I’m guessing you mean the original Most Wanted. That game was excellent. I think the ‘special place in my heart’ is probably reserved for NFS 3 (which I played the absolute shit out of and was the first NFS game to include cop chases) or the first one just because it introduced me to the series. Most Wanted though was the last good NFS game in my opinion. I lost interest when Underground came out, but when the demo for MW was released I played it so much I had to buy the game. The soundtrack was good as I recall; I think it was also the last NFS game where I didn’t immediately mute the music.
And yeah, the police pursuits were really good in that. Hard enough to be a challenge, but not so hard that it was punishing.