Hello to all my favorite Nerd Maniacs! today, I propose the second issue of the Hall Of Legends column! After an excellent start dictated by a very retro title, we continue our adventure through the Legends of gaming with a "sports" title, and even more recent: we are talking about Need For Speed Underground! The game sees the light in the winter of 2003, published by Electronic Arts. It was so successful that it deserved a second chapter.
The game presented, compared to its predecessors, the total absence of the police, on the other hand, the eternal and hated traffic could not be missing! Furthermore, we are not yet faced with a properly realistic title, in fact in Need For Speed Underground the vehicles cannot be damaged (an aspect that after all, given the validity of the game, can be more than overlooked). The title has become a legend in addition to the good gameplay, the many challenges it can offer, and of course the incredible changes in power and aesthetics that can be applied to your cars. The ultimate goal of the game is to defeat all the famous drivers on the list and overtake them in the overall standings.
The types of challenges Need For Speed Underground puts us to the test are:
-Circuit race
- Sprint race
- Acceleration race
-Sbandata competition
- Circuits -
This is the classic race. Go, take a few laps, whoever arrives first wins and the last one pays a drink. There is also a variant of the circuit race mode which is the knockout race, in which the last of each lap is eliminated. Obviously the last car left in the race wins. It is not a new mode, in fact we also saw it for example on Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit, released in 1998.
- Sprint -
This is also a classic race, with the variant that the track will not form a ring, but will run from point A to point B. Sprint races generally take less time than circuits.
- Acceleration -
Mode very popular with players. It is a straight race between 4 cars, in which the ability to increase the gear at the right time, the quick reflexes to avoid any obstacles such as lane changes and traffic, and the exploitation of the opponents' wake will be tested.
- Skidding -
These are the Drift races. They take place on special tracks on which it is easy to slide. The aim of these races is to accumulate the most points within the required laps. You need excellent cornering control, and an excellent ability to chain the skids to form a single and with a greater multiplier. Warning! By touching the barriers, the score is reset! It is much preferable to use rear-wheel drive cars, which are obviously more suitable for "tailing".
The soundtrack is very respectable, and can boast among the available tracks songs like The Only by Static-X or Born Too Slow by The Crystal Method. It became infamous thanks to Need For Speed Underground, the song Get Low by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, which we propose again below.
Why include such a game in our Hall Of Legends? Simply because it made history of its kind! An adrenaline-pumping game, which for the first time offers the player an enviable variety of cosmetic changes, and races that are always different from each other. The only thing we could say is missing from Need For Speed Underground, is the ability to roam freely around the city, a gem that was promptly added in the second chapter. I feel compelled to recommend this title to anyone who has never played it, even if with next-gen consoles at the door it may obviously seem antiquated. There is nothing left to say but ...
See you at the next issue! a big surprise awaits you!
Happy Game!
- Jan-Meister -
