Following a relatively brief promotion trail, the officially licenced NASCAR Arcade Rush is now available. It sees you driving fictional vehicles around exaggerated versions, or interpretations, of real-world tracks in a rival to the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Smurfs Kart and Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway.
Reminding us most of 2012’s F1 Race Stars, which took the form of motorsport and tried to appeal to a younger audience, Arcade Rush represents NASCAR’s push into further gaming areas, aiming to attract a more youthful fanbase.
The new title is developed by Team6 Games Studios and published by GameMill Entertainment, whose [CHECK] recent work includes last year’s NHRA Championship Drag Racing: Speed For All, two Street Outlaws games, Super Street: The Game and Taxi Chaos.
Jumps and nitro boosts are prevalent, alongside driver and car customisation. Venues include Talladega Superspeedway, Daytona International Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, although seemingly all they share with their counterparts are the names and a general trackside atmosphere.
There is a single-player career which is rather appropriately entitled NASCAR Cup Series, plus quick race and time trail modes. Local split-screen multiplayer is available, but not on the Nintendo Switch version, alongside 12-player online multiplayer.
NASCAR Arcade Rush is now available digitally for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and as a physical copy for PlayStation 5. It’s priced at £39.99/$49.99. For £10/$10 there’s the Project X version, with a futuristic flying car and customisation options.
