Some of the most intense police chases I've ever had in a game. It takes about a quarter of the game for them to properly ramp up, but once they do... Phew, they're great. The cops are relentless and difficult to outsmart, and the police chatter is believable with some great voice acting, that adds much more to the experience than you might expect. The driving feels satisfying to this day, and finds that perfect balance (to me at least) of being over-the-top and arcadey without being floaty and weightless. The story and cutscenes are gloriously cheesy (I hope it was intentional) and the game has a solid sense of progression and a nice difficulty balance. I had moments of relief, relaxing in the joy of dominating my opponents and engaging with the action, and other moments of white-knuckle intensity as I could just barely scrape a win in the only car I could afford.
But this balance doesn't translate to every type of event. The time-trials (tollbooth events) for example are so easy that they're never very engaging. Drag races on the other hand are really hard but not in an enjoyable way, as they're based on luck and trial-and-error. Both of these event types just bring the game down. My main issue though is that the game just doesn't have enough depth for its playtime. It feels like 10 hours of superb content stretched out to 20 hours. Things that excited me and impressed me, eventually just became tiresome and repetitive. If the campaign moved along quicker I'd leave the game with a much more positive impression. Also, the map isn't quite as interesting as I remember it, and feels a bit empty these days, with minimal traffic and no pedestrians whatsoever. That's one thing that hasn't aged well.
A great game, let down a little by some boring/frustrating races and a lack of content for the length of the campaign. I loved it when I was 15, and I still like it after playing it today.