Need For Speed: Underground 2 turns 20 this year, the perfect time for a remake

It’s somewhat hard to fathom that Need For Speed: Underground 2 turns 20 years old later this year. It’s true though. It was all the way back in November of 2004 that we zoomed through the streets of Bayview.

It’s a shame that Need For Speed just doesn’t quite hit like it used to. The latest entry, Need For Speed Unbound, landed back in 2022, earning a respectable score of 77 over on Metacritic. It was a solid entry in the franchise but it hardly lived up to the legendary status that Need For Speed: Underground 2 has developed over the years. Fans of the franchise have hailed it as “peak gaming” and while a fan-made 4k 60fps remake is in the works, long-time fans are crying out for EA to work on the real deal.

Take a look at Need for Speed Unbound in action below.

It won’t take you long, searching the internet, to find just how much of a fan appetite there is for a remake. There are several petitions over on change.org - “Remaster of Need for Speed: Underground 2” and “EA, please give us a Need For Speed: Underground 2 HD remake,” being just two examples - and while these petitions may not have amassed a life-changing number of signatures, the comments left on them show just how much people care.

“NONE of the other games in the series comes close!! Best driving dynamics of any game in my opinion, I miss it so much,” wrote one enthused signer. It’s a similar story over on Reddit. You’ll find endless threads echoing the sentiments of these petitions. Reddit user Worn_Out_1789 wrote, “I'd love to see a remake: this was an excellent game and I remember Bayview so fondly. The level of customisation is fantastic, and the game mixes in different race types to keep itself interesting. I also loved Brooke Burke as Rachael Teller, and the story was fun in a teenage wish fulfilment way.”

Is a Need For Speed: Underground 2 remake likely? It’s hard to say. Remakes and remasters are all the rage right now, but Unbound seemed to signify that EA is trying to innovate the series, not look back. All we can do is cross our fingers and relish in those golden memories of playing this game for the first time.