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Need for Speed (series)
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This article is about the video game series. For other uses, see Need for Speed (disambiguation).
Need for Speed (NFS) is a series of racing video games by Electronic Arts, released on platforms including the personal computer, 3DO, PlayStation, PS2, PS3, GameCube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, and various other gaming platforms. The games consist mainly of racing with various cars on various tracks, and to some extent, include police pursuits in races. Since Need for Speed: Underground, the series integrates car customization into gameplay.
Contents[hide]
1 Origin
2 Need for Speed installments
2.1 The Need for Speed (1995)
2.2 Need for Speed II (1997)
2.3 Need for Speed: V-Rally (1997)
2.4 Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998)
2.5 Need For Speed: V-Rally 2 (1999)
2.6 Need for Speed: High Stakes (1999)
2.7 Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (2000)
2.8 Motor City Online (2001)
2.9 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002)
2.10 Need for Speed: Underground (2003)
2.11 Need for Speed: Underground 2 (2004)
2.12 Need for Speed: Underground Rivals (2005, PlayStation Portable)
2.13 Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
2.14 Need for Speed: Most Wanted: 5-1-0 (2005, PlayStation Portable)
2.15 Need for Speed: Carbon (2006)
2.16 Need for Speed: Carbon: Own the City (2006, handheld consoles)
2.17 Need for Speed: ProStreet (2007)
3 References
4 External links
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[edit] Origin
The Need for Speed series was originally developed by Distinctive Software, a game studio based in Vancouver, Canada. Prior to Electronic Arts purchase of the company in 1991, it had already created popular racing games such as Stunts and Test Drive II: The Duel. After the purchase was made, the company was renamed Electronic Arts Canada. The company capitalized on its experience in the domain when it began developing the Need For Speed series in late 1992.
Electronic Arts Canada continued to develop and expand the Need For Speed franchise for many years. In 2002, another Vancouver-based gaming company, named Black Box Games, was contracted to continue the series with the title Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. Black Box Games was acquired by Electronic Arts shortly before the game's publication and the company was renamed Electronic Arts Black Box and became a part of EA Canada. Since then EA Black Box has been NFS's primary developer.

[edit] Need for Speed installments

[edit] The Need for Speed (1995)
Main article: The Need for Speed (video game)

PC version of The Need for Speed.
The original Need for Speed was released for 3DO in 1994 with versions released for the PC (DOS) (1995), PlayStation (1996) and Sega Saturn (1996) following shortly afterwards. Most cars and tracks are available at the beginning of the game, and the objective is to unlock the remaining locked content by winning tournaments. The first version featured chases by police cars which remained a popular theme throughout the series - the so-called Hot Pursuit editions (Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Need for Speed: Carbon) have sold better in the marketplace than intervening versions. The initial version also featured an obnoxious opponent who taunted the player if the computer won the race or the player is arrested (if the player is ticketed several times).
The first installment of the NFS series was beyond doubt the series' only serious attempt to provide a realistic simulation of car handling and physics without arcade elements except Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, which is the most realistic. Electronic Arts teamed up with automotive magazine Road & Track to match vehicle behaviour, including the mimicking of the sounds made by the vehicles' gear control levers. The game also contained precise vehicle data with spoken commentary, several "magazine style" images of each car interior and exterior and even short video-clips highlighting the vehicles set to music.
Another version of the game, called The Need for Speed: Special Edition, is based on the 1995 PC release of the game, and was released only for PC CD-ROM in 1996 It featured support for DirectX 2 and TCP/IP networking, two new tracks, and various enhancements in the game engine.
The Need for Speed and its Special Edition are the only games in the series to support DOS, as subsequent releases for the PC only run on Microsoft Windows 95 or above.

[edit] Need for Speed II (1997)
Main article: Need for Speed II

PC version of Need For Speed II SE
Need for Speed II featured some of the rarest and most exotic vehicles ever available, including the Ford Indigo concept vehicle, and features country-themed tracks from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. A new racing mode was also introduced in NFS II dubbed Knockout, where the last racers to finish laps will be eliminated until the only leading racer remains, and wins.
Many fans of the first edition of Need for Speed were disappointed to find NFS II was arcade-like instead of preserving the realism of NFS.[verification needed] Though the gameplay was arcade-like, the levels were intricately well designed.[verification needed] In addition, track design was more open-ended; players could now "drive" off the asphalt, and even cut across fields to take advantage of shortcuts.
The PlayStation port of NFS II is the first PlayStation game to take advantage of not only the NeGcon controller, but both the Dual Analog and the DualShock controllers as well.
The special edition of NFS II, Need for Speed II: Special Edition includes one extra track, extra cars, and support for Glide, the then-burgeoning 3D graphics standard used in 3dfx's Voodoo and Voodoo 2 graphics cards.

[edit] Need for Speed: V-Rally (1997)
Main article: V-Rally

Screenshot of Need For Speed V-Rally
When the rights to release Eden Studios' V-Rally (a European game) to North America were acquired by Electronic Arts in late 1997, the game was renamed as Need for Speed: V-Rally in an attempt to boost sales.[citation needed] It received mixed reviews.[citation needed]

[edit] Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998)
Main article: Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

PC version of Need For Speed III
Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit added Hot Pursuit mode, in which the player either attempted to outrun the police or be the cop, arresting speeders.
NFS III took advantage of the multimedia capabilities of the CD-ROM by featuring audio commentary, picture slideshows and music videos. This game also is the first in the series to allow the downloading of additional cars from the official website. As a result, modding communities have sprung up to create more vehicles which would otherwise be unavailable to the game.

[edit] Need For Speed: V-Rally 2 (1999)
Main article: V-Rally 2

Screenshot of Need For Speed V-Rally 2
V-Rally 2 (also known as Test Drive V-Rally for the U.S. Sega Dreamcast release and Need for Speed: V-Rally 2 for its U.S. PlayStation release) is a rally racing video game and sequel to V-Rally. It is succeeded by V-Rally 3. It was developed by Eden Studios and Atari Europe, and published by Atari Europe and Electronic Arts.

[edit] Need for Speed: High Stakes (1999)
Main article: Need for Speed: High Stakes

PC version of Need for Speed: High Stakes
High Stakes (North America title) and Road Challenge (European and Brazilian title) was released in the summer of 1999. It was widely criticised for being too similar to NFS III, especially due to the fact that all of the tracks from NFS III were contained in NFS HS/RC (amongst others).[citation needed]
Nevertheless, High Stakes introduced several new types of gameplay: High Stakes, Getaway and Career. High Stakes is a racing mode in which the reward was the losing player's car. Getaway requires the player to outrun a pursuing police vehicle for a given time period. Career mode incorporates a monetary reward system that allowed a player to purchase vehicles and performance upgrades while earning cash by racing in a chronological set of tournaments. It is also the last game in the Need for Speed series to feature a split-screen two player mode introduced in Need for Speed II.
Another innovation is the introduction of damage models. Vehicles which have been involved in accidents featured visibly crushed car bodies and suffered from performance penalties. After a race in Career mode, the player is given the option to purchase repairs. The mode also allows players, for the first time, to upgrade cars, although the feature simply consists of switching between three upgrade levels for each car.
The PlayStation version of the game, released some months before the PC version, features improved gameplay. Only all-new tracks were implemented without the additional rehashes from NFS III in the PC version. Additionally, the AI in the game was more advanced; the five AIs such as Nemesis, Bully and others featured different driving characteristics (ie. Nemesis would hound the player until a slipup occurs, whilst Bully exhibits a more aggressive style, occasionally ramming into the player's vehicle).

[edit] Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (2000)