97
If you love Need for Speed Underground 2 for the PS2 you will love this spinoff. Although you cannot drive through the city at will, the races are action packed and so are the cars. The only problems I found was that the loading times seemed to be really long. If you want to change to another part of your garage, it can take 15 seconds, which I found quite annoying. But in the end, for good street racing action on your PSP, Need for Speed Underground Rivals is the game to get.
75
Good but seems like the cars are a bit flat looking. Great reflections and lighting though. The fact that this game allows you to modify the appearance of the vehicles is a plus. However, no damage modeling ? Come on. The framerate is around 30fps but it doesnt mean it always stays there. Is it so hard to make this game run at 60fps considering how mediocre its graphics and textures are. Running 60fps might had help this games horrible sense of speed. Example, doing 150mph seems like you're barely going 60mph. But overall this games visuals will suffice any NFS fan.
Now EA did a good job here. This game sounds jus like its PS2 counterpart. The engine effects are superb and the reverb effects when entering tunnels is done well. Not to mention the sounds of burning rubber. This game also throws in a pretty decent soundtrack too.
While not as tight as I would have liked, its responsive and actually fits in well to how the game handles. The layout is good and you do have 4 configurations to choose from. But I would much prefer to customize my button layout.
This game took me around 20 hrs to unlock everything...thats not too bad. However, it only took that long because you had to race every freaking race 3 times to really complete it. No Story mode, no Online play (except wifi ad hoc) and no more than 25 cars, OMG.
Plenty of modes. Good visuals, sounds, for those gamers who love to pimp out cars and drive really fast. I guess this game should make you happy, at least until Burnout Legends comes out.
85
My first game, I like it really much. The graphics are OK, not poor at all, sound is good as long as you replace those crappy bundled PSP headphones. The only thing I'm missing is the open-road environment from underground 2 on PS2/PC, otherwise it's a great game!
85
The game is excellent, when I played it I thought the graphics were amazing, especially for a handheld. Having played the Nintendo DS version I thought it was in a different league.
97
This game carries with it the fine traditions that Need for Speed has had for years. Its a must have for you PSP.
75
Need for Speed is a good all round game. You have a good choice of cars and modifications and a very good number of races. But it is not an ideal game if it would be your first, but if you do want it as your first game I strongly reccomend that you buy another game with it
50
For Need for Speed Undreground addicts like me, this new version didn't bring as much as I expected, the evolution from the first to the second was impressive, but this seemed to be the pocket version.
Worst of all, it requires a long time to earn money, and it's not quite easy to realize what car you should buy, you can't see the properties of the cars you are able to buy.
You might miss those videos or extra content apart from the game. I wonder, since the UMD has 1,8Gb, where's the special content?
74
Don't even try to compare the graphics from the PS2 version to this version. EA clearly doesn't take advantage of the Anti-aliasing features that the PSP has. They should've delayed this game for 6 months and added much more. The game feels very stripped down, and becomes boring after a short amount of time. It would've been fine if they just ported NFS:Underground II but they clearly didn't. The game also doesn't have very much replay value at all. I mean the physics aren't even the same as the PS2 version, I go off a ramp and the car flips, or when I run into traffic, again the car goes tumbling.
All you need to do to succeed at this game is: take shortcuts and upgrade your car better than the opponent. That's about it, and dodge occasional traffic. They didn't even add a "drafting" feature to the game. If you don't know what drafting is; you drive behind a car and get an added boost due to the lessened wind-resistance. The visuals don't even qualify as PS1 graphics. It's really that choppy. Anyways, I better make it fair, let me talk about the good stuff about this game.
Quite fun adding visuals and souping up the car, makes the car look better overall. Although I wished there was roaming, I loved being able to get money by racing random racers, but that's gone and you have to rely on getting money by doing these leagues with 4 races each and 3 difficulties. In terms of control, if you want to do Manual, they switch the NOS button to the Triangle. Now that just makes it more difficult. The shoulder buttons are for switching gears while the X is for Gas. It just doesn't work.
Favorite Mode: Drag
Learning Curve Time: 15-45 Min
92
If you are a fan of the series on a console you will enjoy this! I am very impressed with the graphics! I never expected thewm tyo be this good on a portable devise!
I think I have played all the racers except for ridge racer and I like this best out of all of them! (I am not counting Burnout. It is in a catagory all it's own!)
70
Basically it is a fun game - the car customization options give it the edge over your avergae racer. No realism in terms of handling but then the Underground series never really concentrated on that anyway.
The controls are acceptable if you use the D-pad only. The dead zone on the analugue is pathetic but I discovered the silver lining in this grey cloud when it comes to taking really sharp turns  try it, you'll like it!
Overall a fun enough game but not a must buy!
88
This game was the first in my collection and didn't disapoint me.
82
Need for speed underground is such a good game but I must say it is let down by the fact that it has no expansive story and that it only allows you to buy up to 20 cars.
I havent explored the game fully but I like wjat I see of the game modes so far. Anway I must say it's way better than Midnight Club 3:Dub edition -- the gameplay and everything is much better, which makes this a must have for a first game. Can't wait fot the sequel.
80
Great game, not the best, but pretty cool on a portable, with such graphics.
Need for Speed, is one of the best racing hits out there, exspecially for drift, drag, free roam, and tuning. Many people love the NFS series. I myself like the game, not hard to beat, but not easy either. A game everybody should have. Need for speed, is the need for speed on the go. Especially when it comes to the fact that it's on the PSP.
92
The second game I got for the PSP has lots of features to it. I'd even say it's better than PS2 version. My only dissapiontment is that it doesn't have free roam modes like in Underground 2 for PS2. Bought it last week and still playing most of my waking hours.
90
It isn't quite like Underground for PC. You sort of go through mini races at different ranks. It is very easy to get all of the level 1 performance upgrades. And you just randomly get visual upgrades, unlike earning them by reputation points.
93
With all the other ports to the PSP, it was no surprise to see an underground game come to the PSP. However a NFSU game with new race types? Heck yes!
Story
Well it's a street racing game, and you want to become the top dog.
Controls
The controls are easy to get used to, and make it easy to take tight turns and use your nitrous like a mad man. Don’t be intimidated by the weird overturn, you’ll get used to it, and do not try using the analog, as it handles pitifully.
Gameplay
If you liked the free roam mode of NFSU 2, you’ll have to cope without it. In this entry of the series you pick your races and do any race types you want whenever you want. There are 3 levels for each race, the silver and gold levels are optional. There are plenty of game types too.
Circuit race – It's a circuit race with a certain amount of laps and you speed around the city.
Street Cross – Otherwise known as Street X on the console, you drive on tight technical tracks where steering is key. Don't be afraid to bump your opponents out of the way.
Drift Attack – To put it simply, this mode is a pain in the butt. It's nothing like the drifts on the console version. Instead of being on a drift track, you have to drift in marked zones.
Nitrous Run – Do you love your nitrous? Do you love keeping it down the whole time? Do you love blazing speed? If so, Nitrous Run is your race type. You have to get as many goals as you can, and your NOS is replenished with each goal you pass through. This is where you see how fast your car can really go.
Drag – A quick finger and skillful steering are required in a short length, high speed race for the finish. You have to shift gears at the correct time, while avoiding traffic and other obstructions.
Head to Head – 1 on 1 match with a friend of yours. You choose the race type and everything else.
Party Play – Here you take turns playing with 3 other players on the same PSP. It's a good thing to play if you're trying to show off your PSP, or just to have some fun.
Tuning
There are a lot more performance parts in this game than past entries, which means you'll be shoveling out more money. You'd better know what's good though, because it all affects your car differently. A lot of people like to pimp out their cars, but I'm sad to announce you won't be doing much "pimping" of your car. The selection of parts and rims is limited, and the paintjobs don't have the kind of flair you'd expect.
Sound
This game offers your typical slew of EA music, mostly drawing from the console version of the game, but with a few different songs.
Graphics
The car graphics could have looked a lot better, but the background seems to have gotten sufficient detail. NOS effects are cool looking, and it all works well. It's a good thing there isn't any slowdown whatsoever during racing.
Overall
If you're looking for a portable car tuning game your choices are between this game, and Midnight Club. NFSU offers a good mix of cars, race types, and nice quick load times. Sometimes it gets annoying trying to get gold on each race, but if you take a break and come back you'll want to play again. With a bit of an update on the graphics, this game could be released on a console.
90
I was excited when this game came out for the PSP. Actualy that was the only reason I bought a PSP, to play racing games. The graphics in the game were pretty good except when the traffic matches the color of the surrounding evironment which makes them very hard to see. The controls are pretty good, but a little sensitive so I usually end up hitting the wall when I wanna make a soft turn. All in all I gave it a high rating becuase I love car games and the Need For Speed racing series. I have every Need For Speed game for Xbox, PC , Game Boy and now PSP.
89
Need for Speed Underground: Rivals was an amazing game at the launch of the PSP. It had impressive graphics, fast-paced racing, and the like. Most important of all: it was totally addictive. I played this game race after race, I loved it. I loved upgrading and styling my car, I loved using the nitrous. I really loved the drag races. Unfortunatley, the analog nub sucks. Don't even bother using it, you may as well use the D-pad instead. The sensitivity is the same. Graphics were good back then, but as I write this in July, we know that the PSP can do better, and we have games to prove it.
NFSU is a great game, but I would not reccomend it simply because it is out of date, and there are games just like it out right now, only better. Go for Midnight Club Dub instead. More cars, more customization, better graphics, roaming, story, etc.
99
OK This is just me but I love this game. It looks great its not boring. Lots of fun. Check it out!
80
I wanted to be impressed by this game, but unfortunately, wasn't. The graphics were were so terrible they just about made me cry. I do not want to bash this game, I mean, it is a pretty fun game in my opinion, but the graphics were terrible (my N64 could beat this!). The ultra small amount of levels was also disheartening. For some reason though, through its ugliness and lack of levels, I did find myself hooked on obtaining better and better cars.
50
I expected more of this one... much more! The PSP is capable of much better graphics than this, so that's one reason why I dont like this game. Furthermore, the whole feeling isn't right, I played the Xbox version as well, and that just owned! This feels like a totally different game. A no-buy IMO!
88
This game is a good game from the start, you start off with a decision to get four cars (slow as you know) but later on when you start winning races and you get some cash and unlockable pieces for your car you can start to make the car you've always wanted. The great thing about it is that you can show of your car when racing other people and it doesnt leave a thing out. So they can drool over the cars looks and as soon as the race starts they can drool over what's under the hood of your car. If you're wondering about ad-hoc mode and how it is for this game, it's great and really easy to setup and get into. In game ad-hoc was great too, I only saw 3-4 glitches while racing. For instance the car you are racing will lose framerates when if you go past the opponent too quickly. Overall it is a great game and I am proud for it to have been my first game for PSP.
50
This is definately for the Fast and Furious scene. Bleh....
98
Overall this is a great game, but I have three complaints. #1 no online -- EA should have made it online I mean come on! #2 it's mostly on one track, but when I am going really fast the game will a: make me flip and lose my place and possible the race or slow me down from 130mph to 98! Finally, the AI is really aggressive: I have been smashed into a wall by the AI! Also they seem to cheat going around corners: I mean that they lose no speed or control around the corner. But apart from the things above this is a great game.
90
Fun and enjoyable game. A little too repetitive, but fun.
95
This was my first PSP game purchase and I am only 72% complete with 20+ hours put into it.
Race Now
This mode automatically starts you a race with a tricked out car.
Custom Race
Choose your own track, and change the settings etc.
I thought this mode of racing is perfect for a quick race. It is also good if you let someone play, you can just start them a race without going through a big menu.
Drag
I found this mode to be the most fun. You have to shift your car at the perfect time and use nitrous to get ahead. Its a Drag Race duh.
Drift Attack
In this mode, you have to slide your car around a series of columns to score points. It takes a few tries before you figure out how to drift but as soon as you so, you will love it.
Street Cross
In this mode, you have to race in a tight Go-Cart style track which requires you to use your E-Brake at the perfect time to get around the turns as fast as possible. I thought this mode was OK but gets kinda old.
Nitrous Run
This mode requires you to use nitrous the entire time. There is a goal # of gates to cross which each time fill up your nitrous meter so you have to stay on the boost otherwise the unused nitrous will be lost when crossing a gate. This mode is sweet because you haul butt the entire time which is awesome.
There are four different types of race difficulty: Novice, Pro, Master, and Car Spec. In the Novice, Pro, and Master difficulties, you have a normal race around a track, a Lap Knockout which knocks out the player in last position on each lap, and Rally Relay, which requires you to have at least 2 cars in your Pocket Garage, each race has 2 laps but upon entering the finish line for the first lap, you must park and then you complete the last lap with the second car. Car Spec is a series of races that comprise of only one type of car. To participate in the races, you must own the required car. Each of these races has a difficulty level of Bronze, Silver, and Gold. After you complete the last Gold race of these races, you unlock either a secret car or bonus upgrade parts for each of your cars in your garage.
In this mode, you can play against up to 4 players in a pass-the-PSP fashion or yu can have up to 2 player wireless matches.
I found this game very entertaining (frustrating on some levels) and it has a very nice level of customization for each of your vehicles. This game is very well done and I recommend it to anyone who likes racing games or car customization.
98
First of all I own TMHO, Wipeout, and now NFSUR. I have to say ive been playing NFSUR most of the time. It is a great game. Some people are saying that the handling on this game is bad but once you get used to it (not hard) it is great. The cars look good when you are racing but are a little sloppy when they are in the pocket garage. There are tons of upgrades ranging from vinyls to wheels to Nos. This is a great race game for the PSP. I think it is better than Ridge Racer because Ridge Racer has that drift handling. I am also going to get Midnight Club Dub and I will review that also when I get it but if you want a racing game now and dont want to wait for GT4 or Midnight Club than I strongly recommend this game!!
85
It isn't GT4. It isn't RR. But what it is is a fun game that allows you to pilot popular street cars around fictional, but interesting city scapes. I am a car modder myself and quite the afficianado of current trends in modding. I like the concept of this game (though I bet Midnight Club will do it better) of being able to mod your favorite cars, but some of the modes get pretty tedious.
The only way to earn points (i.e. money) is to complete a series of events. The good thing is is that there are a varied number of tasks to complete.
Race Now
This allows you to get into a race right away with some pretty powerful cars. Pretty cool for the first play.
Quick Battle
This mode has separate events. There is street cross (basically auto-X) that pairs you against others on varying autox tracks. There is the Drift attack battle. In my opinion the weakest of the bunch. I can't seem to get any of the cars to master the drifts and some of the goals are pretty outlandish. Frustrating to say the least. Nitrous Run is pretty cool, but also has it's challenges. You race around familiar tracks and try to get to each gate in a period of time. Each gate gives you more time as well as added nitrous. This is the fastest mode of this game. Wicked cool....until you make the slightest mistake. And finally drag battle. This is the best in my opinion. You race against other modded cars in a straight line battle to the finish. Gets pretty interesting as the cars get more powerful.
Circuit Race
this features sub-modes as well: Novice, Pro, Master, and Car Spec (which are the same races, but you have to be driving a specific car to compete). This is all out racing against the computer. Pretty fun and has kept me entertained throughout. I constantly tryin to earn more points to by bigger and better cars!
Head to Head
haven't had the chance to pair up with anyone else yet seeing as none of my friends have this game yet. I can imagine it's pretty proc-heavy and may stutter at times.
Overall
Overall, I have enjoyed this game for over 20 hours now (according to my stats) and I have yet to crack the 70% done mark. The big drawback is how the cars handle. The are squirrely as all get-up and don't begin to become well manageable until you begin to mod your suspension to it's max. In my book, it's well worth the money and is pretty durn fun. I love the garage aspect with all of your cars on display. There are seemingly endless combinations of how to put your car together aesthetically and it's a pretty cool feature for the modding types. Overall I give it an 8 out of 10. I expect there to be quite a few racing games that make this look elementary comign out soon.
94
NfS:UR is an amazing game. I don't know why I love it so much, seeing as I hated the others in the series. It has stunning graphics, decent tunes, and nice, solid gameplay.
Though I must say I'm really dissappointed with the extreme loading times. It's to a ridiculous point right now.
Pick up a copy today, you won't be sorry.
52
It must first be stated that I am one of those aforementioned GT fans who hates RR. This however only started 2 weeks ago when I picked it up for the first time on my PSP. I had never played it in any incarnation before, and never will again.
Its not that its that bad. The graphics are top notch and very smooth, and the music is good, and the replays are great (listen up EA!).
but this game might as well be "powerboat super racing challange" cause thats how the cars handle.
for "drift junkies" I guess that's supposed to be good. When I first played the game in a demo back when every psp unit in japan was sold out, I kind of liked how pushing too far when braking and turning would cause a massive and controllable powerslide. The problem is that in anything above the worst class of cars, it is impossible to use the brakes without initiating a slide, even when going in a straight line!
Realism aside (or perhaps because of it) I yawned my way through all of the tracks in a single day! I was really just falling asleep at the wheel. A further downer on my day was that the only way to lose a race is to smack into one of your "rivals" (term used in its most liberal sense) as you blow by them as if they were driving dad's station wagon. This is all to persue some jackass AI that for some reason got a 20 or 30 second headstart, and magically appeared ahead of you after you started the race.
Sure toward the end it gets harder, but that doesnt make it more fun, it just needs more effort for more of the same. Moreover, there are no modes that are any different than the circuit mode.
The sound (effects) are not nearly as immersive as NFS and sound a little flat, but the music is good.
My advice, dont by this game unless your ten years old or lower. Perhaps playing wipeout would be better cause theres no illusion that your actually in a real car. Use Need for Speed to tide you over until Gran Tourismo comes out
(and GT's delay better not be because their trying to fit <expletive> photo mode on a UMD!)
85
Not what I expected, but still not bad. I expected a little better graphics, and a little easier gameplay. It has good customizing features which is one reason i bought it over ridge racer. Just like the console versions you can customize body and engine. Its also slightly difficult to drift takes a little practice. It takes time to play this game and actually gain enough points to get the car you want.
In the end its worth for one reason -- in the two player mode you can race your friend, the catch is whoever wins gets the others car. I would have bought ridge racer if it wasnt for the customizing feature. So if your in it for the graphics and gameplay buy RR. If you are in it to have a little more fun buy NFSUR.
100
I thought that NFSUR wasnt to bad. It doesnt have the best graphics, but not much worse than Ridge Race. I bought NFSUR over RR for a couple of reasons. You can modify your car in NFSUR and you cant in RR. I have a lot of fun modifying mine. It gives you another thing to think about when wanting to win money. I think that the controls are a little hard but after an hour or so of playing you definetly get a hang of it. If you liked all the other NFSU i would recomend buying it or at least renting it.
90
If you liked the previous NFSU games, you will be sure to like this one. Rivals is more straight forward than the console versions. In general it is easier to start a race or play the single player game. The graphics are good, and have the same speed effects as the console versions. The D-pad works much better for controlling your car than the stick. The soundtrack is OK, and using good headphones improves gameplay overall.
92
I must admit, the first few races in this game didn't do it justice.
I have been a big fan of the Series, and stuck it out through the first few races. I was almost done with the Novice Circuit Races and Lap Knockouts before I even realized that the Quick Play Battle was more than just a quick 1-6 lap race.
Street Cross is rediculously fun when you get the level 3 upgrades, and Drift Attack can be completed with your starting car in most cases. Nitrous Run is still giving me trouble although I've got my cars fully upgraded, and Drag Racing is always a blast.
My biggest complaint with the game is the inability to restart an individual race within a tournament. Especially with the lap knockout tournaments, because if your not flawless in the last race, you get to start over from scratch. It's frustrating sometimes, but i still enjoy racing with this game.
Made me an addict, currently at 56% complete. It's definitely got replay value.
If only we had online multiplayer this game would be even better.
I give it 4.5 stars ****'
80
I originally bought this title thinking that it was going to be fun, but it wasn't. The mechanics were a bit weird and I couldn't control the car as much as I wanted to.
For fans of the series I'd still say go for it, but for those like me I think it's not worth the extra hassle.
50
Just got the game today, and while I have only put in about 1 hours worth of play on NFSUR, I am beginning to regret buying this.
Why?
Graphics compared to RR is noticeably weaker - perhaps RR's anti-aliased look helps in smoothing overall pleasantness - NFSUR's graphics are pixellated and "rough".
The thing that killed me with NFSUR is the CONTROL or rather the lack of it. Compared to RR, controlling a car in NFSUR is like controlling a wild horse with a small whip. A slight press of the D-Pad or the analog nub (the analog nub is way worse) results in the car slamming into the side of the road, and trying to correct results in the car slamming into the *opposite* side of the road - very frustrating. If real cars handled like this, we would all be DEAD! RR had a mild understeer problem which can be corrected by drifitng, but in the inital cars at least, NFSUR has massive OVERsteer which is well nigh uncorrectable.
Ok ok, maybe I have only played this game for an hour, but damn! you shouldn't have to fight the controls to even get the car to go where you want it to.
Gonna give it a few more days for the controls to sink in, and maybe give an update.
75
Need for Speed Underground Rivals initially seems like a solid game. You start off in one of the four cars that you can select (Focus, etc)...and it picks up from there
Basically your first 4 or five days with this game will seem like bliss...Nitro is a gas (pun intended), the slide tournament is awesome fun (loved this to no end), and the drag races werent too bad, but it all starts to come apart when you start getting into the higher end vehicles particularly in the races...What I am talking about is the Corvette, Skyline GTR, etc.
These cars all drive like crap in considering what you put into them...the best overall car is the Evolution (save your breath on doing the testing to figure this out...I had it on 100% for all stats, and it surpassed everything). Only thing that out did it was the neon for handling.
Anyway to get back to point, these cars handle very poorly, and the other cars...which would at best be equal to your car somehow fly away from you like crazy at the start...now this is undrstandable in the corvette when you consider the wheel spin you get, but why is a 4wd car which has insane take-off getting caned by all around it on take off???
An interesting point I would like to raise is...what on earth is wrong with the Impreza??? YOu would think that at 100% all stats you would somehow be able to exceed 240kph in considering the GTR can do 370kph...but its speed is limited to that, and somehow when you go into the class race, every other impreza can surpass that...it doesnt make sense.
Anyway to cut a long story short...its repetitive, and the races are boring when you get access to the last 5 tracks...its just tight turn after tight turn, which is no fun, and the powerful cars handle poorly, and the rally-x races suck too...ridge racers overall was a much more fun game to play...though I bought and sold that game too...
Wait on Gran Turismo 4 if there is any truth to the rumour it is coming out on the 29th. If you like arcade...pick up Ridge Racers...I will pick it up again when it drops down to 2000yen (20bucks US)
Anyway those are my thoughts...hope they helped you out...BTW if you couldnt make it out...the controls for driving (not for sliding) suck (even harder then those vampire chronicles)
100
I just got this game last week after a long wait on postage from hong kong but boy was the wait worth it. This game has everything you could expect from a need for speed underground game. The game is set out like the original nfsu with you selecting your race from a menu and not driving about like nfsu2. There must be at leats 10-15 cars to unlock as well as you usual masses of upgrades everything from nos to exhausts to neon lights. This is by far the best psp title to date. The graphics are amazing, however they are not as smooth and sharp as that of ridge racer, but the massive game and addictiveness more that make up for that. you have the option to play wireless games as well as the ablity to play 1-4 players on the same psp (turn base obviously).
But the best addition to this great game is the nos challenge races where the objective is to pass throught a certain number of check points against the clock use your nos which refills at every check point. By far the best game on this console. Great game well done EA once again.
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