Need for Speed: Underground

Gameplay in Underground typically involves the player defeating opponents in illegal street races in the fictional Olympic City. The game introduces nitrous oxide for the first time in the series which can be used to boost the acceleration of the car for maximum speed; however, it can only be used once and cannot be used again until the player restarts the race.

There are several game modes present in Underground:

The game begins with a circuit race set in Olympic City, with the player driving a white Honda/Acura Integra Type R that sports a unique set of vinyl and a wide body kit. They dominantly win the race; only to be awakened from a daydream by a woman named Samantha.

Samantha is the player's contact in Olympic City, touring them across the import culture scene and illegal street racing therein. Albeit poking fun at the player's choice of car, she helps the player buy their first car and kickstarts the player by introducing them to local street racers such as Jose (who offers circuit events), Klutch (who offers drag events), and Dirt (who offers drift events). In event #7, she introduces him to T.J., a mechanic who rewards them with numerous performance upgrades and parts, provided they win their time trial challenges. Samantha also issues time trials to the player, her rewards being unique visual modifications instead.

Need for Speed: Underground was first announced in April 2003. Underground features 20 fully customizable licensed Vehicles from thirteen manufacturers, and hundreds of aftermarket parts from no fewer than 52 aftermarket parts manufacturers, including Bilstein, Holley Performance Products, GReddy, Sparco, HKS Power, PIAA Corporation and Enkei. The game's visual effects was designed under the supervision of Habib Zargarpour, who previously worked on the pod-racing sequence in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Need for Speed: Underground was released worldwide in November 2003 for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube (with the exception of Japan for PlayStation 2 and GameCube on December 25).

The game had a marketing budget of $5.8 million.

Need for Speed: Underground received positive reviews according to review aggregators GameRankings and Metacritic. Both gave it a score of 84.29% and 85 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version, 83.73% and 83 out of 100 for the GameCube version, 82.29% and 82 out of 100 for the PC version, 81.76% and 83 out of 100 for the Xbox version and 77.33% and 77 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance version. The only complaints critics had were the repetitive tracks, unbalanced rubberband AI, especially in the game's Easy mode, and the lack of free roam and damage in the game, with the latter only confining to detachment of license plates and side mirrors from cars during collisions, especially during Drag races.

In the UK, Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine gave the PS2 version a score of nine out of ten and made much of the illegal nature of the gameplay. They praised the speed but called the title as another driving game with Hollywood sparkle. In Japan, Famitsu gave the GameCube and PS2 versions a score of two eights and two nines, bringing it to a score of 34 out of 40.