It’s a sunny afternoon in 1990, superb for some quality NES gaming. RetroGamer84 and GamerFan settle into comfortable spots in the living room, surrounded by a stack of game magazines and a couple bags of chips. Today’s undertaking: Days of Thunder. The cartridge is inserted, and the familiar hum of the NES powers up.
Alright, here we go with Days of Thunder. Hopefully, this isn’t another LJN-style experience. Remember how…interesting, Back to the Future was?
Yes, let’s say interestingly bad. So, we get to be Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, right?
Yeah, something like that. It’s less about the movie and more about NASCAR itself. We will pretend we’re in the great Daytona 500.
The game boots up, and they are soon met with a pixelated rendition of the Days of Thunder logo.
I read somewhere that Mindscape developed this game. The same minds who brought us Paperboy. Let’s hope this one steers better!
Hold on, I’m legit reading the manual here. So, we have to race on these eight oval tracks and manage our pit stops. Should be easy enough.
They start with the qualifying round, steering a car that probably closely resembles a brick on wheels.
Is it just me, or does steering this car feel like swimming through molasses?
It’s like this game’s designer thought we all had the reflexes of a snail. I mean, Cole Trickle might’ve needed to pit for steering fluid in real life, but this is something else entirely!
Where’s our pit crew when we need them? Oh wait, here’s the pit stop.
They reach the pit stop and enter the mini-game to manage the five-member pit crew.
Alright, we’re controlling the pit crew. It’s like playing an annoying game of Whack-a-Mole. Only, it’s less fun and there’s no carnival music.
I do like the mini-game idea though. It spices things up a bit, but why don’t the other racers need pit stops? Are their cars powered by video game magic?
Once they finish the pit stop mini-game, they resume racing but discover they’ve lost positions exponentially.
Let’s just call it unfair advantage.
Nintendo Power called this ‘the ultimate simulation racing game.’ I think ultimate might have another definition, like the ‘ultimate endurance test’.
It wouldn’t be such a bumpy ride if it weren’t for the controls. I’d take the simplicity of Excitebike over this janky wheel any day.
Finally, with perseverance and a bit of luck, they find themselves nearing the end of the game.
WARNING – SPOILERS AHEAD
So we made it to the final race. This better have a phenomenal ending. I mean, we’ve earned it.
Here it is! The last race against Russ Wheeler. The rival with a name as generic as the entire driving experience.
Post-race, the reward for their hard work? A brief, uniform ending screen with minimal fanfare.
Well, that was anticlimactic. No grand speeches, no spectacular closing scenes. Just…thanks for racing.
Controlled like a tank, with the charisma of one. This game will definitely be memorable for challenging reasons, if nothing else. I guess Tom Cruise can stick to jets; cars might not be his speed.
I agree. Between the walls and the pit stop shenanigans, I think we’ll remember this for its quirks more than its quality. But that’s the beauty of these old games, right? You never know what you’ll get!
Days of Thunder
Absolutely. If anyone’s daring enough to pick this game up, here’s a tip: use lighter taps on steering and pay attention to your tire wear. Stay patient during pit stops; speed counts.
And one more thing, maybe keep a sense of humor handy. It’s a bumpy ride, after all.
They turn off the NES, ready to dive into the next adventure with another game, but certainly with a few good laughs from this wild NASCAR ‘simulation’ of 1990.
Fun Fact: Mindscape was certainly a busy place in 1990. While this game was taking on ‘thunderous’ criticism, they were also developing and porting Maniac Mansion, a classic in its own right. Talk about varied projects!
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