Need For Speed: Underground Rivals for PSP

Do you have a need for portable speed? Well, you can satisfy that need with Need For Speed: Underground Rivals for the PSP. While it doesn’t have the grandiose of the larger console Underground series, Electronic Arts has done a good job in putting a thinner version of the game in the portable system.

Get Your Motor Runnin’

Rivals sports a nice collection of over 20 cars. From the Dodge Charger and Neon to the Chevrolet Corvette to the Skylines, you’ll find good diversity when making a selection. The difference in handling, speed, and acceleration is noticeable between the cars so you’ll feel comfortable in choosing one car over the other without wasting points.

In order to earn points in Need For Speed: Underground Rivals, you participate in various types of races. The meat race is the Circuit race where you do your laps like a good boy. Rally is a two lap race against one rival. You pick two cars to race and after the first lap you change cars.

Drag Race is played just like it sounds. You go against three others in an all-out race for speed. Be careful because all the obstacles of the track your on are there (slight turns, motorists, walls) and you can destroy your car.

Nitrous run is a fun mode where you boost around the track passing as many gates as you can. As you pass each gate, your boost is refilled so it advantageous to have your boots running all the time.

Knockout is when the last place driver is eliminated after each lap until one person remains. Guess what: they are the winner. Street Cross tests your cornering and handling ability my racing multilaps on a small, indoor track.

Drift Attack is a boring mode where you have to hit ‘drift areas’ to drift your car across. When you hit the area and your drifting correctly, you earns points as you pass through the area. Drift Attack gets frustrating because you feel like you're on ice. Maybe if you had to drift on actual tracks and the drift areas were on turns of the track, this mode might be more fun. If you want to complete the game 100%, then you’re forced to finish this mode.

Upgrades, Baby...Upgrades

As you race and win (you knew you had to win, right?) you earn trophies and points which will allow you to upgrade your car mechanically and visually. The visual upgrades include roof scoops, hoods, spoilers, lighting effects, and body kits. These things don’t enhance your handling or speed; they’re just there to make your car eye-candy.

There are a number of upgrades you can do mechanically. Each section is available to increase to 100%. There are special parts you can win during the race which will raise that number to 110%, but most of your parts can be bought. You can improve the engine, suspension, exhaust and even the comfort level of your car. One good thing about the upgrading is that you only have to buy the parts once because you can transfer them globally to any car you win or own. Unfortunately, once you get a new car, you have to go into the upgrades options and attach the parts one by one again. Trust me when I say this will only happen once...you’ll remember after you get an awesome car and you complete about 10 races, losing them all and wondering if the AI is just too good.You can also unlock little cars by racing in the last master battle 17 times the look in your garage. You will have 5 little cool cars.

Head Out On The Highway

The graphics in EA’s Need For Speed: Underground Rivals is nearly top-notch. Car models are actually the worse part of the graphics. The cars are recognizable, but fall flat when compared to the environments. Okay, I played this game a day after finishing a 3 hour session with Ridge Racer, so maybe I’m a little judgmental. The environments are a nighttime treat. The building are richly detailed and the streets are sleek and you can plainly see your surroundings in your window tint. But all this is mute if you don’t feel like your racing around at 180 m.p.h.

The blurring and shaking at high speeds gives you a good sense of speed. The only problem is when you and three other cars are together at the same speed, there is a slowdown in frame rate. Encountering this drop if few and are between, but it does happen. Altogether, Need For Speed: Underground Rivals gives you cool velocity visuals so you’ll fear of dying if you hit the wall wrong.

Most people live by the analog stick. Me? I’m a D-pad guy and will always be. Either way, controlling the cars in Need For Speed: Underground Rivals was consistent across all the car whether you had the worst handling or the best. At it’s core the Dodge Neon handled poorly and at it’s best, the Neon could turn a corner at an apparent 90 degrees. The Charger is heavy and even with good handling, you still sort of slid into and out of corners. You do have the option of using the emergency brake, but I haven’t used it once. There is also a nitrous option. Hitting the Right shoulder button boosts your car (you can upgrade this too) for a limited amount of time.

Looking For Adventure

There are two main gripes I have with this game. The first is the AI. Most of the time, they seem to drive a specific driving line. The Bosses seemed to be programmed with actual realness to them, but most of the others have this uncanny ability to always stay on your tail or to catch up to you. For instance, I made one of my rivals crash into the wall. I watched him spin in the air and then hit a huge cement block. I easily got ahead of him where he disappeared off my track map. I kept my speed up and turned corners with precision. I hardly slowed down, but within twenty seconds or so, the opponent I smashed into the wall was right up on me ready to pass. Impossible!

The other thing I didn’t like about this game was the music presentation. EA included what they call EA Pocket Trak where you can listen to the soundtrack. Most of the songs--which include Fat Joe, Snoop Dog and some indie rock--are cool and fit the bill in terms of racing, but why would I want to listen to a song playing over some spinning EA graphic? There are a couple videos you can watch, but otherwise this little option is pointless. EA should have made the songs available to listen to through the player, like it was a CD.

Thompson’s Two Cents

Fans of Need For Speed will love this game because it captures the essence of illegal night racing in a portable way. If you’re a PSP owner looking for a good racing game, Need For Speed: Underground Rivals can give you a good racing fix. Despite the annoying AI and boring Drift Races, the nice graphics and amount of fast-paced driving will keep you playing this game for a while. So I ask you again: do you have a portable need for speed?