Need for Speed ProStreet

"EA has finally taken racing back onto closed courses, and off the streets!"

Need for Speed ProStreet is one of the two Need for Speed racing games currently available on the Wii. Released on November 19th, 2007, it came out about one year later than the only other Need for Speed game on Wii; Need for Speed Carbon. There is quite a difference though. Need for Speed Carbon, like Need for Speed Most Wanted has street racing, where they basically have a city (with many streets and highways inside.) They make a course through all these roads and set up barriers so you go the correct way. Because you race on the streets, there is traffic, cops, street lights, bus stations, etc. ProStreet doesn't have any of this, because instead of street racing, EA has moved the races onto actual racing courses. This has its own advantages and disadvantages.

In ProStreet, there is still a career mode like in many of the previous versions. In this version, they have "Race Days" which are an assortment of races (never any more than eight) put together. There are two levels of winning race days. Regular winning, and dominating. To do either, you need to get points. To win, you only need about half the points that you'd need to dominate. You get points based on your performance in races. For example, you'll get more points if you're first, than if you're second. But if you want to dominate a race day and not just win, you'll need to do more than just win every race. Every race has a target time that is quite simple to beat. If you don't beat the time, nothing will happen but if you do, you'll get extra points. For example, if a race's target time was one minute and thirty seconds, and you finished the race in one minute and twenty seconds, you'd get extra points. You can also get extra points by not damaging your car in a race. You'll also get money for every race that you do. You might get 1500 dollars for winning a race, 5000 for winning a race day, and 10 000 for dominating it. You can then use that money to buy new cars, upgrade or customize existing cars, and fix whatever damage your car might have. You'll need to keep upgrading and buying new and better cars if you want to win because as you progress, your opponents will continue to become more and more difficult.

The different racing modes in ProStreet are: Grip, Sector Shootout, Time Attack, Drag, Wheelie Competition, Drift, Speed Challenge, and Top Speed Run. Grip is like a regular race where you drive around the course and try to be first. In Sector Shootout, the track is divided into four sections. You need to try and get through each section as fast as you can. In Time Attack you compete with other people on the track and try to get the best lap time. In Drag, you must race through a strip of pavement but you have to shift the car's gears yourself. If you shift at the perfect time, you'll do better. In Wheelie Competition, you need to manually shift your car in the best possible way so that your car's nose stays up in the air. In Drift, you use the E-Brake around corners and try to drift around them. The better your drift, the more points you'll get. Whoever has the most points at the end wins. In Speed Challenge, it's a race to the finish against other people but the course will be short, and you'll go extremely fast! And finally, in Top Speed Run, you'll race through a course, but there will be speed traps located throughout it. You have to try and go as fast as you can through these traps. Your speed will be counted and added up to the next speed that you do. For example, if you go through a trap at 150 miles per hour and another at 160, you'll have 310 points in total. This type of race is won by whoever has the most points at the end of the course.

The graphics are quite nice and the game looks realistic. On the road, there are painted lines, cracks, and tire marks (left from racing cars.) When your car accelerates quickly, smoke is created and when you go off the road, dust comes up. The cars also look quite nice and the game lets you look at your cars from many different angles. The sound is also nice. You hear tires screeching on the road, your cars engine revving, a satisfying crash whenever you ram into a wall, and some minor commentary. The music is okay and fits racing. Personally, I don't care much for that type of music, but others might.

The controls are okay and get the job done without trouble. The Wii remote is held sideways (like a NES controller) with the buttons facing up. It won't work that well if the buttons are facing towards you (like in Excite Truck or Mario Kart) so unfortunately, the Wii Wheel won't really work with this game. 2 is accelerate, 1 is brake, A is E-Brake, and B is Nitrous. To steer, you tip the remote up or down. The controls are easy to learn and remember so other than the fact that you can't really use the Wii Wheel with it that well, they're perfect.

So overall, I think that this game is worth its money. I got it new for thirty (Canadian) dollars. If you're a big Need for Speed fan or like racing, than this game is for you. If not, you might want to rent it before you buy it. Just remember, there's no cops in this game. But even without them, you can just keep racing and racing and racing.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/08, Updated 08/18/08

Game Release: Need for Speed ProStreet (US, 11/13/07)