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?