WTMG’s Leo Faria: “Need for Speed Underground 2 may have aged a bit in terms of its controls or the simplicity of its open world, but its still one hell of an entertaining racing game, even twenty years later. Its progression system, 2000s as hell imagery (yo dawg, let me send you an SMS via my Nokia), amazing soundtrack its all beautiful. Its a really important staple for the racing game genre, being the game which popularized open world exploration and racing in the same package. Not a single Need for Speed game has managed to reach the same degree of importance and relevance to this day, and for a reason. This is just the pinnacle of the series, and a game worth revisiting if you have the means to do so.”
Source: N4G PC Need for Speed Underground 2, a Twenty Year Reunion