iPhone App: Need for Speed Underground

At the Apple 2008 Wordwide Developers Conference Phil Schiller gave an impressive demo of Electronic Arts new game, Need for Speed Underground for the iPhone. The game was promised by November 2008 but never surfaced. I waited and waited postulating that perhaps the app was too much for the iPhone to handle and then an announcement came that Apple was developing a special premium game section for the iTunes App Store.

It seems Apple has yet to launch the premium section but to my delight when browsing the App Store last week I saw the banner ad I was waiting for and promptly purchased the game I had waited almost a year for $9.99. It did not dissapoint.

I've only played the Need for Speed series on a console a few times but the iPhone version comes as close as possible to simulating the console experience for such a compact device. The graphics are fantastic, includes a story arc to give the game a fun direction and provides levels challenging enough to hold you back long enough but not so hard as to force you to give up.

As you would expect there is a progressive series of street racers and exotic cars that become unlocked as you progress through the game from a Mazda MX-3 to a Viper, Porsche and Lamborghini.

Need for Speed Underground is a definite five star iPhone game and a must buy for racing game fans.