Need for Speed: Prostreet

Compete against those bad guys in a boy-racer guise

The Need for Speed (NFS) games have been getting more tech-heavy with every release.

What started with driving fast but reasonable cars has grown into Prostreet, which is clearly aimed at bling-heavy kids who dream of owning a Japanese racer festooned with techno-trickery. There’s also a heavy slant on customising the car.

Catering to modern tastes doesn’t make this a bad racing game. What does make it a bad game is the graphics, gameplay and controls.

You play as Ryan Cooper, a boy racer making a name for himself in the world of street racing. A story element brings in bad guys against whom to compete, and progress continues in a linear fashion.

However, confusing menu controls and level selection make a real hash of this progression. Menus quickly become spider diagrams and you must complete a selection of events in each level before new areas open up, so you can't skip the less fun time trials and drag races.

The races themselves are acceptable, with realistic handling and challenging computer opponents. The cars can be damaged as you race, with the damage carried through between races. The game also gains points for being compatible with all manner of joypads and steering wheels. We used a Thrustmaster wheel with force feedback and it worked superbly.

Graphics are fine but not at all spectacular, and the levels and maps can be quite dull. Sega Rally, for instance, looks much better and previous NFS games had more detailed tracks. The whole screen also rattles with acceleration, to simulate speed, which is annoying and can’t be switched off, while the multiplayer mode is poorly put together. Ultimately we’d rather be playing Sega Rally.