NASCAR Heat Advance

24 cars are supposed to be on the track, but you rarely see more than three or four on the screen at once.  That's a far cry from the 20+ that were visible on the Xbox version.  Granted, this is the Game Boy Advance, a system that barely exceeds the power of the SNES.  But a NASCAR game without a lot of cars is disappointing.  NASCAR racing, this is not.  NASCAR Heat 2002 falls in line with Nintendo's old criteria for Game Boy games: it's something you'll want to play while waiting to do something else, not the other around.  And that's just what I did to keep myself occupied before going to see Star Wars on Wednesday night.

Unfortunately, it does not pass the time very quickly.  There were times when it felt like at least a half an hour had passed, but only 15 minutes had depleted.  So while NH2002 is a game worth playing while waiting, it won't necessarily make the time go by any faster.

Of the six game modes (Career, Single Race, Beat the Heat, Time Trial, Arcade and Multiplayer), only one of them has a major difference.  The Career and Arcade modes are far too similar, and Time Trial is only a timed version of Single Race.  These slight differences are more prevalent in the Xbox version, which has a much deeper Career mode.  I love it when games feature a lot of different modes, but only when they are significantly different.

It's impossible for me to recommend NASCAR Heat 2002 to everyone.  I can't recommend it to diehard racing fans because I am a diehard racing fan and I was disappointed by it.  However, my ten-year-old cousin is a diehard NASCAR fan and he likes it.  For that reason, I'd have to say that NH2002 is more suited for young GBA owners who love to watch a long race from start to finish.  If that doesn't bore you, then this game should satisfy your racing needs.  Personally I do not like real NASCAR racing, but I loved the Xbox and PS2 NASCAR games from Infogrames and Electronic Arts.  The GBA version is completely different from them.

Now that you've gotten all of the facts, hopefully you can decide whether or not this game is right for you.

Gameplay: 5.5
Like real NASCAR racing, NASCAR Heat spins you in circles.  The first few laps aren't so bad, but each track is (at least) ten laps long!  The game is too simple to keep you entertained throughout the entire race.  By the final lap of each course, I was begging for it to be over.  This is not an experience I looked forward to having again.

Graphics: 5 
NH2002's graphics are reminiscent of old NES games, featuring a small amount of colors and very little detail.

Sound: 6
For a portable system that uses cartridges, NH2002's sound is pretty good.

Difficulty: Medium
Learning the controls is easy, but mastering them is tough.  The computer-controlled opponents are not very easy to beat, making the game even more challenging.

Concept: 6
NH2002 is a little different from the other racers available for GBA, but it's not different enough to make it stand out from the crowd.

Multiplayer: 5
The multiplayer mode's fun can only last for so long.  If this were a graphically-intensive game, then maybe the multiple carts required would be excused.  But NH2002 is far behind everything else, including multiplayer GBA games that use only one cart (as opposed to four).  At $30 - $40 per copy, it just isn't worth it.

Overall: 5.5
NH2002 is one of those "rent first, buy later" kinds of games, especially if you have to spend your own money.  If Mommy or Daddy is paying the bill, then go for it!  Everyone likes free games.  But there is nothing worse than the feeling you get when you've spent every penny you have on a game that disappoints.