I will never understand why this was made instead of simply porting the original NFSU or even its sequel, since PSP is perfectly capable of either. It is impressive, however, how much they were able to achieve in such a small size. IIRC the iso for this game is under 300 mb.

The game perfectly captures the aesthetic of the original Underground, and it replicates most of the gameplay aspects relatively accurately. Except, for some strange reason - and I can't quite put my finger on it - it's so much more difficult. Most times one mistake will mean the end of the race for you. Which is extremely infuriating. Especially when you hit some invisible wall or object, or you lead the whole race only to get outrun at the finish line. It starts off relatively easy, but very soon I ended up having to replay each tracks like 3 times.

Furthermore, the progression in this game is PAINFULLY slow. One of the best things about the original was that addictive desire to play "just one more race" to unlock something new or try out the new car parts you just installed. But here it takes forever to unlock anything. And the game seems to drag on forever too.

I had this game on my Vita since like 2018-2019, jumping in every now and then to play 2-3 races, but instead playing the same race 2-3 times or more. And I'm at 25% of one of 8 campaigns/series'. And this one is called "Novice" lmao. I shudder to imagine what "Pro" is like. My car still looks very close to stock with only about 20% of nitro available.

Speaking of nitro, one thing that could've made this game much easier is if they made the nitro auto-replenishable like it is in Most Wanted, or at least replenishable via tricks like in Underground 2. It's easy to forgive this game for not doing it because Underground 1 didn't have it, but this game came out the same year as Most Wanted, so I think it's a valid criticism.

It being so similar to NFSU always made me want to love it. If you're a fan of NFSU, what could be better than a spin-off for PSP with great graphics and new content? But this game's progression and difficulty really break it. At what point do you say "enough" to a game that demands a lot from you and rewards you with very little?

This had the potential to be the best game in the Underground series. The original game still holds the crown as the best.

They've made a lot of improvements over the previous titles. Gone is the open world, the progression is more linear like in the first game. The visual rep is also gone, so you don't need to install any mods to get rid of it. Drifting is more involved than just moving your car from side to side. Gone are the boring URL races from Underground 2. The core gameplay loop is just as fun and engaging as the first two titles.

The confusing structure is the biggest drawback. You have to replay the same events multiple times at different difficulty levels in order to progress. This pads out the length of the game and makes the progression more confusing than it should be. It reminded me a bit of those old school JRPGs where you were forced to backtrack and grind levels by killing weak monsters.

This is a minor gripe, but I wish they had kept the magazine and DVD covers. I know they were cheesy, but they added to the charm of the previous two Underground games.

Still, this is an impressive game for the PSP, and I'd still recommend it to fans of the series. But don't attempt a completionist run unless you have 30+ hours to spare.

Is a discrete game, capable of holding a player's attention for a good number of days, thanks to a series of captivating frantic and challenging competitions and the ability to customize your vehicle in an infinite number of ways. Technically it's a bit below the average of the best titles released at the launch of the PS2 but that doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's plagued by some flaws, such as shaky framerate and sometimes poor textures, which in other games of the same category you don't are encountered.