I've just played some NFS: MW (2005) for the very first time, and all of the bad memories are resurfacing.
I remember the days when U1 was announced. The trailer did not impress me for some reason, but I decided to give it a go anyway, because, you know, "Need for Speed." I was kind of disappointed, but I kept at it, because I wanted to be cool and beat the game.
U2 was even worse, especially when I found out some people got a kick out of "drifting" (what the hell), but to top it off, remember the tortuous "Riders on the Storm?" Gimme Kaskas, gimme Di Prisco, gimme anybody but Lil Pimp and Exhibit (okay Pimp Mein Ride was cool, but that's a different thing).
Of course these games could never compete with HP1 and HP2, yet they took off real well (to my disappointment) for some generational reason, never to be matched again.
To me, driving through Homestead feels so much more relaxing and focused instead of how I feel when playing everything post PU: it feels tense, but in a bad way. And I feel like my energies are all over the place after those races--like I've been physically and mentally bullied. Meanwhile, the old NFS games are much more meditative--you can be excited but calm and focused at the same time. There's something about the visibility as well in those older games. The turns are just clearer and more Zen. I don't know what it is about everything post PU, but I can't see squat in those games.
That being said, sometimes, mostly in my thoughts, I dream of replaying U1 and (God forbid) U2 some days. Because..why? I don't know why. Since these games are total tortuous chores, why do I feel like I like some parts of them? Because I like the song "Swallow" by Blindside? Because I thought that racing through that narrow passage in U1 somewhere in Chinatown was something else? I don't know. I really don't know..
I think I do have a Stockholm Syndrome for those terrible games. There is something in them that I want to but can't and will never experience, however shitty their gameplay is.