NFSU Rivals looks nice, but isn’t as impressive visually as its “rival” racer Ridge Racers. What you do get are 20 highly detailed models, tons of upgrade kits to choose from, and some very dimly lit tracks that give you that underground street racing appeal. The game does suffer from some serious jaggies that give the game a grittier appearance. You will also notice a good amount of slowdown when a few cars are bumping and grinding on the track. Apart from these minute issues, the game still runs fairly quick, and looks good while doing so. You still get the famous motion blur, spark effects, and some nice reflections off the car, while not in real time, still give the game some realistic detail. The NFS series really needs to add some car damage in the future; as the game would have, a greater appeal if your sweet ride got some dings here and there. Alas, the home version of NFSU 1 or 2 never had this, so not seeing such damage effects wasn’t shocking. Overall, NFSUR does not fail to impress, and while not as gorgeous as Ridge Racers, it does hold its own on the PSP.

Audio is outstanding featuring all the great sound effects, engine sounds, and EA Trax that the home version provides. Very little has been taken away when it came to the sound effects department, and the port-to-port translation is near spot on. This holds true for the engine effects, as each car model sports a different variation on engine sounds. Toss in some nice simulated surround sound and your ears are in for a treat. Love it or hate it, NFSUR has EA Trax, now entitled EA Pocket Trax, there are a wide variety of music to race to. The NFSUR song lists includes such bands as Rise Against, Helmet, Ministry, and many others that will get your blood pumping and your racing hands sweaty. Sounds good, say no more.

Game play is fast, it’s fun, and the controls are tight and responsive. That being said, the same issue plagues this game, as does the series up to this point. The main one worth mentioning is the freaking rubber band A.I. Nothing is more frustrating then the CPU easing you into a state of comfort, then once you get things rolling, handing you your butt at the end of each race. Sometimes after watching a few cars take each other out behind you, only to have them both take the lead just moments later is absurd, especially when you drove flawlessly. This “cheating” to win attitude from the CPU better not rear its ugly head in the next series, as I’m tired of forgiving such flaws due to otherwise solid game play. If you do not mind white knuckling it every race, this game is for you.

NFSUR offers a decent variety of cars, tracks, and upgrades, especially for a handheld. You even get to play wirelessly with up to 3 friends either close link or global, which adds a tremendous length to your replay value. This is a good thing since there isn’t a career mode to speak of this go round. This is a glaring omission I was unhappy to notice. I am sure that most developers think that since this is a handheld, there is no need for such depth or complexity... well you are wrong. Especially with a handheld that puts out near PS2 visuals, you better get to steppin’ and provide us with career mode like features in the future. There is plenty to do for gamers on the go, but you won’t put near as many hours as you did in even the first NFSU.

Overall, not a bad effort, and a good launch title for racing fans. I hope that if EA follows this up, the continue the same engine effort, yet fix that blasted A.I. and add some depth. If they can achieve this, PSP owners will be in bliss. As is, this game is a must own for any fan of the series, but some race fans may get more out of Ridge Racer in the end.