Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: Underground is a 2003 racing video game and the seventh installment in the Need for Speed series. It was developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. Three different versions of the game were produced: one for consoles and Microsoft Windows, and another for the Game Boy Advance. An arcade version was additionally developed by Global VR, and was published by Konami with assistance from Electronic Arts.
| Need for Speed: Underground | |
|---|---|
Cover art featuring a Nissan Skyline GT-R | |
| Developer(s) | EA Black Box Pocketeers (GBA) Global VR (Arcade) |
| Publisher(s) | EA Games Konami Electronic Arts (Arcade) |
| Series | Need for Speed |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, Arcade |
| Release | Microsoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube Game Boy Advance Arcade
|
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Underground rebooted the franchise, ignoring previous Need for Speed games that featured sports cars and exotics. It was the first game in the series to offer a career mode that features a comprehensive storyline, and a garage mode that allowed players to fully customize their cars with a large variety of brand-name performance and visual upgrades. All races take place in the fictional Olympic City. Rather than exotic cars, Underground featured vehicles associated with the import scene.
Underground was critically and commercially successful, and was followed by Need for Speed: Underground 2 in 2004.