In this section, you'll find the vitals on each challenge in the Underground mode, as well as tips to help you emerge victorious from each. For more specific strategies for each course, see the Tracks chapter of this guide.
You begin the game with a little teaser sequence. You're going to get a nice, souped-up hotrod to take through around Olympic Square. Get used to this racecourse; you're going to be seeing parts of it for a long, long time.
The course itself is a relatively smooth ride with two shortcuts. The first arrives after you take the long left turn; keep to the left and cut across the brick sidewalk to eliminate a turn from your course. The second comes near the end, after the track makes a little half-figure eight; hang a left and take the leftmost road when it splits again. You'll be able to clearly see this shortcut on your map, but it can be difficult to make the first time you come around the preceding corner. Downshift when coming out of the split-track area to make the turn easier.
Tip: Downshifting is an easy way to lower your speed, allowing you more maneuverability, without applying the brakes. Downshift whenever you see a turn coming that you're unsure of your ability to make.
The only goal here is to win; none of the Style Points that you're racking up here will hold over to your racing career. Why? Because "it was all a dream," as they say at the end of bad short stories. You don't get to keep your little supercar after the race is over; you're forced to head off to the rather shady car salesman who lives under a bridge and pick up a stock model. Luckily, the new cars you get to choose from are available at a substantial discount from their retail price. Just don't get pulled over by the cops, if you know what we mean.
At the car lot after the race, you'll be able to choose from the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the Honda Civic, the Peugeot 206, the Mazda Miata MX-5 (sadly available only with a hardtop), and the Dodge Neon. Take a look at their stats and performance levels before choosing one. If you consider yourself a talented racer, you can probably make do with a cheaper, less-powerful car, and convert your savings into visual mods to get your Reputation up; other players will want to spend more for the Miata or the Civic and get ready to burn rubber. Keep in mind that the game reveals only basic stats on the cars; it won't tell you what kind of drive they have, which is, oh, mildly important to know. The Miata is a rear-wheel drive, for instance, while the rest of the cars are front-wheel drives. When you start trading in vehicles later on, be sure to check our Car section for the skinny.
Circuit Race: 2 Laps Location: Olympic Square Approx. Distance: 4.2 miles Reward: Easy 375, Medium 500, Hard 625 Unlocks: Nothing
Your goal here should be to run a clean race, to hit the two shortcuts cleanly, and, of course, to win.
Since there won't be any oncoming traffic, you'll have free rein on the roads; use it to pick a decent line and to stay away from the race walls. You won't have a lot of opportunity to rack up Style Points due to near misses or from drafting (due to the fact that you should be in the lead the entire race), but you can get monster points for running a clean race. If you can run the race from beginning to end without hitting a wall, you'll get 750 points for the clean sections, 600 points from the two clean laps, and a 500-point bonus for the clean race, on top of the 500-point victory bonus and any shortcut, drafting, or drifting bonuses you get.
Sprint Race Location: Liberty Gardens Approx. Distance: 2.7 miles Reward: Easy 375, Medium 500, Hard 625 Unlocks: Nothing
The bulk of this course should be familiar; it's similar to the course that you traversed in your dream sequence, save in reverse. The first shortcut is easy to hit, while the second requires some decent perception. The first comes right after the initial main turn (with the flashing red arrows telling you where to go). After this turn, veer off the main road to the right, for a nice narrow straightaway. In addition to the normal shortcut benefit of traveling less distance than your competitors, you'll also have a chance to gain speed.
The second shortcut comes shortly after the two small bumps that you'll use to try to gain hang time. You'll come toward a tree, and the main road runs around to the left; nudge yourself around the right side for a straighter path onward, and a shortcut bonus.
