I always “picked” a random building and pretended that was my house 😂 Man so glad I grew up with this game

Instead of driving Rachel's car straight back to her, you can also use it to do some street races before that. You will get several angry messages from her asking what takes you so long. When you finally arrive at the dealership you get an alternate scene

I'm baffled at how modern devs still can't design a map as good as UG2 or MW05, not in terms of graphics of course but in terms of technicality, elevation, and just the vibe and personality of a city. These maps are so small yet 15-16 years later they are still so much fun to just drive around. Black box really was a special studio. RIP.

This was the game that got me into tuner car culture, I used to spend hours customising my cars and now 17years later I work as a vehicle wrap designer doing the same thing, it’s crazy, I’ve got such good memories in that city

When I was a kid, this games graphics was like NFS heats back then

This was really the perfect era of arcade handling. It felt like like enhanced reality, you could do whatever you wanted with the cars, but there was still skill in knowing proper racing lines, overtaking and breaking points. After nfs Carbon, every arcade racer started to feel heavy and sticky to drive, like you were on rails and didn't quite have control over your car. I wish modern game engines could support this kind of handling

I know Most Wanted is often regarded as the most well known/popular NFS game, but UG2 has a special place in my heart. This game was my childhood among a few other non-NFS titles and I will remember it dearly, hopefully come back to it a few more times. So many cool memories

Love this game. Have had this game since I was 35. I even have a copy of the game still unopened. I would love them to do a remaster of this game. It would be so awesome. I still video game at almost 52. Need for Speed is my go to everytime. Looking forward to the new one next year.

This was the first racing game I had ever played, and it left an unmistakable mark on my childhood. It drove me to play more racing games - eventually moving to Forza, Gran Turismo, later NFS titles, and more - and instilled a passion for cars and racing that has driven me into an automotive trade school, career, and beyond.

maybe I’m showing my age but that soundtrack is still unmatched imo

I’ve had this installed in my PC since forever, I find myself playing it every few years just for nostalgic purposes. This game truly was magical when I was a kid back in 2004.

The city is amazing. I will never foget finding the exact same location that was featured on the game disc cover - the 5 or so fountains and the overhanging lights. The city truly has a personality.

I wish there was a digital download for this game that you could still purchase

man i remember staying up til 2 in the morning playing this game with my brothers in the late 2000s early 2010s, doing drag races against each other for hours upon hours, taking turns playing story mode, and messing around and just customizing a bunch of cars. i was probably 7 or 8 around then so i had no idea what any of the cars were, but playing it again now that i am a “car guy” pretty much all thanks to my brother introducing me to this game is just weird that these cars were right in front of me the whole time and i had no idea what they were. but now my older brothers 22 and moved out, i’m turning 18 this year, and my little brothers turning 15 in a month and it’s funny how hes asking me stuff about cars i used to ask my older brother about. wish i could go back and relive those times playing this game, but i’m glad that my lil brothers following in mine and our older brothers footsteps of liking cars. great video bro

the real pain that only OG's can feel it to this date is , when you beat all racers in the open world and then when you drive you rarely bump into a racer because all of them are gone :'( , i used to tear on this sad fact

After all these years I still hold NFSU2 soundtrack dear to my heart, it actually had some insanely wide variety of genres and they all worked while on road. I'm pretty sure it introduced me to bands like Skindred and Mudvayne

When discussing which NFS is the best among players, Underground 2 and Most Wanted come very often in top choices. But to me, UG2 is where it's at. No frills nor gimmicks, just content, content, content. Laced with driving physics that still serves as an exemple, on how a great arcade handling should aim for.

True frustration is getting spun out on the last lap in street x

I played this game all this 16 years. Whenever i get stoned and feel for a ride i jump on my skyline and chill into the streets. The best nfs game ever.

Nostalgia overload! I was 10 in 2004, and looking back it was such a ridiculously good year for racing games on the PS2. Gran Turismo 4, Burnout 3, WRC 4 and this gem really defined my my love for racing games.

First thing that comes to mind when thinking about this game is an Escalade with a ricer body kit and underglow

I remember there being an SUV mode in this game, I think you should check that out too!

NFSU2 was my first NFS game ever, I got to play it on PC and I remember being so amazed at the sparks when the car hits a wall.

The sound track of this was just everything!

The starting cars are surprisingly good in this game, the AE86 Corolla just becomes a handling monster late game, did a full run of the game with just it and smoked everyone, it felt amazing.

I've had this game installed for the past 14 years and I play it from time to time. Best NFS ever.

Just remembered when playing this at 9:53 if u go full throttle and hit the corner you can wall ride it and it was just my fave thing to do as a kid

A huge hit of nostalgia, I didn’t know I needed. Thank you

This and MW '05 were the best games in the series. If your a fan and haven't played them, you owe yourself a play through.

As someone who completed Carbon a few weeks ago, I can say that still holds up fairly well!

My son introduced me to NFSU in the early 2000’s and I was hooked. Loved NFSU2, hated Carbon, enjoyed Most Wanted, but always went back to 2. I still play it (when I get time) via the original NGC discs on our old Wii. I wish I could clean up the graphics and resolution, that’s the only thing that lets the game down now.

Before I even watch this, I'm just going to chime in and say this shit holds up in 2021. I still play it all the time, and love it. Time to watch the video. lol

Always love to see a HokiHoshi NFS video 😍

11:47 Your comment on hitting a car around a blind corner on the last lap of a ten minute race is the reason I still have anger issues to this day

I remember that as a kid I was driving around downtown in my Subaru Impreza with as close as real life representation of decals and visuals as possible, with Riders of the Storm in the background. This is a gold classic for me. Hell, I still remember one downhill drifting challenge to this day. And the best thing is - it aged well :')

there was always something about cruising the revs and then powering on through the streets, hearing the deep high gear low rev rumble climbing to that sweet spot gear change was always a good feeling @3:22

This game will always have a special place in my heart, even when I get to be like 60 years old.

I started playing this game again after you did, with a friend who never owned it back in the day, and oh boy it's so fun! Nice video Hoki, I liked your review!!

"The drifting can be rough" naaahh man! This drifting was my fortè

Ahhh the happiness I'd feel when getting a text from the body shop in that game saying I have new unlocks is incomparable Also that shot of the city skyline from the hill is actually quite pretty wow

Honestly, while I understand your criticism of the "dated" customization options, as well as the major flaws regarding the visual rating system, believe it or not, there are still a handful of car enthusiasts (including myself) who still very much enjoy the outrageous styling of the early 2000s tuner car scene. I've never really found it difficult to make a car with a max visual rating that still looks good to me. Though I've heard from pretty much everybody else that they feel like the game forces them to "ruin" their cars to progress.

I feel like the tuning was overshadowed by the visual customisation, but it was pretty awesome and seriously made a difference. I went in depth with it when I played through again a couple years ago. I fine tuned the setups for different race modes and made noticeable gains, especially helped for drift I found.

If anybody ever got stuck in the game with no more races in the world map ( it happened to me) what you need to do is check your career status by pressing T ( default key on PC) and on each stage you have certain requirements. For example you need to win maybe 35 world events ( normal circle races) , 3 sponsor races (the X races on the map) , 7 U.R.L races ( yellow circle) and to be on DVD covers (which requires a certain visual rep (the car may need to have 5 stars or more etc). If you did all the races and nothing happens just check the career status and it will show you what you still need to do, for example I completed all the races, all sponsored races and my URL races were 6/7 but no more on the map. Also the cover of a DVD required me to have my car on a 6 star rating so after I upgraded my car to 6 stars, I was contacted by Rachel to go for the DVD photo shoot and then the last U.R.L race appeared. After that I have unlocked the next part of the map. Now I did it the vanilla way but if you want to skip that just install the rep removed mod that this gentleman talks about and the game will be less tedious.

At that time, this game was magical. I remembered watching my old brother playing NFS Underground 1 and 2. As a kid I having a hard time playing it on PC, and my mom told my brother to teach me how to play it. Then years later my parents bought me PS2 console, and i bought both the undergorund, carbon and undercover. Great video!

Dude this review! You said everything I've been thinking about this game for years including stuff I think about when I replay it again. I love how you mentioned the customisation options for the tuning as well, most of the time people forget just how advanced that was. That feeling of the world being somehow less after completing the game was something I also experienced. I would still dive into the map regardless just to drive around or drift around the hills of Bayview. I do honestly believe that new open world racing games like Forza Horizon and the likes all were inspired by NFSU2 in some way

4:15 no fast travel really worked in NFS U2 because the world was so compact and like you said, open worlds in racing games was a new thing. Tbh graphics were seriously impressive for this time as well. Soundtrack also carried this game and engine noise was also superb. I played hundreds of hours of this game as a 8 year old kid, switching between some WRC games and Midtown madness 1 / 2 (so difficult!!) and mashing away on my keyboard lmao. 7:00 Also I think you forgot about Midnight club 3 and LA here about customization, you could even customize interior in those, seriously underrated series with great detail tbh, especially LA, basically Gta V a couple of years before release.

One the things I miss the most was the possibility to try all the cars. Even with limited slots, once you finished the game you could tune any car of the car collection, save it and ride it.

I just finished this game yesterday after more than a decade and I left amazed at how good it is, not just for its age, but overall. The only point I disagree with you is regarding the star* system, to me it is not only an integral part of the game, but a fun challenge in and of itself. Building a increasingly high rated car while still being satisfied with how it looks often gave me very satisfying "eureka" moments of finding the right combination of parts, and I was left with the distinct impression that the game progresses at precisely the right pace to not fell frustrating with the star ranking.

I'm 25 now , i played this when i was 8 years old... scuh amazing memories... I'm now playing underground 1 and 2 because im depressed and lonely these games are actually so healing... i love the vibe playing these at night when its quiet

The Holy Trinity ... NFS Underground, Tokyo Xtreme Racer & Gran Turismo .

Just played the whole thing front to back on hard with the upgraded resolution pack. Man it feels so good to unlock Beacon Hill and then Jackson Heights, Towards the end of stage 4 I really struggled with the races and had to optimize every turn whilst tuning my Audi TT towards maximum top speed. Only to give the Toyota Corolla (one of the starting cars) a go and instantly crush every race with ~20s to spare. On Street X races I even lapped all the other racers. It made Stage 5 a breeze for sure because I was getting increasingly frustrated with the rubberbanding AI which seemed to recover instantly from a crash if they were sufficiently far behind me and overtook me again on the same straight road. Thank you for making this video, it was nice to see someone explain that feeling that I have about this small world feeling huge. Even though I've played it a lot, I never quite know how the roads connect around the stadium / hotel plaza area. Also I couldn't draw the main section of Beacon Hill at all if I had to.

You reviewing my childhood right here man, this better be good review.

Simply put "The game is good" - Reggie Fils Aime

I remember spending countless hours on this with my buddy back then after finishing the career. Every day after school we would tune like at least 5 cars each, take it to dyno, test track and then race against each other. Hated that stupid cool star system but I always riced the crap outta my SUV and kept my normal cars classy.

nice video dude ! last year during the lockdown i build a Pentium 4 PC for Underground 1 and 2 and NFS Carbon plus some other old games :) the experience on old hardware is even more nostalgic :D

daaaaaammmnnn bro i'm subscribing...hope you get past million subscriber mark before mid-2024

Before I even watch the video: YES, nfs underground 2 is really a masterpiece. I really hope they'll develop a properly done remake

I really wish I could just buy a download that works perfectly.

3:55 in the video is such a nostalgic area for me. When I was a kid I would just drive around the city and not even do missions and I loved the way the lights hung down from the ceiling there. I haven't played the game since probably 2008 or 2009 but whenever I think about this game the lights are what immediately comes to mind.

I remember playing this on PS2 as a kid. Such a happy time in my life. Now, seeing this video, I'm very tempted to download it for PC... ... Maybe there will even be a full remake if enough people show interest. Great video, thanks for the nostalgia 😃

The soundtrack is definitely one of the strongest parts of this game.

That was the coolest thing about about nfsu2 you could take your starter car and run it all the way to the end . Games dont do that anymore

Awesome vid!!I miss those days!! Friendly tip for awesome engine sound.. leave the exhaust stock after modding cars 😊 Supra and Skyline sound so good💪👌

I never stopped loving this game. Great video.

Woah, the nostalgia!!

back when the most power you can get from each car is under 600hp, now..... every car can be taken to space by having ridiculous amount of power

the greatest review ever , if this game gets a re-release adding newer cars to the list maybe expanding the map an adding more modern trends in car culture thats it for all other racing games. the tuning is where the individuality was for me as i tried to keep the car looking good for as long as possible .

Subbed. My friends and I would get this game on a Friday (Midnight Club as well) and we'd play all night through to Sunday night with no breaks just to see how much we could unlock in one go. We'd also have Gran Turismo 24 Hour races going on the console and tag out. Man, I miss those days.

just by the music alone i am happy to just stare at the menu . i used to play this on A WHEEL!

I’m so happy I grew up playing this game over the current need for speed titles, even though the new ones are good. I don’t think I’d enjoy them as much as I enjoyed NFSU2 as a kid

best review of this game I have ever heard, I literally just ordered this game online that I’m very excited about to play it again it’s always worth playing any year

I found my PS2 in 2016 in a box in the basement and the great thing about that was I had this very game in it for however many years it been sitting there so I picked it up turned it on hook it up to my TV and I played this for hours that day at the time it was my favorite game and eventually with the new Xbox and all that stuff I just lost interest in it but after watching your video I got back into the game and I'm so grateful for it

I was a little scared to revisit this game but it actually exceeded my expectations. The city is a stunning achievement in world design (especially given the 2004 tech), engine sounds are just superb, and they really nailed the feeling of the driving. My biggest complaint is that even Hard mode is - well - super easy.

A classic of a game. I played through it a few month ago for the first time in over a decade. Still holds up well! Personally my favorite NFS!

I loved this game back in the day. I remember when this game came out there was a subdivision being built down the road from me called Beacon Hill. I always thought it was a crazy coincidence.

Damn now that you mentioned it this is the racing game that started it all for me. Being around 24 at the time and fresh off of Fast and Furious I was enamored with that Skyline. Every racing game since I've always looked to have one in my collection. Didn't realize that F&F had such an impact on my gaming lol!

The reason this game was so good back in the day is because the handling wasn't so arcadey and shitty feeling like the modern games, it struck a great balance between fun and arcade with a dash of reaslism thrown in. Me and my buddies spent hours getting baked and playing the drift mode to see who could get the highest scores, the tuning was deep as hell in this game too. I don't mean just the customization either but there was actual car tuning, like gears, boost, suspension tuning, you could set it all up just like gran turismo or forza which again is what made it so damn good. The modern games are so arcadey they just feel like shit to drive and get boring quick. That's the thing with old games, even the arcadey ones still tried to feel somewhat real because simulating shit on a game was like just what people were into. People liked to make shit feel somewhat real. Now everything is aimed at 12 yearolds and fortnight kids.

idk if a single person will agree with me, but even compared to the likes of modern day forza horizon/motorsport games, NSFU2 will forever be the king of racing games to me. Perfectly executed night-racing culture, mixed with the great-at-the-time but very outdated "rice" 10 star system. It made me personalize each and every car and it made it unique. Tuner culture, like you said, was just getting its feet dipped into America and it exploded alongside the likes of The Fast and the Furious. This time period will always stand out to me, and many others as one of the greatest times to be a car/racing enthusiast. Maybe one day we can see this gem remastered. Great video! :)

Holy shit the Cingular Wireless logo in the top left, damn that brings back memories

when i was a kid i remember my parents buying me one of those racing seat gaming chairs ( the ones that sat on the floor and rocked like a rocking chair) and a steering wheel controller for my PS2 and i would spend hours just driving around the city. this game has a special place in my heart and to see it still holds up so well is really amazing

Haven't played this game in years but damn the graphics are actually not that bad even for todays standards

The vehicle physics/handling of these ps2 era nfs games and story style is really the only thing missing in modern arcade racers.

Holy shit I got this recommended just right now happy 1 year

I used to kill hours tuning my car around the track in NFSU2. I went on to work in a formula 1 simulator in later life and you know what, the tuning section of NFSU2 is actually pretty good. The base physics is awesome!

Man, what a classic!

I used to love the dyno tuning bit where you could adjust it and gain alittle better top end speed or low down torque. I've never seen that in a game since. The whole changing each gear ratio on the likes of Gran Tourismo is shite compared to real life

Nice review! I miss this game. This dude's voice reminds me of BayAreaBuggs

Everytime I see clips of this game, it’s like I know every road in the clips. What a great game

Oh man, the 1st or nothing aspect that you don’t like is actually what makes this game so replayable. It’s a quick game to get through, so all those times you mess up and have to get better at racing/ learning the track, it slows the game down and makes it more realistic

It's still worth playing it, I played it last night and i suddenly remember this is my first ps2 game since I was 6 yrs. old

Four whole years of one game in my memory came flooding back

Even after 15 years, I still remember how to navigate the streets. Shows just how iconic the map design is

I'd love to see a review of Dirt 3 in 2021

I had bought the escalade and modded it to look like something from early 2000s hip hop music video... 😂😂

Underground 1 was my one of my first racing game and I loved the subtle story and customization options, as well as the drag racing formula. I preordered U2 and have never regretted it, it's still my favorite racing game ever with MW a close 2nd. I have U2 on PC and still play once a year or so. Midnight Club 3 is another classic favorite.

Amazing game! The joy and fun it gave me was unbelievable! This video brings back so many great memories! Awesome 👏🏻🥰

EA wants to bring back the annual game releases. Let's just hope they've learned their lesson from past experiences with Battlefront and other games and improve in the gray areas. It's not looking good though, since they did cancel their support for Heat only 8 months after release and instead gave more support for No Limits on mobile. No Limits isn't a bad game, but I think it gets way too much focus above other games and gets tons more content than every other product.

Watching your tachometer needle stutter - it's pretty clear that you aren't running a frame limiter. Limiting the game to 60 FPS fixes some stability issues with the game's physics.

You gained a sub makin this video good

I remember when you set up a better pipe or engine and sound got different! OMFG! That was amazing!