Fun racer; cool cars; sweet music; classic Need for Speed (1998).
I just received this game today, and have already almost unlocked all of the game's rewards (except for one reward). Here's a quick breakdown of this game: you race cars (illegally) through various open-road settings. All of the cars are some sort of sports car. Settings can range from rural to city, and from rural to desert. Tracks can be altered to take place in the daytime or at nighttime, as well whether or not to include weather effects like rain or snow; tracks can be raced forward or backward, as well as "mirrored" (where a track's horizontal orientation is "flip-flopped"). There are two difficult settings to choose from: "beginner," the easier difficulty, and "expert," the more difficult setting where the AI of other racers are improved for better driving skills. I won't go into great detail, but there are different modes to choose from - the two modes you must play to unlock rewards are "Knockout Mode" and "Tournament Mode;" there is also a "Practice Mode" for practicing; "Single Race Mode" for "simple" racing (no cops); and "Hot Pursuit Mode," which is similar to "Single Race Mode," except there are now cops on tracks. I like this game already for many reasons. One is the difficulty - it seems to have a good balance between "not too easy" and "not too hard" (especially "expert mode"). You can choose between "simulation" and "arcade" realism settings to alter the realism of driving dynamics. Another reason I like this game is the graphics - I had the PC version of this game for a short time a long time ago, and from memory, the graphics in the PS1 version seem pretty comparable to the PC version - the track graphics look amazing, and the cars, although lacking detail like interiors and side mirrors (I think the lack of side mirrors are basically the only graphical difference between the PS1 version and the PC version besides resolution options, which the PC version has), cast reflections and shadows which are a nice touch; the graphics, which already look nice for something that came out 15 years ago, look even better when playing this game with a PS2 and having the "enhanced graphics" activated. The real-time lighting effects, especially when racing at night, look amazing. The frame rate varies from smooth to a bit choppy, but never seems to become "unplayable." Something else I like about this game is it seems much more "family friendly" than more recent Need for Speed games I have played - I don't hear any cursing or blasphemy, nor do I see anything inappropriate (ex. skimpy fashion) - this is back when the Need for Speed games seemed to have the family in mind, which only seemed to last until the "Underground" era, at least for the most part (I haven't played any of the Need for Speed games beyond Carbon, so I don't know fully about any of those games). Note this game is rated "E." One downside to this game is it seems to lack a good replay-ability factor; once you unlock all of the rewards, there's only so much you can do? I think once this point is reached, this game becomes one of those games you break out every once in a while to play around with - I haven't tried two-player in this game yet, but I would imagine that if you have a friend to play with, it would make the game more enjoyable verses playing it alone. If you're looking for a fun 90's racing game, or a fun game in general, I think this game would be a good pick! God bless!Read full review
