you say. And fair enough, too. Then again, how do you imagine one of our stateside brethren would fare reviewing an AFL title?"