While Need For Speed Underground Rivals gets the “honor” of being our first PSP review, it is by no means the best out of the launch selection. It is an excellent first generation attempt to translate the console versions of the game to a handheld, but it is noticeably scaled down especially after experiencing the recent Need For Speed Underground 2. This isn’t a bad thing, but for fans it may be a bit of a let down for those who may have been expecting an evolutionary step in the franchise. It’s probably a mission better suited for the consoles anyway and besides, Rivals is a great traditional arcade racer that has enough of the little goodies to keep you coming back for more. 

While Need For Speed Underground 2 took on open ended gameplay, Rivals scales back and simplifies things returning to the more classic race by race system. As always, you navigate through the menus and choose your car and mode. The game includes the basic circuit mode in which you race in a series of events gaining money and new tracks along the way. This is the bulk of the game and the other modes are simply icing. Drift Zone, Drag, Street Cross and Nitrous Run are all pretty self explanatory. Drift Zone is the new addition to the series as it has you racing around corners trying to perfect your drift and achieve higher scores. It’s addictive and Nitrous Run complements it as the two best side sections of the game.

Rivals features a head to head mode for wireless ad-hoc multiplayer for up to four people in your local area. Unfortunately it doesn’t support online Wi-Fi as the box suggests but its something we will probably see in next year’s inevitable iteration. The included party mode is interesting but pretty gimmicky, allowing you and four people to use the same PSP to achieve better times and placements. All it serves to do is make you wish every friend you had could just walk into a store and pick up a PSP.

 

The game features over 20 different cars and 10 tracks making for a pretty slim package compared to other racers on the market, but with what’s presented there is a lot to love. The cars are highly customizable with the garage mode and the different visual styles of each vehicle really make for some interesting variety. EA is quick to tout the new inclusion of muscle cars into the roster. They don’t add much to the game, but it will definitely be a treat for speed freaks. The tracks are well designed but the secret paths and shortcuts are far too obvious to provide any feeling of accomplishment for players.  

Control wise, Rivals is pretty solid. It’s not particularly tight or realistic but it’s an arcade racer at heart with little to compare itself against a game as detailed as Gran Turismo 4, but that is essentially the point, it’s not supposed to be. The analog nub is responsive, but I felt the D-Pad is much better suited for the game. Collision detection is the only area where the game really shows its dark side. Since there are no damage physics, the second you hit a wall (or a pillar that sits in the center of the road), the car will come to a complete stop, allowing every racer to pass by you and its not as easy as it should be to get back into the race. It’s just a small quibble but it happened enough to be considered a notable annoyance. The computer AI is quite competent but don't put up too much of a fight if you start leading by a large distance.

As far as the visuals go, they are quite detailed and pleasing to the eye. The only noticeable issue is the overly repetitive environments and the bouts of sometimes intense slowdown that occurs randomly. It’s not a game killer but it’s definitely something that should have been ironed out by launch. The car models are detailed and the blur effect is as toned down as it possibly could be considering the PSP has its very own blur (ghosting). It overall makes for a solid looking game, but definitely not the best in the bunch.