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I thought EA had really improved with NASCAR 2002, but this is much better. Due to that, I had to go back and edit my rating for 2002 (5 to 4 stars). This is truly the best NASCAR game ever made. EA took all that was right from the 2002 version and made it tremendously better. You still race 43 cars at a time (1 player), you still get to upgrade your equipment, you still get to work out sponsorship deals, etc. However, now you get to to do R&D, hire your own crew and builders, and build your own engine and chassis. Not only those improvements but also better physics, more realistic racing action, fantasy tracks, and the best new addition- Lightning Challenges. In these, you actually get to recreate exciting moments that real NASCAR drivers experienced, such as taking over for DE Jr. on the last 2 laps at Talledega.

Gameplay: 9.5
If you like NASCAR and racing games, then this is the one. Get yourself an excellent steering wheel controller and it is that much better. Career mode is the tops: sponsors- and keeping them happy, hiring your own team and keeping them motivated by finishing well, and building new cars (including the engine and chassis). Also: unlocking fantasy courses and legend drivers, getting used to the tracks through Thunder Plates, and the Lightning Challenges. Also excellent multiplayer mode as well.

Replay: 9
Once you are ensconced in career mode and you have got yourself a steering wheel, you will keep coming back for more... and more. Excellent game.

Where to start? This is easily the best racing game I've played for the xbox. One of the primary reasons is because before this the best was NT 2002, and this easily tops that.

The game has been stepped up so much, it has a lot more replay value than NT 2002. There are "Thunder Plates" which are similar to "Madden Cards" if you play any of the newer Madden games. You may not be buying them, but they do the same thing, just attained differently. More to add, they have a Lightning Challenges where you can relive great nascar moments to earn more thunder plates. There's a Thunder License mode where you can get what is basically a practice mode. Last of the new things (that i've found so far), there's more then one song on it, and it's the first EA Sports game (that i've played) that will let you use the songs saved on your xbox.

It's still got the Quick Race, Season, Career, Create a Car modes that are the same as they were last year. Career may have newer options to change to fix your car, i havn't gotten that far yet. But there's plenty of new things that add a lot to the replayability that made people tire of NT 2002. EA fixed that and added.

To shorten it up, if you liked NT 2002, or have ever like a Nascar game in the past, or any other racing game, buy it immediatly.

Don't buy Thunder. It's not a bad game, just that you can better spend your money on NASCAR HEAT: Dirt to Daytona. Thunder only offers stock car racing whereas Heat offers *4* games in 1: Dirt/Go-Kart(modifieds)/Truck/and Stock Car and therefore Heat offers a lot more variety and fun! Buy NASCAR HEAT: Dirt to Daytona instead.