Why Was Need for Speed: Underground A Big Deal?

00:00:00.340you

00:00:04.850yes Need for Speed Underground was just

00:00:09.270one of those games you know now by that

00:00:12.510I mean a game that hit at a specific

00:00:13.950right time that a certain generation of

00:00:16.260people remember very specifically it's a

00:00:18.720solid game and it's a perfect slice of

00:00:20.820not only games at the time but also just

00:00:22.980as a weird piece of early two-thousands

00:00:25.020of nostalgia now the game may have aged

00:00:34.620a bit and Need for Speed games have

00:00:36.450gotten far more complex but we think

00:00:38.429underground was just one of the games in

00:00:40.260the series where they got everything

00:00:41.879exactly right so let's break down what

00:00:43.980made Need for Speed Underground great

00:00:47.160[Music]

00:00:53.809not only was it a fun game but I think

00:00:56.399it makes sense to start with a history

00:00:57.899lesson here by the time underground came

00:00:59.760around me first speed was already an

00:01:01.530established racing franchise dominating

00:01:03.600the PlayStation days and really becoming

00:01:05.339popular with the release of Need for

00:01:06.960Speed Hot Pursuit 2 in 2002 EA changed

00:01:10.350gears for its next release in 2003 at

00:01:12.689that time and a snapshot of pop culture

00:01:14.610when folks mostly thought of racing they

00:01:16.619would think of 2001 s The Fast and the

00:01:18.509Furious and even closer to Underground's

00:01:20.670release 2 fast 2 furious I'm really glad

00:01:23.520I'm able to mention that in a video so

00:01:25.439in the fall of 2003 EA released Need for

00:01:27.869Speed Underground for PC GameCube ps2

00:01:30.930and Xbox and eventually also dropping an

00:01:33.240arcade version and a Game Boy Advance

00:01:35.280version and BAM it was absolutely a

00:01:37.740right place right time type of thing

00:01:39.930because much of the world had Street

00:01:41.460super car racing fever the game was

00:01:43.469awesome and fun and felt really fresh

00:01:45.869for the time it took me for speed sense

00:01:47.579of speed and arcade-style racing and

00:01:49.469added a modern twist street racing was

00:01:51.990intense

00:01:52.649from the beginning of a race to the end

00:01:54.119and you could slip up and lose the lead

00:01:55.530in the last crucial seconds of a race it

00:01:58.350would happen to me a lot because I would

00:01:59.729clip a fence and you know because of the

00:02:01.320game's technological limitations at the

00:02:02.850time you couldn't crash through the

00:02:04.289fence and it was just completely solid

00:02:05.820and would put you in a dead stop and it

00:02:07.740would happen at the very end of a really

00:02:08.970freaking hard goddamn race but whatever

00:02:10.860that's besides the point drifting around

00:02:12.150turns for extra points and using nitrous

00:02:14.099boosts to get ahead

00:02:15.120petition was the main focus of most

00:02:16.860modes in career mode and stuff like

00:02:18.480circuit race sprint races the classic

00:02:20.970knockout mode and then there was the

00:02:22.890awesome drift mode this took an almost

00:02:24.930entirely different gameplay flow and

00:02:26.819felt like a game within a game the

00:02:28.620driving mechanics here were changed with

00:02:30.480a focus on how long you can consistently

00:02:32.790and cleanly combo drift and slide around

00:02:35.250a serpentine track it was an addictive

00:02:37.110mode because the longer you would slide

00:02:38.700around turns and in the lane the higher

00:02:40.500your score try too hard and mess up and

00:02:42.720hit the side of a track and you lose all

00:02:44.129your points so it's like a gamble it was

00:02:46.440one of the first mainstream games to

00:02:48.120feature street drifting so prominently

00:02:50.220then there was also a drag race mode

00:02:51.870which was another mode that felt almost

00:02:53.700entirely different and addictive and

00:02:55.470served as a really nice diversion from

00:02:57.420the standard racing you had to pay

00:02:58.920attention to proper shifting use of

00:03:00.690nitrous drafting and worry about not

00:03:02.909blowing out your engine and all of that

00:03:04.769added up to be pretty awesome regardless

00:03:07.109of mode though this Need for Speed just

00:03:09.000had an excellent sense of speed thanks

00:03:10.829to on-screen effects that made it feel

00:03:12.690that the world was really flashing by

00:03:14.400you yeah it doesn't look as smooth and

00:03:15.95920:18 if I'm totally honest but at the

00:03:18.390time hitting the nitrous on a

00:03:19.799straightaway really gave you an

00:03:21.450adrenaline rush that was of course

00:03:23.220thanks in part to the visuals blurring

00:03:25.319taillights

00:03:25.950the effect of the air whooshing past you

00:03:27.900and neon reflecting off of consistently

00:03:29.910rain-soaked streets really gave the game

00:03:31.799a distinct almost next-gen look for the

00:03:34.290time not to mention the real star of the

00:03:36.090show the music men oh my god another

00:03:38.760aspect of this game that was totally a

00:03:40.230product of its time but for its time it

00:03:42.389was pretty great depending on what you

00:03:43.680were listening to there was Nate Dogg TI

00:03:46.230PD Pablo the Crystal Method and then

00:03:48.720there were stuff like rancid and Rob

00:03:50.489Zombie not to mention of course will

00:03:53.069John an Eastside boys get low it almost

00:03:55.560felt like the entire game was built

00:03:57.060around this goddamn song to the

00:03:58.709marketing to the very main menu which

00:04:00.599would always greet you with the start of

00:04:02.310the song it is really impressive that a

00:04:04.530song so popular and mainstream on the

00:04:06.660radio at the time managed to get

00:04:08.489featured in the forefront of a video

00:04:10.139game but really for me the game was an

00:04:11.879excellent blend of fun arcade racing

00:04:13.980with a good amount of progression that

00:04:15.690encouraged you to play and win myself

00:04:17.880and many others found themselves

00:04:19.320completely addicted to the game thanks

00:04:21.299to the progression and customization

00:04:22.770like progressing through the game would

00:04:24.539unlock you a variety of different Street

00:04:26.190upgrades for all different types of car

00:04:27.760and for the time it felt insanely

00:04:29.470customizable you could spend hours

00:04:31.270tuning and tricking out your real world

00:04:33.250acura integra Nissan Skyline Golf GTI

00:04:36.130Hyundai Tiburon Honda Civic to name a

00:04:38.680few including my favorite the Toyota

00:04:40.600Supra from how much nitrous II could use

00:04:42.550down to the specific types of color

00:04:44.200schemes tires body kits racing stripes

00:04:46.600and lighting making your car and seeing

00:04:48.820it in action was half the fun really for

00:04:51.160me the game was an excellent blend of

00:04:52.750arcade racing with a good amount of

00:04:54.460progression that encouraged you to play

00:04:56.080and win to make your car cooler

00:04:58.000sometimes it's a formula as simple as

00:05:00.250that that just works out so well

00:05:02.080Need for Speed undergrad eventually went

00:05:03.640on to sell 15 million copies worldwide

00:05:05.950at the end of its run after also being

00:05:08.110considered a best-seller on all the

00:05:10.000major platforms underground ii would

00:05:11.710release in 2004 and and a more open

00:05:13.750world structure way more customization

00:05:16.270and types of vehicles like suvs and most

00:05:19.360would agree it was just as awesome as

00:05:21.580the first if not the better more

00:05:23.350stronger game in the series it will go

00:05:25.000on to sell 11 million copies and to some

00:05:27.640of us fans out there Need for Speed

00:05:29.200hasn't quite lived up to the underground

00:05:31.120games since they've thrown every type of

00:05:33.580racing idea and concept at the wall to

00:05:35.260varying degrees of success there are

00:05:37.630some great games in there but none quite

00:05:39.280feel like the original underground games

00:05:41.530they came closer to 2015 standalone deed

00:05:44.320for Speed game but racing as a concept

00:05:46.600has somewhat moved on honestly if you

00:05:48.580just ask me

00:05:49.330EA should just make more underground

00:05:50.950games with all the early two-thousands

00:05:52.810cheese that comes with it but again

00:05:54.400that's just made we do want to hear from

00:05:55.930you guys down in the comments if you

00:05:57.160have any memories from Need for Speed

00:05:59.020Underground 1 or 2 let us know not only

00:06:01.330that if you have been playing racing

00:06:02.680games for a very long time whether it's

00:06:04.630a Need for Speed game or not we want to

00:06:06.640know what your favorite is we like to

00:06:08.350always gauge interest for future videos

00:06:10.030we talk about our favorite games

00:06:11.380sometimes but of course we want to hear

00:06:13.000yours so let us know and if you enjoyed

00:06:14.830this video

00:06:15.250clicking the like button does really

00:06:16.690help us out we really appreciate it and

00:06:18.490if you are new you should consider

00:06:19.660subscribing because we put out stuff

00:06:21.100like this every single day but as always

00:06:22.570thanks for watching and we'll see you

00:06:24.250guys next time

00:06:25.090[Music]