Game Two: NASCAR Unleashed (2011)

The National Association for Auto Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) is not to be underestimated as a crowd puller. For those who don’t know, NASCAR is a company that facilitates and promotes a brand of high profile stock car racing with many drivers that compete in specially made vehicles around a number of racetracks. Regarded as a superb spectator sport by its many fans, it’s unsurprising that the NASCAR brand has a long gaming history with a yearly release (or two) often being the done thing for many years.

Of all of the NASCAR games out there, NASCAR Unleashed is perhaps one of the more attention grabbing. Judging by the gameplay footage, it’s a speedy and accessible pick-up-and-play arcade racer for those who simply want a driving game that you can dip in and out of, even if you’re not a die-hard NASCAR fan. It’s not just the gameplay that seems pretty good; that exaggerated visual style has a charming lightness and zaniness to it, another reminder that this not-so-serious game is targeting audiences that want some driving fun without going overboard with complexities and an ultra realistic approach.

On individual games systems, software sales of NASCAR Unleashed may not seem huge. That said, a combined cross platform total of 600,000 does look better. Interestingly, the Wii and 3DS versions nearly doubled the sales numbers of what the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 achieved with their respective editions. This might have been because Nintendo consoles do particularly well with family friendly multi-platform titles (such as the Just Dance games).