NASCAR HEAT 2002 : One Name, Two Games (Retrospective)

[@inthere2it]

I've been playing NASCAR HEAT 2002 on PS2 for so long at this point, I literally had no idea that the xbox version was different at all, let alone miles better. I will definitely have to pick up a copy of the xbox version after seeing this. Thanks for letting us know.

[@mbgmadbull1141]

So often people forget that the original xbox was just a PC before being chopped up and changed into a smaller package. And with that better hardware you could have a 43 car field.

[@harleyowen91]

One thing that seems to be constantly overlooked in the Xbox version of Heat 2002 was a very unique camera when driving, the Chasis cam. I used that camera all the time when I was playing and it was so cool to be able to not only tell exactly where your tires were but to watch how the suspension was moving through the turns.

[@Nickearl1]

I think the ps2 version had that cam too

[@mikegood25]

it didn't@@Nickearl1

[@7ine]

@mikegood25 it definitely did, i used to play it a lot

[@kevincorbat7084]

What's wild is that heat 2002 on Xbox was the basis for dirt to Daytona, but yet dirt to Daytona did not release on Xbox. Such a strange thing

[@3DWorldMan]

and neither game was on the gamecube yet dirt to daytona was

[@califaern3sto]

Dirt to daytona is better on the gamecube because it runs in 480p with component cables, unlike ps2 with component cables only does 480i

[@TheBusterZX]

The Xbox version was what I grew up with and I still sometimes play it to this day. Also there's 2 more details that version had: In multiplayer the fictional cars are removed (probably fps reasons) and there are also cheats that you can use to get wireframe cars, mini cars, hardcore mode and big snowballs (my favorite one) to throw at other drivers.

[@derekthompson1653]

The original PS2 controller had pressure-sensitive buttons instead of analog triggers, so you could fully control the throttle and brake when played on original hardware. When emulated, you can remap the gas and brake buttons to your modern controller's triggers. Great video! I had no idea these two versions were so different.

[@metallicarabbit]

i was about to say this also, its funny how often people forget/didnt know this

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

If Dirt to Daytona is anything to go by, it is even better with a full wheel. Though sadly the game has the same issue as a lot of early PS2 racers and doesn't recognize the shift lever on my Driving Force GT, so I have to use the paddles, but it's still fun.

[@FOXeye95]

​@@scottthewaterwarriorwait dirt to Daytona works with dfgt? Any other nascar game that works fine with it? I know pcsx2 has a plug-in for it that works fine on GT4 and TXR

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

@@FOXeye95 Yes, though it only supports 180 digree rotation, not the full 900, and like I said previously, it doesn't recognize the shift knob. You also want to make sure you turn the in-game deadzone down to zero. This is all on origonal hardware, so IDK how hard it is to get it to work on an emulator. And Dirt to Daytona is the only NASCAR game I have, so IDK how well it works for others.

[@FOXeye95]

I have an old 180 wheel around that should be perfect then @@scottthewaterwarrior

[@brandonkeith628]

Never knew about the Xbox version till today. Too bad I don’t have an Xbox! The PS2 version was DEFINITELY rushed. There are several things in it that make it seem like a joke compared to Dirt To Daytona. The PS2 version is clearly NOT meant to be an arcade style game, but it seems to be that way anyhow. 24 cars per race, same number as NASCAR 98 and 99 on the PS1. Lots of content missing, plus, like you said, very low detail on the cars, and to top if all off, as shown at 2:43, Kurt Busch’s #97 Ford is unsponsored. Plain. Bone White. No Rubbermaid. No Sharpie. Not even his name is on the car! If they couldn’t put his sponsors on, they should have just put his name on the car like they do for the drivers of the beer cars!

[@jonathanpool7092]

Loved the Xbox version! The wrecks were fun and going backwards was epic on talladega.

[@MarkOliveras215]

I totally agree with the Scott Wimmer guy. I would LOVE to see a Dolphin Emulated Version of the Xbox Version with all 43 cars being real including a texture that puts Dale Earnhardt Sr into the game as a playable driver despite his passing in that season’s Daytona 500. Rumor has it there’s a good chance you can also insert him back into Thunder 02 on the PS2/Xbox Versions the same way as a NASCAR KZbinr named @TheKingOfRockNRoll is working on/uploading that kind of content for these older NASCAR Games in general! Great video my man! Stuff like this is exactly why I subbed to you to begin with! Keep this up!

[@dgoodin24]

Thank you Mark!

[@MarkOliveras215]

@@dgoodin24 Ofc! Definitely will start Binge Watching your NASCAR LPs/Career Modes soon even if I am several months behind

[@swishdish720]

I had the PS2 version of this game and it's amazing seeing an Xbox version that I never knew about, and I mostly remember those cheat codes throwing tires at the opponent vehicles and the guy saying SLOW DOWN as I'm entering the pit stop lmaooooooo

[@dennisbowen452]

Underrated as hell, this is interesting

[@Beamer66]

Playing this for the 1st time on a modded xbox using a wheel the handling is fantastic! The AI cars are amazing, how can a game made 22 years ago have better AI than the games made recently.

[@ExtraWimmerTV]

I would love to see a Dolphin emulation with all 43 cars being real

[@WilhelmX666]

I remember playing the PS2 version with the analog sticks, since they were configured like that by default. Deffinitely beats using buttons. Also the handling felt "stiff" because there was a setting aiding handling. Switching it off made the cars instanlty looser. Was an "incomplete" game, but I do remember it being fun, fun enough until Dirt to Daytona launched... that one, one of the best nascar racing games ever.

[@ShoelessJP]

Good video bud, I never knew there was two games with the same name. I also can tell how much you're working on your delivery and presentation for the videos, it shows with your improvement.

[@Justin-no1od]

I remember my friend and I being so confused at why they were so different. He had the ps2 copy, I have the Xbox copy. Still play every now and then, it’s a great game.

[@ceriousgaming6392]

One thing I'd like to point out that is an issue for emulation on ps2; the ps2 controller had analog face buttons. Which was the dumbest feature anyone could ever think of, and made some games unplayable if you had an off brand controller, or just a broken one. But even some games didn't take advantage of this, and I think this game was one of them.

[@PaperBanjo64]

Personally I HATE the analog buttons...and no analog triggers!? Come on Sony! By 2000 Sega had the 3D controller for Saturn and the Dreamcast controller, both featuring analog triggers...I realize you could use the right analog stick but that feels so stiff in comparison.

[@Nickearl1]

I only had the PlayStation version, my friends had the Xbox version and I had no idea we were playing two different games until I’ve seen this. I preferred dirt to Daytona because heat and heat 2002 were essentially the same on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 :/

[@hamlinman1170]

Also on the Xbox version, if you pick Kevin Harvick and go to Charlotte the paint scheme is the AOL car from the Winston

[@PaperBanjo64]

Sterling Marlin drives a Brooks and Dunn car at that same race.

[@WookieDrives]

Look at baby Kenseth and his acne

[@davidg1612]

There's a Wolfenstein game that was the exact same game on PS2 and Xbox but had different subtitles. I've had the PS2 one since release day. I saw the Xbox game at a used store one day about a decade ago, and I thought I'd grab it. Got home and got halfway through the first level before I realized it was the exact same as what I had on PS2.

[@DuddleBug5]

There was also a NASCAR heat 2002 game boy advance version released

[@dgoodin24]

Oh I’m getting to it 😉

[@DuddleBug5]

@@dgoodin24ok 👍

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

The XBox version of games was often better then the PS2 version, though usually the difference was just slightly better graphically. The other weird one I know of is Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2, where they PS2 version had both superior graphics and gameplay.

[@tugw9125]

F1 2001 is the same case. The PS2 version is nicer. I believe it was developed by the same team that did NFS-HP2.

[@PaperBanjo64]

Usually XBOX is cheaper too.

[@califaern3sto]

Because the ps2 version was made by black box and GC-XB versions by ea arts Canada or redwood

[@bungieman2810]

For the PS2 version, the car models look fine, but it's the super crusty textures that bring them down. Weird considering the promo renders for the game show much better textures.

[@Thatsmashguy27]

So nobody's gonna mention on how on the ps2 version, Kenny's car has a strange yellow hue to it

[@Nickearl1]

Or Steve parks one was pixelated and not red Lol

[@breadperez]

dope video dylan

[@blindsportslover]

What's the difference then between this game and NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona?

[@PaperBanjo64]

It looks like Dirt to Daytona minus dirt cars, modifieds and trucks, just a 2001 Winston Cup roster, albeit not a complete roster.

[@califaern3sto]

​@@PaperBanjo64dirt to daytona is 2 years newer

[@hajimoses1548]

I don’t know one person that likes that ghostbusters movie

[@81casperflip]

On the ps2 version there's a graphic error where the right rear wheel is like inside out. It's conical shaped instead of having the center sunk in. Always bothered me

[@Hsw_wrestling]

There is also a port of this game on the gameboy advance as well . I used to own it and I plan on buying it again. It’s nothing to write home about but I’m just shocked it exist.

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

If your looking for NASCAR GameBoy games, I'd actually recommend either Days of Thunder or Bill Elliott's NASCAR Fast Tracks for the original GameBoy instead. Days of Thunder looks the best, though sadly is a little too easy once you get the hang of it. Bill Elliott's on the other hand, has terrible screen tearing issues, but actually attempts a full on simulator experience, or as close to it as the OG GameBoy could manage. Damage and tire wear effect performance, you can tune the car for different tracks, even has some pit strategy with caution flags being a thing and the ability to take fuel only or just 2 tires. Still kinda sad that the OG GameBoy NASCAR games blow both the GBC and GBA ones out of the water, but they do.

[@PaperBanjo64]

There were no manufacturer logos but they had the actual shapes, and at least in Dirt to Daytona the trucks look like the real trucks unlike EA's generic no manufacturer trucks.

[@Thrashifice]

Frig, I remember playing in a league on NR 2002 as a kid using keyboard for steering. I wasn't very liked lmao....

[@evanwilliams6406]

WTF? Earnhardt is in this game in Beat the Heat. I wish he was unlockable.

[@Z64sports]

If I remember correctly I think I rented the PS2 one from Blockbuster and then bought the Xbox one

[@PaperBanjo64]

Why the hell wasn't Dirt to Daytona on the XBOX!?

[@califaern3sto]

Ikr its a crime! I got the gamecube version because unlike the ps2 version, it runs in 480p

[@PaperBanjo64]

@califaern3sto better controls too with analog triggers, also most GameCube and XBOX games run in 480p whereas the vast majority of PS2 games are 480i only.

[@califaern3sto]

@polycube868 yea. But tbh ps2 games do look better using quality component cables even in 480i. Can't go back to composite anymore, lowest quality id go is s video

[@PaperBanjo64]

@@califaern3sto S video is pretty good on a PS2, but composite woo boy that looks really bad unless you bump the sharpness up to about half.

[@jacekatalakis8316]

Huh, I didn't know there was an Xbox version. There was the GBA version, too. So make that three with the same name, which was surprisingly good for what it was. Isometric racer on a handheld? Sure, it works, it's pretty good or what it was, because....the GBA can't really do 3D, only psuedo 3D

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

Big Mother Truckers would like to have a word with you about that... Though ironically enough, NASCAR GameBoy games actually got worse as time went on with the two best being on the origonal GB, the GBC having a lot of meh-bad games, then the GBA having only a single meh NASCAR title (if you don't count Thunder Alley, but we don't talk about that one).

[@coca-colatrackhousewarrior9925]

If only the PS2 had 43 cars as well as a GameCube version

[@roseyandyoshi3178]

There is no nascar heat for GameCube 😢

[@califaern3sto]

​@roseyandyoshi3178 but there is a dirt to daytona

[@awesomeeli8251]

Xbox version of nascar heat 2002 is better than the PlayStation version