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Need for Speed: Underground for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed: Underground for PlayStation 2 is a racing game about street racing and customising your own car. You begin with a modest vehicle and earn money from winning events to buy new parts. Officially licensed models from manufacturers including Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Subaru provide the foundation. You change both performance and appearance, with items such as different bumpers, wheels, spoilers and paint.
Events take place on nighttime streets, among traffic, tunnels and sharp corners. Circuit races require several laps, while a sprint takes you from start to finish along a single route. Drag racing revolves around well-timed gear changes and avoiding traffic in time. Drift events instead judge how you slide the car under control. Each event type therefore needs a different approach, even when you use the same car.
During the career, you unlock new cars and upgrades. You choose which parts to buy with your earnings and when to switch to another model. Nitrous helps you accelerate, but choosing when to apply that extra power remains important. Overtaking space, traffic and the shape of the next corner together determine how much advantage you gain. Outside the career, you can also start a single race and play locally with two players on a split screen.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Need for Speed: Underground for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: Underground appeared in 2003, developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. Within the Need for Speed series, it followed Hot Pursuit 2 from 2002. Underground shifted attention towards urban street racing, recognisable tuner cars and parts that gave a vehicle its own appearance. Nighttime environments and building up a car became established parts of this new direction.
EA initially announced the game for early 2004, but moved its release to autumn 2003 during development. Licensed car brands and parts manufacturers were central to its presentation. Customisation was intended to change both a street racer’s performance and appearance. Different racing formats also had a clear place, including drag racing, where gear-change timing became a separate skill alongside cornering.
Need for Speed: Underground 2 followed in 2004, expanding the concept with a freely explorable city and more detailed tuning. The first Underground shows the foundation in a more direct sequence of races. You move from event to event, expanding your choice of cars and parts along the way. This PlayStation 2 release therefore preserves the start of the Underground period, before finding races and shops while driving freely became part of the career.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed: Underground 2 adds the freely explorable city of Bayview, where you drive to shops and races. Need for Speed: Underground takes you more directly from event to event. Both revolve around tuner cars and changing performance and appearance. The main differences are the space between events and the sequel’s more detailed tuning.
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition combines street racing with an open city and extensive vehicle customisation. Need for Speed: Underground shares that attention to your own car, but uses defined race courses. In both, you choose a line through traffic; Underground also alternates between separate circuit, drag and drift events.
Juiced also lets you modify cars and take part in street races, with added attention to respect, betting and building your own crew. Need for Speed: Underground concentrates progression on won events and unlocked parts. Both link driving to your garage, but have you build money and reputation in different ways.
Burnout 3: Takedown rewards aggressive driving and eliminating opponents through collisions. Need for Speed: Underground mainly has you work on a good racing line, gear-change timing and controlled drifts. Both give speed and traffic a major role. In Underground, you also invest in the parts and appearance of your own vehicle.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 revolves around fast sports cars and races where police can intervene with pursuits and roadblocks. Need for Speed: Underground shifts attention to nighttime streets and modifying tuner cars. Both use traffic and corners to keep a race exciting, with a different reason to continually adjust your line.
