History YMMV / NeedForSpeedShift

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''VideoGame/ProjectCARS'' to ''Shift 2: Unleashed''. Both made by Slightly Mad Studios, both having virtually the same gameplay style.

* NightmareFuel: '''The menu sounds in the first Shift.''' It has ominous sounds, car crashing cars, [[SensoryAbuse weird glitching]], and awful screams, making it extremely scary.

** The Endurance Challenge of Champions literally takes this. It is a MarathonLevel of two races in Nürburgring Nordschleife with five laps each one in day and other in night. The track itself is one of the hardest tracks in the entire motorsport, combined with aggressive AI of this game and the awkwardly handling will make this event, incredibly frustrating even in the easier difficulties. Oh!, and if you're driving the Speedhunters version of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII which makes it a GameBreaker, in case of the [=PS3=] version there are occasions that the game will crash when racing in the night making this event UnintentionallyUnwinnable with this car.

** Ambush Canyon is probably a racer's worst nightmare. The track is very narrow and very full of unexpected surprises that'll throw your car off the track. Its nighttime variant makes the nightmare a total black terror.

* FanNickname: ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' gets the ''Need for Speed'' name attached to the beginning by fans anyway since it still uses ''NFS'' branding, giving it the {{long title}} of ''Need for Speed: Shift 2 – Unleashed'', in reference to still using the franchise's stylized "n" logo, among other things.

** In the first ''Shift'', the tight Tokyo tracks are problematic since the other AI racers will relentlessly push you over and almost ruin your winning chances (think of them as the same tracks from ''[=ProStreet=]'', but in the reverse direction). Not to mention '''The Green Hell''' Nurburgring tracks are a pain in the ass to complete, with the AI racers driving aggressively. Made worse by that that ever since the first ''Underground'', the RubberBandAI got more annoying with each installment.

* HarsherInHindsight: Slightly Mad Studios developed these games for a franchise which was trying to get away from being stereotyped as ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' copycat (and succeeded for a short while). Nine years later, they developed ''VideoGame/FastAndFuriousCrossroads'', an actual ''[=FnF=]'' game, and it led to a critical bomb that somewhat cracked SMS's reputation.

* FanNickname: ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' gets the ''Need for Speed'' name attached to the beginning by fans anyway since it still uses ''NFS'' branding, giving it the [[LongTitle lengthy title]] of ''Need for Speed: Shift 2 – Unleashed'', in reference to still using the franchise's stylized "n" logo, among other things.

** In the first ''Shift'', the tight Tokyo tracks are problematic since the other AI racers will relentlessly push you over and almost ruin your winning chances (think of them as the same tracks from ''[=ProStreet=]'', but in the reverse direction). Not to mention '''The Green Hell''' Nurburgring tracks are a pain in the ass to complete, with the AI racers driving aggressively. Made worse by that that ever since ''Underground'' 1, the RubberBandAI got more annoying with each installment.

* EvenBetterSequel: ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' in comparison to ''Shift'', specially after the 1.02 patch, which corrected the jerky handling for controller users.
* HarsherInHindsight: Slightly Mad Studios developed these games for a franchise which was trying to get away from being stereotyped as ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' copycat (and succeded for a short while). Nine years later, they developed ''VideoGame/FastAndFuriousCrossroads'', an actual ''[=FnF=]'' game, and it led to a critical bomb that somewhere cracked SMS's reputation.

** In the first ''Shift'', the tight Tokyo tracks are problematic since the other AI racers will relentlessly push you over and almost ruin your winning chances (think of them as the same tracks from ''[=ProStreet=]'', but in reverse direction). Not to mention '''The Green Hell''' Nurburgring tracks are a pain in the ass to complete, with the AI racers driving aggressively. Made worse by the that that ever since ''Underground'' 1, the RubberBandAI got more annoying by each installment.
** The Miami circuits in ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' are really awful. The curbs on gentle curves can spin your car out with ease and even with the skill to avoid spinning you'll be fishtailing for quite a while. Even with Traction Control, Best Line and ABS, you'll still get rammed into the wall from other racers bumping into you from the side.
** Ambush Canyon is probably a racer's worst nightmare. The track is very narrow and very full of unexpected surprises that'll throw your car off the track. It's nightime variant makes the nightmare a total black terror.

** The Miami circuits in ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' are really awful. The curbs on gentle curves can spin your car out with ease and even with the skill to avoid spinning you'll be fishtailing for quite a while. Even with Traction Control, Best Line and ABS, you'll still get rammed into the wall from other racers bumping into you from the side.

* EvenBetterSequel: ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' in comparison to ''Shift'', specially after the 1.02 patch, which corrected the jerky handling for controller users.