If you're looking for a nice 3D racer on the GBA, and you're not one of
those l33t gam0rz who dismiss any EA game just because it's an EA
game, read on. I bought the two GBA Need For Speed games:
Underground and Porsche Unleashed and compared the two for you.

Both games are fully 3D, in the true Need for Speed style - which means
detailed cars and environments, and a true sense of speed. Let's start
by saying that both games pull off tricks that I didn't imagine possible
on the GBA. But the two games are very different in genre.

Concepts

Porsche Unleashed gives you 50 years of Porsche history. It features
dozens of cars from the German stable. You start out with the first
vintage Porsche models and you have to unlock all the other cars in
chronological order. Hence your initial impression may be WTF?! These
old cars barely go faster than 90Mph and handle like sh.t, but once
you start unlocking beauties like the first 911 Turbo or the Carreras
you'll notice there's a wealth of speed and handling in this game.

There are 5 extensive environments to drive through: Monaco,
Normandie, the Alps, Corsica and a large industrial area - all feature
several weather conditions like rain and snow - and the classic NfS
style shortcuts which allow you to outsmart your opponents.

Underground is surprisingly similar to its console brothers: street
racing in rice-cars that aren't remotely as exotic as the Porsches
in Porsche Unleashed. The cool part of this game is that you can
pimp out your cars with lots of visual and performance upgrades
(body-kits, turbos, NoS injection, decals and fat pimpy alloys). These
really make a difference and look cool. It's amazing how good this
works on the tiny and limited GBA screen.

In Underground, you're only racing in a city scape, which isn't as
varied as the city environments on the consoles (naturally).
Sometimes it's hard to see the perspective in the scenery which
results in major crashes because you thought that wall was
actually a street. Once you learn the layout of the tracks it's not
as much a problem anymore though.

Handling

The handling in both games is very different. PU feels more realistic
than Underground because the cars appear to have more weight.
In Underground you can drift like crazy and take 90 degree corners
at 190+ Mph going sideways. In the Porsches you'll really need to
let go of the gas and start steering before going into the turn or you'll
be smacked to the side of the track. It's more what you'd expect of
a car. Even of a Porsche.

Cool thing in PU is that you have an in-car view while driving,
which really adds to the realism (if there is such thing on a GBA
racer). A cool thing about Underground is that the NoS speedboost
is very impressive. It seems even more apparent than in its console
counterparts. Pushing the NoS button really launches your car
forward. Fat!

Graphics

Both games have impressive car models. IMO the Porsches look
better and smoother than the Underground cars, but the Underground
cars can be modded in endless variations. A minor niggle I had with
the porsches is the unrealistic pallette of colors you can choose
from. A magenta '78 Porsche? Aren't these supposed to be either
black, brown, red or orange?

The framerates are very high (for a GBA) in both games, and both
games offer a truly high sense of speed, especially while
chasing opponents. The graphics in PU look "clearer", and you can
see further away than in Underground.

Sound

Both games have shite soundeffects and music. Nothing really
spectacular. Worth noting is that Underground has the most
unrealistic "clonk" sound when changing gears.. EVAR. On both
games I turned the music off immediately. It's tedious, boring and
repetitive. Underground has a slight edge over PU here.

Opponent AI

Both games cheat like crazy. Underground cheats more than
PU, but when you make a serious crash, these games still
give you a chance to win. In the Porsches you'll have to work
for it a bit more though. The Porsche opponents also seem
smarter and more aggressive.. they'll try to prevent you from
passing and they'll try to bump you off the track every now
and then (in a fun and non-frustrating way though).

It's cool to notice that the Underground opponents also make
mistakes and crash into oncoming traffic (a feature PU doesn't
have). In the console Underground it was very rare for a CPU
car to crash or make other big mistakes. Sometimes this lets
you win an otherwise lost game and keeps you motivated to
drive all the way through even if you're far behind.

The verdict

NfS Porsche Unleashed:
Pros: great car models, nice handling, in-car view while driving
Cons: environments sometimes a bit bland, music and sound

NfS Underground:
Pros: great car models and modifications, much variation stuff to do
Cons: boring cityscape, arcadey handling, walls that look like streets

Both games have a lot going for them and I'm going to keep them
both since they are so different in nature. If I had to choose though,
I'd take the Porsches but I realise that's a very subjective choice.