Video Games

By TRAVIS HARRIS and ADAM SHEPPARD
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 14, 2003

James Bond 007 Nightfire

• System: GameCube
• Company: Electronic Arts/Eurocom
• Price: $49.99
• Rating: T
• Grade: A-

Nightfire is the best 007 I have played. And no, Halle Berry is not in it.

The first thing you do is drive Bond's Aston Martin V12 Vanquish to save Dominique Paradis. The car shoots torpedoes and missiles and has a machine gun.

The multiplayer mode is a good feature that lets up to four players get in on the fun. My favorite weapon in multiplayer is the AT-420 sentinel, which lets you guide the missiles to your target. But you can't move until the missile is detonated.

The only thing that I didn't like is that it's too short. It has only 12 missions.

-- TRAVIS HARRIS, Times correspondent

NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona

• System: PlayStation 2
• Company: Infogrames
• Price: $49.99
• Rating: E
• Grade: B

Dirt to Daytona in an incredibly diverse racing game that has lots to offer. Not only does it include every NASCAR track, driver and car on the real circuit, but it also offers a variety of racing opportunities. You can go dirt racing on small tracks with cars that aren't very fast. You can take on the challenges of truck racing, which is quite different from regular Winston Cup events.

You also can choose among any of the actual NASCAR manufacturers. And you can accumulate career earnings, which enables you to upgrade cars and parts.

You can race against a friend in single races or keep your career stats as your work toward the NASCAR season championship. Everyone enters the game at the same level -- with little money and bad equipment -- and it's up to you to earn enough money to improve. It's challenging, but lots of fun. And it's cool to buy new cars and get new paint jobs.

-- ADAM SHEPPARD, Times correspondent

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