Keeping with the standard idea presented in the other versions, Pro Streets takes away the open world environment of previous Need for Speed titles in favor of a more straightforward track by track approach to racing. No cops, no thugs, no fly by paint jobs ala GTA here. Instead you simply select from a menu the race you want to participate in, choose your vehicle, and away you go.

However, with all of the glam and style of the console Pro Street titles muted down for the PSP release, something is definitely lost in translation. PSP Pro Street feels like the neglected child of the family, with a bland menu design, sub par music selection, and some downgraded vehicle options that just leave everything feeling incredibly bland. For instance, you can't even manipulate on car decals, only window stickers, paint color and tint. The options you do have are pretty limited, and the car selection is mediocre. Also, you start off with two vehicles only, and are forced to buy just one to use.

Money only comes from winning races, as in most titles, but the cash is pretty limited, forcing you to replay tracks that are full of boring design choices to build up a decent bank for upgrades. Those upgrades never really feel worth it either, they add only a light amount of bonuses to your vehicle, things you'll only really notice when you start to reach the upper level of what's available. Also, you can unlock more vehicles by finishing races, but you never know what you're going to get. Keep in mind you'll also need to buy these cars as well, and so you'll be forced to play the boring races over and over again for these too.

It doesn't help that the cars all feel incredibly sluggish, both in speed and control. Taking turns in the early vehicles is a dangerous game of finding the right moment to let off the gas, tap the brakes over and over, and push down on the ignition. Failure to do things properly will have you slamming into the walls over and over again, and to make matters worse you'll need to pay to repair the damage done after each race, eating into your already thin wallet situation. This isn't to say that I want a game that feels like a complete cakewalk, but I want my arcade racers to at least feel fun. Need for Speed has never been a simulation racer, but certain mechanics at hand in Pro Street feel a bit too much like Gran Turismo without the polish and fine tuning that title goes thru.

Pro Street's attempt to simulate speed by blurring the environment is distracting at best, and actually impedes your ability to read turns as you progress to faster vehicles. This effect holds true for other vehicles that are matching your speed next to you, which in reality makes no sense at all. Even with the blur effect it still feels like your car is just simply chugging along thru a wet painting, and the sense of speed doesn't manage to translate.

Also, while next-gen Pro Street was an incredibly pretty game to say the least, the PSP version takes one hell of a hit when it comes to visuals. Tons of jagged edges, along with a pretty barren environment, combined with only 4 cars on screen at once makes everything feel a bit like a dialed in effort. We know the PSP is capable of much more, so why couldn't things have been improved upon here?

The biggest positive I can find in the title is the Driver Intuition feature, which basically adds an RPG element of leveling up your racer as you complete each race. Depending on the difficulty of the race you selected, you'll gain a certain amount of experience. Once you level up you'll acquire a bonus to various stats that you'll carry with you always, regardless of whether you switch vehicles or not. Some might prefer to see stats only applied to their vehicles, but I dig the idea of building up my own particular racer with a set of skills that grow over time.

Basically Pro Street on PSP is everything you don't want in a console to handheld port. With a bit more polish the control issues could have been fixed, and it would have made sense to improve not only the car models, but the environment as well, or at least upped the amount of onscreen opponents. Instead we're left with a watered down, inferior version of a racing title that easily outclassed by other games in the genre on PSP. Avoid this one folks, there's no fun to be found here.