Image via Complex Original
It took 20 years, but the most successful racing video game series has finally spawned a namesake movie.
Whether that movie is any good or not remains to be seen, but at least a Need for Speed movie is a step in the right direction for the franchise.
In 1994, Electoric Arts gave birth to a game that single-handedly took the racing game genre to new heights. Since the original game, EA, in collaboration with numerous different developers, has rolled out 20 official titles as part of the Need For Speed series, as well as a few spin-offs.
In honor of the Need for Speed film, starringBreaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, hitting the big screen this weekend, we decided to take a look back at some of the most notable installments of the franchise.
In no particular order, here are: The 10 best Need for Speed video games.
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Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Year released: 2010
Developer: Criterion Games
For those of us who enjoy racing games, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is what dreams are made of. In 2010, the series went back to its original roots with racer vs. cop action as the centerpiece. The result was the highest-ever rating for a Need For Speed title. Not only did the title incorporate the same gameplay that made the franchise so popular, it featured a full career mode for both roles. It was also fast paced and straight forward, allowing players to focus solely on racing, all the while cutting out things that prolong the game such as car customization.
The Hot Pursuit reboot featured the holy trinity of racing games: amazing graphics, fast, exotic cars and absolutely thrilling gameplay. While some of the cars were exclusive to each side, most cars were available to both racers and cops. You may think it's easy to elude the po-po, but not when they're pushing a Lamborghini Reventon Roadster. Every car you unlock in the game somehow ends up being better than the one before.
In addition to the sweet gameplay, the game featured an interactive "Analog" system, which was basically a network that connected players with their friends for head-to-head competition.
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Year released: 2012
Developer: Criterion Games
Open world racing and interactive connectivity-these are the two main things Need For Speed: Most Wanted was known for. The title allowed players to take to the open road and discover secret gameplay, challenge rivals or friend or just take your favorite cars for a never-ending test spin. The premise of the game: to become #1 on the Most Wanted list, thus becoming the city's most notorious racer.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Most Wanted was perhaps the attention to detail developer Criterion paid to the game's layout. From the light blinding you as you exit a tunnel, to the dirt that gets kicked up by racers ahead of you, the realism factor of the game is off the charts. Another way the game managed to draw players in for "just one more race" was with an impressive list of 40+ vehicles that are placed around the map waiting to be discovered (and driven).
Shift 2: Unleashed
Year released: 2011
Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
Following up a successful game like Hot Pursuit wasn't an easy task by any means. Fortunately, EA and Slightly Mad Studios managed to find a way. By no means are we comparing Shift 2: Unleashed to Hot Pursuit-doing so would be ludicrous as one is an open-world racing game, while the other is closed-circuit.
Shift 2 expanded on the original Shift title by introducing new features such as a helmet cam view was introduced in the series to give gamers a heart-pounding experience behind the wheel. It also featured night-time racing, allowing players to test their skills and reaction time in the heat of the night. While the title received a range of different scores from platform to platform, all in all the game was a huge success.
Need For Speed: Underground
Year released: 2003
Developer: Black Box
If import cars were your thing in the early 2000’s, then Need For Speed: Underground was the game for you. A departure from the cop vs. racer theme the franchise was built on, for the seventh iteration of NFS, EA focused relied heavily on a Fast and the Furious-type vibe to broaden its appeal to the masses.
It was the first title to, not only take place in a generic city, but the first to allow players to fully pimp their rides with custom kits. And if that wasn’t enough to get your attention in 2003, then the stunning graphics and attractive girls surely did the trick.
Need For Speed: Carbon
Year released: 2006
Developer: Black Box
Need For Speed: Carbon-which refers to Carbon Canyon where racers duke it out for territory-took car customization in racing games to a whole new level. The title focused on the underground racing scene, giving players the choice between racing in and tuning up three different car classes: exotics, tuners and muscles. While the arcade-style gameplay was similar to that of previous NFS iterations, the career mode had a nice flow to it thanks to an entertaining storyline.
Along with a broader scale of customization, EA introduced three additional new features in Carbon. The game allowed players to recruit a crew, compete in drifting races and choose additional car classes. The cop/racer element was still present, however gameplay was limited to being a racer.
Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit
Year released: 1998
Developer: EA Canada
The third installment of the Need For Speed series was nothing short of exceptional. EA took the police pursuit it introduced in the original game and took it a step further by allowing players to either outrun the cops as a racer or attempt to arrest racers as part of the police force. Quality graphics and addictive gameplay aside, Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit upped the ante by introducing a wider range of supercars, as well as the ability to allow players to download additional cars from its website.
While the crisp gameplay and fast frame rate were the strong points, there were a few details that the title lacked. For instance, the dashboard didn't light up at night, cars never got damaged and there was no use of windshield wipers during rain. Still, NFS III: Hot Pursuit managed to appeal to the masses-not to mention it brought a real taste of racing to PC gamers that was generally exclusive to arcade racing games at the time.
Need For Speed: Rivals
Year released: 2013
Developer: Ghost Games
The latest Need For Speed title is also one of the best in the series. In NFS: Rivals, EA basically took the best features from prior editions and combined them with a seamless single-player mode to produce a well-rounded racing game. Similar to the popular Hot Pursuit title, players weave in and out of traffic as either a racer or a cop.
There was no drastic changes to the gameplay, however, developer Ghost Games managed to play to the strengths of the technology available in eighth generation gaming consoles—particularly PlayStation 4—to create a thrilling arcade-style racing experience that is visually appealing.
Need For Speed: Shift
Year released: 2009
Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
As popular as the Need For Speed series has been over the years, it's had its fair share of hits and misses. Following a string of sub-par titles in the late 2000's, EA got back on track with the release of Need For Speed: Shift in '09. A large part of the success was attributed to the fact that EA handed the reigns off to developer Slightly Mad Studios, who found the perfect way to balance the real and unreal characteristics of racing games to appeal to both NFS diehards and newbies alike.
The game featured track-based racing rather than the open-world format found in many of the more recent titles. By leaving a storyline out, the game allowed players to focus on the most important thing: racing. More than ever before, Shift put players firmly in the driver's seat via a realistic first-person cockpit view camera that brought the extreme speed to life.
Need For Speed: High Stakes
Year released: 1999
Developer: EA Canada
As the fourth game in the Need For Speed series, High Stakes expanded on the popular franchise by introducing four new racing modes: High Stakes, Getaway, Time Trap and Career. For the first time, cars experienced actual damage, which had to be repaired using cash won from races.
The gameplay in High Stakes was fairly similar to the Need For Speed III title rolled out the year prior. Aside from car damage, there weren't any significant changes in the game. Although, with ten tiers to race, and new cars to choose from, gamers certainly got their money's worth with High Stakes.
The Need For Speed
Year released: 1994
Developer: Pioneer Productions
For the original Need For Speed title, EA wanted to give gamers an entertaining yet realistic experience. To do so, it enlisted the help of Road & Track magazine to get precise data on things like a car's handling, braking, overall performance and even sounds. The game was first introduced for 3DO in '95, with a follow-up PC version a year later. The final version was released in 1996 for both the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
The car list and race tracks in the original NFS weren't so impressive compared to most of the other titles in the series, though the game's realistic and simple gameplay made it a success, particularly for new players. The game featured four different game modes: Head To Head, Single Race, Time Trial and Tournament.
EA used blocking volumes to ensure cars couldn't be driven off-road, partly in order to prevent players from cheating by taking shortcuts. Perhaps the most notable feature in The Need For Speed was the ability for police to catch racers and ticket them-a popular theme which was carried on throughout much of the series.