- The Need for Speed
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This article is about the first Need for Speed video game. For the rest of the series, see Need for Speed. For other uses, see Need for Speed (disambiguation).
Road & Track Presents:
The Need for Speed
Developer(s) EA Canada Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Series Need for Speed Platform(s) 3DO, DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows Release date(s) 3DO
- NA 1994
- JP December 9, 1994
- NA August 31, 1995
- JP April 19, 1996
- JP December 20, 1996
Genre(s) Racing Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer Rating(s) Media/distribution CD Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed, released in Japan as Road & Track Presents: Over Drivin', is a 1994 racing video game first released on the 3DO and ported to other systems, developed by Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first title released in the Need for Speed series. The premise of the game involves racing in sport cars, including several exotic models and Japanese imports. The game was noted for its realism and audio and video commentaries. Electronic Arts teamed up with automotive magazine Road & Track to match vehicle behavior, 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.
Contents
Gameplay
- Featured both closed circuits and three point-to-point tracks, each divided into three stages. For the latter, traffic vehicles appeared in races.
- Included police pursuits, in which the player could be ticketed or arrested after a police car succeeded in catching up with the player. The player was arrested if he/she received a third police ticket, while the Sega Saturn version only required two tickets for the player to be arrested.
- Featured detailed specifications, history, audio commentaries and real-life videos of each vehicle.
- Featured data and records of each race, during and after the race. These included speed, track records and racer position.
- Replay feature allowed the player to view a saved race. Multiple camera views, playback speed and video navigation were offered.
- A special feature for finishing the tournament's (or entering the cheat) was "rally" mode. The car dynamics were changed to make for a faster 'arcade' experience.
Tracks
Seven tracks are included in the game, with one bonus track which can be unlocked. They are listed as "City", "Coastal", "Alpine", "Rusty Springs", "Autumn Valley", "Vertigo" and the bonus track, "Lost Vegas".
Cars
Nine cars are available to choose from in the game, including a secret tenth car: a black Lamborghini Diablo, a red Ferrari 512TR, a royal blue Dodge Viper RT/10, a dark green Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, a dark blue Porsche 911 Carrera, a red Toyota Supra Turbo, a silver Acura NSX, a yellow Mazda RX-7 and the secret car, known as the Warrior, which is in purple. It can be accessed via a special game code if entered correctly.
Reception
British magazine PC Power gave the DOS version a score of 95%, praising car handling, graphics and overall presentation, but criticizing hardware requirements and sound.[1] Jim Varner of GameSpot gave the game a 8.3 "Great" rating and said: "With its marvelous attention to detail, exotic course design, and straightforward gameplay, this game is a true winner. Simply put, The Need for Speed is the next best thing to owning a $200,000 sports car!".[2]
The Need for Speed: Special Edition
In 1996, an edition of The Need for Speed, The Need for Speed: Special Edition, was released only on PC CD-ROM, containing DOS and Windows 95 versions. The Windows 95 version supports DirectX 2 and IPX networking, and includes two new tracks ("Transtropolis" and "Burnt Sienna") and various enhancements in the game engine. Special Edition is the last game in the Need for Speed series to support DOS, as subsequent releases for the PC only run on Microsoft Windows 95 or above.
However, it can still be run under Windows XP using DOSbox (x86 DOS emulator) for DOS version of the game.
References
- ^ Butt, Damian (October 1995), "The Need for Speed", PC Power (22): 38–41
- ^ Varner, Jim. The Need for Speed review. GameSpot. May 26, 1996.
External links
Need for Speed First era The Need for Speed (1994) · Need for Speed II (1997) · Hot Pursuit (1998) · High Stakes (1999) · Porsche Unleashed (2000) · Motor City Online (2001) · Hot Pursuit 2 (2002)Second era Underground (2003) · Underground 2 (2004) · Most Wanted (2005) · Carbon (2006) · ProStreet (2007) · Undercover (2008)Third era Shift (2009) · Nitro (2009) · World (2010) · Hot Pursuit (2010) · Shift 2: Unleashed (2011) · The Run (2011)Branded Related Categories:- 1994 video games
- Electronic Arts games
- 3DO games
- Cancelled Atari Jaguar games
- DOS games
- Need for Speed games
- PlayStation games
- Sega Saturn games
- Video games developed in Canada
- Windows games
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