Need For Speed Underground: Rivals

Written by Adam Woolcott  on April 05, 2005

Review: Everything great about Need for Speed, minus the stuff that sucks.

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Not unexpectedly, Electronic Arts has been gung-ho about the PlayStation Portable, and the company is one of the most prolific publishers (along with SCEA) during the PSP launch. One of the initial titles comes from a franchise that's become a mega-hit series; Need for Speed Underground: Rivals. While most of EA's PSP games are mostly enhanced/altered ports of prior PS2 games, Rivals is built with the PSP in mind, and is the lone PSP game that feels like a brand new product. While it may seem stripped down in comparison to the Underground games on home consoles, NFSU:R is more of a throwback to the classic NFS games; great (albeit flawed) racing action without the fluff that distracts from what used to be the very best arcade racing franchise in the business (Burnout 3 has taken that throne). Though perhaps not as thrilling as Ridge Racer or as challenging as Wipeout Pure, Rivals is a fun game that, perhaps because of PSP limitations, brings the series back to its roots without sacrificing the Underground name that's elevated the franchise (which can be seen as good or bad depending on your perspective).

As mentioned, NFSU: Rivals eliminates much of the bloated fluff that made NFSU2 a particularly terrible game Ц no endless advertisements scattered around the game, no hidden tuning shops or races that are harder to find than they should be, no hack storyline with disinterested C-list celebrities, and best of all, the lack of the GTA-style city that is simply not needed in a Need for Speed game. Instead, you're left with a focused, tight, and accessible game that has a ton of stuff to do, whether you're playing by yourself or with friends (who may or may not need to own a PSP). The main single player options consist of a circuit mode that has more traditional races, time trials, and knockout events; in other words, classic NFS gameplay. There's also a Rally Relay mode where you take two cars and after one lap you swap out to your other car, like you were running a relay race in school. There's also the Quick Battle mode, which has the more mini-game like events. Familiar drag racing returns (and actually is a lot better than it's been in past Underground games), along with the Street Cross races from NFSU2. The Nitrous Run is a new option, where you race through gates while getting a constant refill of N2O at each one. Drift Attack is an altered drift race, where you drift through designated zones instead of the crazy tracks (I'm not really hot about this, if it ain't broke don't fix it).

Each even has a gold/silver/bronze setup, as the difficulty ramps up for each race (the Circuit races even have Novice/Pro/Master getups for extra challenge). At first you can only do so many races before being outclassed which forces you to spend time trying the various events out to 'level' your car to handle the competition. Both of these single player modes tie into each other. When you first start out the game, you get to pick a car from a list of Japanese imports and for the first time, American vehicles, going from a lowly Ford Focus all the way to a screaming Corvette. As you win events and progress through each event type, you earn credits to upgrade your cars as well as various visual upgrades to take your car from vanilla to a fustercluck of colors, decals, and vinyls to identify your ride as your own. EA's new pocket garage lets you hold on to all your cars rather than trading them in for newer ones, and you can go through them and tune 'em up at your will.

Multiplayer consists of Ad Hoc wireless play for up to four other PSP's, and the fun Party Play, which is an old-school 'pass the controller' deal. All the major modes of play can be done in Party Play, competing for the best scores and/or position. Though a bit weird to have a mode like this for a portable game system (after all, people crowding over a 4 inch screen is a bit weird), it's still fun and is a suitable alternative if there's only one PSP to play...though actual infrastructure wireless play would have been nice without the whole Xlink tunneling workaround. Hopefully this will be in the next NFS game (or hopefully, Burnout) on PSP.

If you've played any of the previous Underground games, you should know what to expect from Rivals. The nighttime, shortcut finding, powersliding, traffic dodging NFS racing returns, merely in portable form. Though it plays the same as any past NFS game, it does suffer a bit from loose controls due to the analog nub. At first the cars will feel unstable and downright uncontrollable, but as they get tuned and you adjust to the sensitive analog (because using the d-pad is so SNES, kids) it becomes easier. Like almost every arcade racer, Rivals uses a 'rubberband' AI structure for 1 player games that keeps races close (unless you get the weird glitch I got that actually made my opponent car disappear from the track). The problem is, the AI more helps the computer AI than you. When you're in the lead, you never get extremely far ahead no matter how well you race, but yet if you screw up and fall behind, catching up can be almost impossible. It can get frustrating because it's usually not the racing AI that causes the chaos, it's the pre-scripted traffic that has killed both NFSU and NFSU2 on consoles. Sometimes I think the difference between the Novice, Pro, and Master race groups in the circuit tour is the amount of traffic they put on each track, rather than harder cars. But regardless, the game offers a bit more challenge compared to Ridge Racer, though not as much as Wipeout Pure. Alas that's not the make or break aspect.

The 'mini-game' aspects of NFSU:R range from well done to awful. Nitrous Run is a waste of time, since unless you're a Jedi master, keeping a fast car under control while awkwardly using the nitrous all the time can be rough. It's almost too fast, and the jittery screen can be extremely annoying when you're trying to concentrate. Drag is much, much improved, thanks to a more visible meter letting you know when to shift and when to dodge traffic, which hampered the other NFSU games (you spent more time watching the tac rather than the track). It's actually extremely fun and strategic. Drift Attack is a step back from the drifting of NFSU (which I loved and should be in every arcade racing game until the end of time); instead of an actual track to race around, you drift through 'zones' around a circular area. In short, it's boring and not as intense as the drifting races from NFSU and NFSU2. Street Cross is basically racing on a smaller track, so it's hard to screw up. They should have used those tracks as drifting tracks instead though.

Though the game is flawed, it manages to be fun because Need for Speed games usually are. It's better than the first NFSU, and leagues ahead of the unfocused NFSU2. Though technically stripped down to be a viable game for the PSP, Rivals' 'less is more' approach makes for a more focused product that lets you get down to racing rather than fooling around with a huge, boring town full of should-not-be-hidden things. It's surprisingly faster than Ridge Racer, though is not quite as smooth or even good looking as Namco's PSP classic. There's a lot to do and see, and with good single and multiplayer options, it will keep you busy if EA's made you broke by overcharging on their PSP releases.

Visually, Need for Speed Underground: Rivals looks good, though is flawed. The nighttime racing looks pretty good with lots of neon and lights, like its console brethren. Each of the 10 tracks is uniquely designed, and offer something different to look at if you actually can take your eyes off the road. The sense of speed can get insane, especially the flawed Nitrous Run events. At the same time, the frame rate can get very slow and jittery, and the screen shakes like crazy almost all the time. It's like a drunk driving simulator at points, but seriously it seems EA tried to put too much in the graphics department and the PSP just couldn't handle it at this point (as people learn how to max the hardware out, this will stop happening). Car designs are pretty nice Ц better than the ones in Ridge Racer Ц though they're very small on the screen in comparison. The design options really let you customize a unique car, something that's kinda lame but at the same time makes a car yours.

The audio is 'highlighted' by EA Pocket Trax, which actually is impressive considering the smaller disc size of a PSM UMD compared to a PS2 DVD. Tunes range from hip-hop (Snoop Dogg and his awful cover of 'Riders on the Storm', that damn Lean Back song, Chingy) to loud stuff (Helmet...!!!, My Chemical Romance, etc). It's okay, not as bad as Burnout 3, but at the same time it could have been better, especially if people figure out how to make freaking custom soundtracks using the memory sticks. Otherwise, the sounds of racing, from screeching tires to gears shifting to cars honking at you to slow the hell down make up the remainder of the audio. It all sounds pretty good through the PSP's speakers.