User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 160 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 8 out of 160
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  1. Jun 1, 2019
    2
    This game is absolute nightmare in case of game-play and absolute masterpiece at car customization. After at least 15 retries all the wonderful music and amazing cars will annoys you so strong that you never ever notice how good they are. AI is nightmare. Classic Rockstar Games insane cops. But instead of cops they are racers! What about cops? Just double berserk behavior of racers and youThis game is absolute nightmare in case of game-play and absolute masterpiece at car customization. After at least 15 retries all the wonderful music and amazing cars will annoys you so strong that you never ever notice how good they are. AI is nightmare. Classic Rockstar Games insane cops. But instead of cops they are racers! What about cops? Just double berserk behavior of racers and you got cops. Awful progress barriers on top of that. Frustration simulator '06. Expand
  2. Oct 25, 2022
    0
    If you ever wanted to know what garbage played like then you should definitely try this piece of trash out. Major blessings to everyone that reads this rant until the end:

    The worst case of rubberband AI? Check. I also love what I call the surprise nitro. Well surprise nitro is basically when the enemies already used nitro like 20 times while you're only allowed 2-3 or if you're driving
    If you ever wanted to know what garbage played like then you should definitely try this piece of trash out. Major blessings to everyone that reads this rant until the end:

    The worst case of rubberband AI? Check. I also love what I call the surprise nitro. Well surprise nitro is basically when the enemies already used nitro like 20 times while you're only allowed 2-3 or if you're driving behind an enemy, you can charge up your nitro for a free use, you're currently on the first spot right in front of the finish line and then the enemy uses nitro AGAIN to steal the victory, making you repeat some of the worst courses in racing game history.

    Talking about the AI and unfairness of it. Imagine this: you're driving a course in a city filled up with traffic to the brim, being the human that you are, you will inadvertently crash into some traffic cars from time to time. The enemy? Well they're basically the Michael Schumachers of street racing. 0 errors whatsoever, they will slow down whenever you're last, just to give you the illusion of a winning chance but other than that, they drive flawlessly. Every lane is filled up with multiple cars due to traffic? Perfectly dodged. A bus or a truck riding through a crossing and blocking off your path? Perfectly dodged.

    Speaking about the traffic. You're gonna love it. Whenever you're driving in a lane, out of f*cking nowhere a car decides to turn into exactly that lane and make you crash.
    You wanna drift around the corner? Well 9 times out of 10 there's gonna be some car or truck awaiting you, just for you to crash in
    Oh you're first and driving through a crossing? Surprise bus that appears at the perfect time just for you and decides to block off the ENTIRE street, just for you to crash

    Cops: Now this might be the biggest bs of the game. So the premise is that the game is about street racing, right? And street racing involves multiple contenders, roundabout 6-8, right? Well not to the cops. They will blatantly ignore any of your enemies and ONLY chase and crash into you. You have no idea how much these POS caused me a race because they either try to slam you, block off a corner or drive in front of you, so you get slowed down. Whoever made the AI for them - I hope you burn in hell.

    Respawning: This is the most amazing part of the game. So if you're ever crashing into a building or a getting flipped over, guess where the game respawns you? No, not on the street, that would actually make this a good game ike NFS Underground. No, no, no, this game respawns you right at the f*cking wall of the building. So from there you need to reverse and THEN get back in the lane. It makes you lose a couple of valuable seconds, so have fun catching up to the best AI in existence

    Story: There is none. You get a couple of cutscenes with the most cliched characters ever. A mechanic mexican whose every second word is ese? Check.

    Music: Man out of all the good hip hop tracks that you could've put in, Rockstar puts in some of the biggest garbage songs of all time, including artists that never stood the test of time when you'll hear the songs, you'll know why. The only question that always accompanies me while listening to the music is: Who on god's green earth thought to themself, Man this is some really good music to be street racing to ?!?! How can games like Need for Speed Underground/ Most Wanted or Burnout 3 hit the note perfectly (pun intended) but this game just flat out butchers it.

    In conclusion: Do yourself a favor, save your nerves and stay the f away from this steamin' pile of garbage that reeks of the most disgusting trash you've ever touched.

    To Rockstar: I'm so glad this franchise is dead.
    Expand
  3. CraigHochman
    Jun 8, 2008
    4
    The cars look and sound great. The cities are nicely detailed, and the game delivers a fantastic sense of speed and danger. However, the trial-and-error racing system stops being fun long before you win the last race. Save yourself time and money, and just punch yourself in the face repeatedly. In the end, it's more enjoyable and less frustrating than playing this game.

Awards & Rankings

9
17
#17 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2006
22
#22 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2006
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 19
  2. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. 88
    An insanely fast, choatic and progressive racing game that betters the second in the series with more accessible racing, without losing its competitive edge.
  2. It all adds up to a breakneck racing experience that offers a lot of fun (especially when you consider the online modes) for a little cash.
  3. 90
    The big new addition is Tokyo. Fortunately, the developers have made the city available by default right on the menu screen, so for those of you worried that you might have to play through the original three cities to get to the new stuff, worry not.