NFS PU was the first ever racing game I encountered with a career mode. It was brutal in that I couldn’t drive with the same skill using just a keyboard like I did with prior titles, and that kind of dead locked my progression until I figured how to use an analog controller on PC. It felt like driving on ice.

Split screen racing was so fun back in the day! Can’t remember the most recent racing title I’ve seen that supported that. I’d take a local LAN multiplayer or self hosted server option as a substitute.