The developers of the Need for Speed franchise are never content with a successful formula for very long. Every several years the developers change up the overall “theme” of this series, and most of the time the games get better. For the past few years, the series has been deeply entrenched into the “underground” racing scene, made popular by movies such as "The Fast and the Furious" and "Driven." This year the developers went back to the drawing board and created a game that focuses on legal street (track) racing.

Once the game is loaded for the first time, players will have to choose what difficulty level they are. Causal is best for inexperienced racers. It is a helpful level with assisted braking and shows the best way around the track. Racer is suited for intermediate players that help them with breaking on harder turns. King is made for veterans and allows players to control everything. Once this is decision is chosen it can be changed at anytime in the options menu.

Players will have two different game modes to choose from. The first option is entitled Career mode in which players taken on the role of Ryan Cooper trying to become a big-time street racer. Like its predecessors, the story takes a back seat of the rest of the game, and that is not necessarily an unpleasant thing. The other mode is entitled Race Day and gives players various options to create their own unique racing matches.

In either of the game's two modes, there are four different races that can be accessed: Drag, Speed, Grip, and Drift. Drag race allows players to test the limit of their cars and skill at shifting gears. If players shift too early, they will waste the cars’ power and too late could mean a fried engine. In Speed races, players must past checkpoints with the highest speed possible, and the person with the highest speed added up from each checkpoint wins. Grip mode is when players race around a circuit to prove they have the best handling in the vehicle. Last is the Drift race where players win points by sliding sideways around bends. The person with the most points wins.

Just like in real life, cars can get damaged if they run into a barrier or another car. If a car gets damaged, players will have to pay to get it repaired. This is a good way to ensure that players drive accurately. They would not want to spend their hard-earned cash on fixing their car time and again. Understandably, damage of some sort is unavoidable but to help prevent spending all the players’ money on repairs, there are repair and total repair makers scattered throughout various races that can be awarded to the winner of the race. This is a nice option to choose from instead of having to completely empty the bank account after each competition.

One of the biggest differences between the Wii version of this game and other versions is the control setup and it works quite well. All that is needed to play is a single Wii-mote held long-ways. Most of the buttons are obvious: 2 for acceleration, 1 for breaking, Z for nitrous boost, d-pad for shifting, and A for emergency brake. The one major difference to get used to is the steering, and which is controlled by tilting the controller to the left and the right like a real steering wheel. While it is not as responsive as players may want, it works fairly well. The only time the controls are different is during drag races. At this time, players will point the Wii-mote at the television and twist it to steer while pressing the B button for acceleration, and the A button for nitrous boost. In order to change gears, player’s motion up or down similar to a real car.

What players will really appreciate is the amount of customization that can be done to the cars. Just like in previous Need for Speed games, the racer will be able to change and replace just about any part on their car. They then are able to tweak it just the way they like it. They will be able to change various visual parts, such as spoilers and rims. Internal parts - if customized correctly - will make for a well-oiled machine and make performance of the car even better. To put a cherry on top of the customization cake, players having a love for cars will be able to change settings on the shocks, nitrous boost, and other things to receive even more operational accuracy while racing.

One thing that players will be shocked about is seeing all of the in-game advertising. While it is understood that legal street races are sponsored, the amount of ads players will get bombarded with is ridiculous. Not only are all of the customized parts from certified dealers, but players will see ads each time they go around the race track. Players understand that sponsorship and advertisements are in any sport. This game goes overboard with it, as it is always in your face and it gets downright bothersome.

The graphics for this game are decent and get the job done, but it does not stand out in any given area. For instance, the various race tracks always take place in the middle of nowhere, so players will never see anything of interest. The developers did a good job of making sure that they are all fundamentally different, but the tracks still contain a very mundane feeling to them. The cars look decent as well, but again nothing that really stands out, especially if you compare it to other racing games. The same thing can be said about the damage modeling.

The audio for this game is a diverse blend. First off, the soundtrack for this game is really good but the only problem with it is the fact that players will hear the same songs during the course of the Career mode. It is commendable that the developers got all of the sound effects correct such as the engine noises, slamming on the brakes during a tight turn, and so on. There have been other games that sound better than this, but they get the job done suitably and are never found out of place. The bad thing that really ruins the audio is the announcers and the dialog they spurt out. The actors seem to repeat the same mundane phrases during the course of the game, and it appears that they are always yelling at the players.

One of the biggest issues many players may have with the multiplayer aspect of the game is that it is not online. The only way gamers will be able to play with their friends is if they are sitting on the couch next to them. This is a real shame because this game would have been great to play online due to the number of options it presents gamers. This is a valid discredit to the game since the other next generation versions contain online play.

Need for Speed ProStreet is rated Everyone 10+.

Gameplay: 6.4
The cars drive very bad with no real sense of speed. The controller scheme, while it seems odd, actually works for this game. The only thing that makes this score higher is that there are tons of customization options.

Graphics: 6.1
The game looks decent, but there have been better looking racing games released on the Nintendo Wii. The model damage looks impressive though, but it is always nice seeing various parts of the car come flying off when players hit a wall. Also this game has some frame-rate issues that further hurt the score.

Sound: 6.3
The soundtrack is good, but what really kills the audio portion of this game is the announcers. The dialog is bad and the voice actors do a horrible overall job of delivering the lines.

Difficulty: Easy
This game is extremely easy to get into and win races; the AI offers little to no challenge at all.

Concept: 5.5
The amount of in-game advertising is ludicrous, and really hurts this game.

Multiplayer 7.1
Racing with your friends in the same room is decent, but lack of online mode really hurts this game.

Overall: 6.3
Need for Speed ProStreet is a decent racing game that got sidetracked along the way. It appears EA was more concerned with in-game advertising than ensuring the game got the proper attention it needed. Hopefully next year’s version will fix these issues so players can get their racing game fix.