Ladies and gentlemen: Get your 2000$ car, paint it metallic something, put some OZ rims in it, a brand new carbon spoiler, some mean-looking bumpers, sexy vinyls, a brand new Turbo system and some bottles of N2O. We'll take a ride on some of the hottest rides, to the world of NFS: Underground...

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|                          Yokiharo's Review Four                          |

|          Need for Speed: Underground ™         |

|  Read this Review Listening to An Appropriate Song  |

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I'm not a tuning freak nor am I planning on tuning my car anytime in the future but let's face it: Customizing bought cars and upgrading them piece by piece in order to illegally race them in the mid of traffic is exciting, at least for the RPG gamer inside me. Honestly, I prefer the opportunity of using "real-life" casual customizable cars in a game instead of billion dollars exotic supercars.

This was the first step in what I consider the best times on the Need for Speed series. Underground was awesome, Underground 2 was an overall improvement of a great formula, Most Wanted was amazing but not as much, with limited customizable options and the fact that you're always racing during daylight and never during the night is kind of stupid. After that, it was Rock n Roll all the way downhill baby! - With some games worse than others but overall plain BAD.

I miss playing it these days, even with all the latest games. Actually, I'm still waiting for a NFSU3 to miraculously come and save the NFS series. Apparently, only the devs are unaware of this logical, easy lifesaver solution for the series, with most of the NFS community asking for a NFSU3 for a long time now and no answers at all from their side.

Even though NFSU2 beats the first one in pretty much everything, I believe NFSU deserves a review of its own:

Storyline is pretty much NULL, but who needs a storyline when all you're looking for is to race your customized cars at super high speed? The game begins with a nice cut-scene and everything else is pretty much challenges thrown at you (race requests, kinda), where you get money and unlock some pretty nice stuff. That's how you progress in the game.

Graphics were jaw-dropping, even if I only had a MX440 at the time. At a friend's PC it looked totally WOW - with crowd, blur and stuff like that!

NFSU also had awesome Sound, with adrenaline-filled songs (hip-hop, techno and rock genres) and pretty impressive sound effects. I liked the sound so much I got most of the tracks of the game on my MP3 player. The theme song was so freaking addictive!

The Gameplay was pretty cool and controls were sharp most of the times, even on a keyboard. With a driving wheel + force feedback it gets even better! It isn't the most realistic game but neither it should, it's an arcade game - focused on fun, not realism. The selection of cars was also pretty nice and interesting. Rocking my way in Drag Races in my 100% tuned Nissan Skyline and stylish body kit is a memory I'll never forget. There were also some well-thought types of races, like Drag, Drift, Sprint, etc, besides just Circuits.

I'll never forget those days when everyone I knew was so hyped about Underground. It makes me remember some very good fun times. Besides being a game to remember and cherish, it still means a symbol of hope to the NFS series that shouldn't be ignored like it has been. I wouldn't recommend getting this game since NFSU2 pretty much covers it all and still makes a better job as a game but I still believe this is a game that deserves some respect. I'm still wishing for a NFSU3 to come...