I hesitated to purchase this title because of the previous poor review.  I am truly sorry because this game "ROCKS!"  The opponents have personalities and adaptable driving styles.  They actually try to cut you  off and try to prevent you from passing.  Heads turn to look at you and the  smooth framerate pulls you into the action.  The graphics are fantastic and  the sheer inventory of cars to choose from is amazing.  Gameplay is  enjoyable and the ability to race against your opponent and win his car  makes this the my racing sim of choice.  Many times I have found myself  blurting out the words "YOU ARE WALKING HOM FROM THIS ONE" after  entering the final stretch of "High Stakes."  Running on a  PIII450 with 192MB RAM, 7200rpm ATA66, Voodoo3 3000, soundblaster live at  1024x768 using an MS Sidewinder there are no hesitations or  "cyberburps" in any way.  I have not encountered any problems  except understeering conditions which since I have never really driven the  cars in question, cannot be contributed to the game.  The incorporation of  the previous tracks along with the new will please the veteran NFS fan as  well as challenge them...they only picked the tricky ones.  I was lucky to  pick this game up for $14.88 in the markdown bin and would have paid more  if I had driven a demo prior to release.  This game is a must have if you  have the hardware to fully enjoy it and if not, it will look okay but must  be run at lower resolutions.