This second portable effort for the hit racing franchise was redesigned for the PSP screen. All of the tracks had to be redone to allow players to race on the smaller screen and Team Fusion added in-game markers (red and yellow arrows on the guard rails and a center line in the road) that alert players when to turn. That means that the 10 tracks (four street, three drag, and eight drift tracks) in the game are all exclusive, although they retain the night driving locales of the console version.

"All of the core content, from the cars to the customization, that you find in the console version have been included in the PSP version," said James McDaniel, marketing manager, Electronic Arts. "We used the PSP to introduce muscle cars to the franchise."

There are 24 licensed cars available in the game, including 10 new muscle cars and four boss vehicles. This game is all about customizing and building the ultimate tuner on four rims and then taking it into the underground world of street racing. This PSP version offers all of the tuner options, including licensed parts, to make your vehicle fast and furious. The more you race, the more money you earn to soup up your vehicles.

The game includes eight different racing modes, including drift attack, nitrous run, rally relay, street cross and drag races. Some of the other highlights include these modes. Street cross is a one-minute race through a tight circuit. Drift attack takes place in a warehouse with lots of obstacles and requires drifting skills. Nitrous run is a gate-based race that requires use of nitrous to continue.

There are also circuit races (novice, pro and master) that challenge racers with events like knockout, tournament, rally relay and time trial. Rally Relay is a new event, which allows you to pick two cars and race two laps, one in each car, against a pair of AI-controlled cars.

All of the game modes are available for wireless head-to-head play. The game tracks every race, and deems the winner "champ" and the loser "owned." The loser remains owned until he or she beats the champ. This makes for some good fun, as every race will be stored on the PSP and bragging rights will be up for grabs. Rivals also includes five Party Play modes for up to four players to compete for the best time in games like circuit and drag races.

Another interesting feature is the Pocket garage, which is like a Hot Wheels for the portable. You can show off your customized cars in this non-playable mode.

With nice touches like sparks that fly when you bang guardrails, this game moves fast and looks great. It's certainly the racer to buy come launch time.

All of EA's games include Pocket Trax, which allows you to listen to music outside of the games. Some of these songs come with music videos, others just float colors on the screen. With as many as 40 tracks on some of these games, that turns your PSP into a portable music player as an added bonus.