Need for Speed: ProStreet [PS2]

WATCH NEED FOR SPEED PRO STREET VIDEOS

It wasn't until I tuned and tweaked my Corvette to run a half-mile drag in 11 seconds that I fell in love with Need for Speed ProStreet. To put that in perspective, that's eight football fields in 11 seconds. At that speed, well over 250 mph, your hair is known to catch fire.

Sure, it takes great driving and cat-like reflexes to clock such a time. But this race was won before it ever started, in the garage. After tuning everything from gear ratios to suspension stiffness to nitrous timing to even the shape of the front bumper, the top speed of my 'Vette shot through the roof. Precious seconds fell off my drag times and I came away feeling not only like a master driver, but also as a master mechanic.

That's the real beauty of ProStreet, the latest installment in EA Canada's racing franchise. You don't simply unlock new cars to drive. You make them your own, an extension of yourself with four wheels and tank full of nitrous. This is all made possible because EA scrapped the old, arcade formula for which NFS was known and opted to create the first ever street racing simulation. Now that the cops have cracked down on illegal midnight races for pink slips, street racers have taken their cars to closed tracks like Infinion Speedway, Tokyo's Shunto Expressway and parts of the Autobahn. Instead of looking in your rearview for police lights, you can look forward to a world of sponsorships and the all important race day.

The core gameplay in ProStreet is designed around the race day, where racers bring their cars to a closed location to compete in four different events: grip, drag, drift and speed challenge. Grip is your traditional race mode; drag tests your reflexes in quarter and half mile strips; drift is about mastering control of your car through tough turns; speed challenge forces you to redline it through 20 km of track. Fans of Burnout will be pleased. Each of the events has a distinct feel to it, and you'll enjoy improving throughout your career.

The race day is designed to bring a spectacle. Teams bring cars specially tuned for each of the four events -- and even a backup car in case you total one of your starters -- and show them off to scantily clad race groupies. A DJ calls the action from the booth while techno music bumps over the speakers. This realistic representation of street racing is a radical departure from the canyon-jumping, police-evading days of Need for Speed's past, and that's a good thing. The end result is one of the most well-rounded racers that EA has ever created and arguably the best game in the entire franchise.

Sure that's a bold statement, but this time around EA manages to make you emotionally invested in your stable of high-performance rides, something very few racers or sports titles in general have ever managed to do. Consider that you buy a car, a car you've had your eye on for several races. Once in your garage, you paint it, add decals and graphics. Then you pop the hood and add new engines, nitrous systems, drive trains, superchargers, brakes, tires, wheels and body kits. You tweak each of the parts to your liking to maximize performance. You could spend hours just painting your car. Finally, you begin to dust the competition.