Need for Speed Underground is the latest classic to get an RTX Remix full ray tracing mod

NVIDIA's RTX Remix (available now) tool for modders is a powerful tool that has opened the door to a new type of remaster. Ray-tracing, AI-enhanced textures, and direct control over a game's visuals, effects, models, and more are already delivering stunning results. The best part is that it takes older DirectX games and gives them a modern makeover.

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EA's Need For Speed: Underground from 2003 is a great example, primarily because the Need For Speed: Underground RTX mod (via modDB) is the work of a single person - alessandro893. With RTX Remix, the game's lighting is now fully ray-traced, including over 1,000 additional lights to the world to help improve immersion. Several in-game textures have also been enhanced.

It's still a work in progress, with some sections looking better than others, and elements like car headlights still need the RTX and ray-tracing treatment, but it's showing great promise. Need For Speed: Underground is one of the most beloved entries in the series, and it's fantastic to see it with full ray-tracing and updated visuals.

Need For Speed: Underground is all about neon-lit nighttime racing, so it's a great candidate for an RTX Remix mod - as it gives many locations, cars, and streets a Cyberpunk-like look.

Naturally, with full ray-traced lighting, there's a performance hit, with the original 144 FPS racing dropping to around 60 FPS or so on a GeForce RTX 4090 in 4K. The following video comes from an alpha early-access version of the mod - with the Chinatown section at around the 4:30 mark being the most impressive in terms of visuals.

Here are a few screenshots of the alessandro893's Need For Speed: Underground RTX mod - to follow its progress or download and try it out for yourself, check out its modDB page.

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