Need for Speed Underground Rivals

There I was, minding my own business and admiring my pitch black 1969 Dodge Charger when a spiky haired guy that calls himself T-Bone pulls up in a cherry red Nissan 240SX and challenges me to a race. It’s a quarter past one and the streets are empty, but it's ours for the taking. A light turns green and we speed off, the engines roaring in our ears. He clips me just a little but I maintain my speed and as I complete my final lap victory is mine. T-Bone smiles and offers a respectful bow of his head ... then T-Bone’s mother comes out of the market and the spiky-haired eight-year old waves goodbye. As a hardcore fan of racing games, it was a pleasant surprise to find Need for Speed Underground Rivals among the list of launch titles for the Sony PSP. So rev up those engines because the series has gone portable and its pretty good.

Unlike the console Underground games, Rivals features no story, so don’t expect to encounter Brooke Burke or dive into a story about climbing your way up the illegal racing scene. You won’t have the freedom to explore empty streets filled with the shameless plugging of a certain electronics chain store or a certain fast food burger joint. No, this one is all about the racing and the import tuning. With five playable modes plus a garage to upgrade your cars and the new EA Games Trax feature that allows you to listen to all the tunes found in the game as well as watch two music videos, Rivals just puts you on the streets. 

You start the game by purchasing your first vehicle, although the choices are limited. Available from the start are the VW Golf GTI, a Ford Focus Zx3, a Mazda Miata MX-5 or a Dodge Neon. Depending on how many points you earn you can later purchase other cars like Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX or a Nissan Skyline R34 GTR. You’ll even find some PSP exclusive vehicles such as a 1967 Ford Mustang or Chevy Corvette Z06. From there you can dive into the modes such as Race Now, Quick Play Battle, Circuit Race or two of the game’s multiplayer modes, Head to Head or Party Play.

Circuit Race is the game’s main mode since this is where you gain more points plus unlock import parts to use in the game’s Pocket Garage. This mode puts you through four tiers of various racing events that range from Novice, Pro, Master and Car Spec races. Car Spec races require you to drive a specific vehicle, for example, to enter a Ford Focus Car Spec race you need a Ford Focus. To enter a Rally Relay race you must have two cars in your garage because you’ll be swapping cars in mid race. Quick Play Battle has a number of racing events that are familiar territory for fans of the Underground series. There’s Drift Attack races (drift around a series of pillars within a certain timeframe) and even returning favorite Drag races (where you have to continuously shift gears at the appropriate time). New to the series is Nitrous Run, a race that has you using your nitrous throughout the race since your nitrous is refilled at each gate.  And finally there’s Street Cross that’s a cross between a circuit and autocross race.

The problem with Rival is that while the cars handle pretty well using the D-pad, those gamers who are accustomed to using an analog stick will be frustrated by the PSP analog stick’s response time. Making sharp turns using the analog stick is nearly impossible but you’ll find that using the D-pad seems to remedy turns and sharp maneuvering. As far as racing games on the PSP go, Ridge Racer has the advantage control-wise. Yet when it comes to unregulated, no-rules racing of the illegal kind, Rivals hits it right on the mark. It also helps that the opponent AI, while putting up a real challenge, is still prone to some pretty boneheaded mistakes but that’s Ok since it gives each race its own unique touch.

Racing games are also meant to be played against other players and I thank the Gaming Gods that the launch titles available are all pushing the fact that our portable bundle of joy supports wireless multiplayer gaming. Using the Wi-Fi Ad Hoc Mode, you can race against a friend in the game’s Head to Head multiplayer mode. This mode awards a Champ stamp to the winner and an Owned stamp to the loser. There’s also Party Play mode that has you sharing your PSP with up to three friends.

Rivals is also very pleasing to the eyes, especially when it comes to the environments that look much like the ones found in Underground 2. You’ll race through the nighttime city streets and freeways and both are nicely detailed to the point that you can make out the names of most of the shops. The vehicles themselves look pretty detailed enough that you can identify them right away even at top speeds. The PSP can certainly display some great visuals and this game proves it.

As for the game’s sound it delivers most of the basic sound effects you can expect from the series. Engines will roar, wheels will screech when you make a sharp turn and you’ll even hear the other cars as they zoom past you. Unfortunately crashes don’t sound as good as the console games but other than that the sound effects aren’t bad at all. Even the game’s soundtrack, which is composed of hard-hitting tunes from Ministry or Mudvayne and some hip-hop from artists like Chingy and Capone, fits the game‘s theme.  

As a huge fan of the Need for Speed series, its a real thrill seeing the series brought over to a portable medium and even more so when it gives us all the things we love about the recent Underground games. Need for Speed Underground Rivals for the PSP is a solid racing game despite its few flaws, but still a game you’ll want to own if you’re a fan of the series or love import tuning. It might not feel or play as good as Ridge Racer but it’s still worth your hard-earned cash. 

Gameplay: 8.0
You’ll ditch the analog stick for the D-pad but otherwise you’ll find maneuvering your ride not too bad. While we would have liked more precision and a smoother response to sharp turns, it feels a lot like the console version of the Need for Speed Underground games. Even the import tuning is intact.

Graphics: 8.5
The sharp visuals are especially easy on the eyes and the environments (sans the Best Buy and Burger King ads of the console game) look amazing even at top speeds. The cars are decently rendered but you’ll certainly be able to tell a Ford Focus apart from a VW Golf GTI. The speed effects look amazing!

Sound: 8.2
The car sounds aren’t bad at all, although the crashes could have used more metal grinding. The game’s soundtrack is a pretty good although it could have done without that awful Snoop Dogg duet with the Lizard King.

Difficulty: Medium
The opponent AI is good at taking the lead away from you but it also (thankfully) makes a few mistakes so it feels like you’re racing against real people. Those Nitrous Run races are nicely challenging and a welcome addition.

Concept: 8.0
The PSP exclusive racing modes and cars are definitely a highlight. Pocket Garage allows us to upgrade and make our favorite rides as stylish as we want. The EA Games Pocket Trax (with two music videos from The Donots and Soulwax) is a great feature and wireless multiplayer rocks!

Multiplayer: 8.0
You can race against a friend head-to-head by way of the PSP’s Wi-Fi connection or race against up to four players using the same PSP in Party Play mode. Beat a friend and they‘ll get a stamp of failure and is listed in your Owned List along with any other players you‘ve beaten. The result is multiplayer action that moves at a steady pace and is just way too much fun to want to put down.  

Overall: 8.0
Despite a few blemishes on an otherwise good-looking racing game, Rivals is still a pretty fun racer for the PSP. Sure it doesn’t control as well as Ridge Racer but this is a portable version of the Underground game minus the empty exploration or a story. If you’re a long-time fan and like supping up your car with neat detailed import parts this is definitely a game you’ll want to buy.