The fourth major installment in the Need for Speed series has aged very well. With graphics that are still great by the late 1990s standards, like its predecessor (except for the skyboxes looking dull, especially in the PC version), the gameplay, unlike newer titles, is pretty fun and challenging, as it focuses more on a realistic driveplay scheme while conservating the original arcade gamestyle, something that not many developers do right. As always, you can play either as a racer or a cop.
Career Mode is introduced, in where you compete in Normal or Knockout Tournaments for cash, or in High Stakes competitions in where you can win your opponent's car. In addition to the Career Mode, you can also buy new cars, sell your current car(s) and even upgrade your cars. Career mode is kinda repetitive, however. Some races can take more than 10 minutes or even 20 minutes, which is not uncommon in EA Canada era NFS games.
High Stakes' pursuit system has been significantly improved in terms of AI and police tactics over Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. New pursuit modes like Getaway and Time Trap are introduced. It also features a new damage system, which can not only affect your car's look, but also its performance too. High Stakes mode is unfortunately multiplayer-only in PS1 release. You need 2 memory cards for it to even work.
The soundtrack is decent, also featuring licensed soundtracks with the courtesy of Junkie XL (who later would compose Need for Speed: ProStreet), Fat Boy Slim, Rom of Prisco and etc, the first in the series to feature licensed soundtracks. While the PlayStation release features new tunes such as "Electro Optik", "Globular Cluster" and "Callista (Race Mix)".
There are lots of nice mods for the PC version you can download online including the official addon cars such as the Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R34) from the Japanese release of the game. All of them are literally free. The PC version also features the race tracks from the previous game that are unlockable by completing Career Mode tournaments. Some cars such as La Niña and Titan are exclusive in either the PC or PS1 releases.
The damage models in the PC release look odd (because the cars just infinitely deform whatever you do), while in the PS1, some parts disintegrate while the rest of your vehicle's body will appear scratched just like in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005).
The PlayStation version suffers from terrible controls that can make your car go understeer in most of the times, forcing you to decelerate to turn the car in a more closed angle, however, some vehicles suffer from the complete opposite and it's even harder to control them adequately, to make things worse, sometimes the controls will not respond, and if you're playing on a high-tier event (Especially the last one), this can be a death sentence for your progress. Not to mention that some of the features such as the ability to edit the soundtrack, switching the languages of the cops on and off, Test Drive and Special Event modes are exclusive to the PS1 release, which is a bit disappointing.
It's high, and it's amazing!