Days of Thunder (2011 video game)

Days Of Thunder Arcade is a Daytona Arcade Racing video Game produced by Paramount Digital Entertainment and developed by Piranha Games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in February of 2011 and is a NASCAR’s spin-off of the 1990 film in which the player is a rookie driver coached by Rowdy Burns, the antagonist from the film. The game received very little critical feedback; those that did review the game had generally negative commentary. Reviewers felt that the cars handled unrealistically, but one reviewer noted that some issues could be fixed with a patch. Days of Thunder: Arcade was delisted from Xbox 360 in early July of 2013 according to reporting from TrueAchievements.com. It was likely delisted from PlayStation 3 (as Days of Thunder: NASCAR Edition) and PlayStation Portable (as Days of Thunder minis) around this same timeframe.

The games were not well received and could have been delisted due to low sales. However, given the timing alongside the delisting of The War of the Worlds, also published by Paramount Digital, it seems likely that the publisher’s transition away from console releases was the cause.

Both Days of Thunder: Arcade and Days of Thunder minis are extinct, and according to forum discussion in 2015, it may be impossible to re-download them even if they had been previously purchased. The only version that may be obtainable is Days of Thunder: NASCAR Edition on PlayStation 3 which was included in a retail Blu-ray combo pack along with the original 1990 movie.

Gameplay
The PlayStation 3 version of the game includes 12 NASCAR sanctioned tracks, among them Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, and more than 12 select NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, including Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart. All versions feature the Days of Thunder characters Cole Trickle, Rowdy Burns, and Russ Wheeler. The Xbox 360 version does not feature NASCAR branding or drivers, but still features fictional drivers from the film.

Both versions feature a single player season and multiplayer support for up to twelve players. Days of Thunder has four different game modes: Quick Race, Time Trial, Career, with circuits of varying difficulty, and Derby Mode, where players are encouraged to deal as much damage as they can.Three basic vehicle types are available in the game: Accelerators are lighter cars with increased speed but are more susceptible to damage; Intimidators are heavier and more capable of handling damage, but have a lower top speed; and Regulators have a medium weight, medium top speed, and have average damage resistance.

Sponsorships with racing teams can be earned by playing through the game and completing challenges. When a sponsor is earned a new paint livery is unlocked for the player to customize their stock car with. Players can have up to five different saved cars, and each car can feature a different paint scheme and sponsorship. The sponsorship benefits are cosmetic only. Matthew Newman, Producer at Piranha Games stated that the game "is not a simulation, we chose to let the player unlock all the sponsors and race for whichever sponsor they choose in single player and multi player".