Need for Speed (NFS) is a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts EA and developed by several studios including Canadian-based company EA Black Box and British-based Criterion Games. It is the most successful racing video game series in the world, and one of the most successful video game franchises of all time.[1] As of October 2009, over 100 million copies of games in the Need for Speed series have been sold.[2]
The series was originally developed by the Canadian-based company Distinctive Software, which became known as EA Canada. The series debuted with The Need for Speed in North America, Japan, and Europe in 1994. Initially, the series was exclusive to the fifth generation consoles and was featured in all of the seventh generation video game consoles by 2008. The games consist mainly of racing with various cars on various tracks, and to some extent, include police pursuits in races. In Japan, the series was released as Over Drivin. After the release of Need for Speed: High Stakes, it adopted the western name. Since Need for Speed: Underground, the series has integrated car body customization into gameplay.
Need for Speed: Underground (2003)
Need for Speed: Underground proposed a shift from semi-professional racing and isolated circuits to the street racing style of other arcade racing series: all circuits are now part of a single map, Olympic City, except for drifts. This game introduced three new play modes (Drag, Drift and Sprint) and tuning with more options than in the previous attempt, High Stakes. Underground was also the first game in the series to feature a story, told via pre-rendered videos, completely rebooting the franchise.
The game features tuner cars and focuses on the import tuner culture shown in movies like the Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2
Furious. The game has a wide variety of tuning options such as widebody kits, bumpers, spoilers, rims, hoods, roof scoops, window tints, neon, decals, vinyls, paint and performance upgrades such as engine and NOS. City street racing is the primary focus of the game.
Due to law enforcement reasons, there were no cops in Underground and Underground 2, which drew criticism as cops were an important part of previous titles' gameplay. The game received good reviews which generally criticised cops not being in the game.[citation needed]
Most of the new elements in Underground have become defining marks of later installments in the Need for Speed series.
This was the first Need for Speed to require Hardware Transform and Lighting in Graphics Cards.
Need for Speed: Underground 2, the sequel to the commercial hit Need for Speed: Underground, was released on 15 November 2004. A demo of the game was placed as a
"late" easter egg in finished copies of the EA Games and Criterion Games collaboration Burnout 3: Takedown, and completed versions of NFSU2 also have a demo of Burnout 3 in the game.
In Underground 2, the story bob continues, but there are new racing modes such as the Underground Racing League and Street X, new and more tuning options, as well as a new method of selecting races—just driving around the city (similar to Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club II) and selecting race "beacons". Also included is an "outrun" mode where a player can challenge random opponents on the road and the race leader will attempt to distance themselves away from the opponent to defeat th
e opponent (similar to Tokyo Xtreme Racer). Underground 2 also introduces several SUVs, which could be customized as extensively as other Underground 2 vehicles and used to race against other SUV racers.
The customization features in the game was significantly expanded to modifications that have no actual effect on vehicle performance. The sound systems could be put in the trunk of cars, but served no purpose other than sheer flash. The game also features more extensive product placement for companies with no conne
ction to auto racing, such as integrating the logo for Cingular Wireless, an American wireless communications company, into the game's messaging system and displaying it on-screen for much of the gameplay. This game has extensive amount of customization.
The performance and handling of the car is not only affected from "performance shops", but cosmetic modifications, like spoilers and hoods, which affect the downforce of the car.
Need for Speed: Underground Rivals was t
he first Need for Speed game released on the PlayStation Portable. It is the PSP equivalent of Need for Speed: Underground 2, and was released on 24 February 2005 in Japan, 14 March 2005 in North America, and 1 September 2005 in Europe. The title went Platinum in Europe on 30 June 2006. It had no free roam and the cars were very limited.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted was released on 16 November 2005, and was one of the first games released for the Xbox 360. Police chases make a comeback and represent a significant body of the gameplay, and includes the Grand Theft Auto-like free-roaming of Underground 2, but with less extensive vehicle customization features than in the Underground series. The customization options are improved slightly in the latter need for speed titles. The story mode is presented in a significantly different style from Underground, with CGI effects mixed with live action, which was used in later games, such as Need For Speed Carbon. The mode also features the Blacklist, a crew consisting of 15 racers that the player must beat one-by-one to unlock parts, cars, tracks, and to complete career mode. The player has to meet certain requirements before he can take on the next Blacklist rival, such as races completed, bounty earned, etc.
A special "Black Edition" of Most Wanted was also released, which features additional races and challenges, and a few bonus cars, including a specially-tuned BMW E46 (M3) GTR, a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, a red Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, a Porsche, and a few others, and also includes a Black Edition-only behind-the-scenes DVD. Both versions of Most Wanted are available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo DS, and Windows-based PCs. Only the standard edition of Most Wanted is available for GameCube and Xbox 360 ("Black Edition" was not produced for these platforms). Black Edition was made for the tenth anniversary of the Need for Speed series. In Germany the "Black Edition" was only released for PS2.
The PSP port of Need for Speed: Most Wanted is Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0. It was released on the Gamecube, Xbox 360, PS2, Xbox, GBA, PC and DS.
Need for Speed: Carbon saw the return of nighttime-only racing, and a sele
ction of cars similar to that of Most Wanted, including compact cars and sports cars associated with import culture, American muscle cars, and supercars. Carbon also introduces a new feature wherein the player is allowed to form a "crew," to which members with different abilities may be chosen that aid t
he player in races. Drift events returned to the series in Carbon. It also continues the story of the player from NFSMW. However, the game has far less emphasis on the police than NFSMW.
The game was released on 31 October 2006 for Windows-based personal computers, Playstation 2 and Xbox 360, and this is the first Need for Speed game for Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii and it's the last NFS game for Nintendo Gamecube and Xbox, followed by video game consoles and handheld game
consoles. Carbon's handheld port is known as Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City. Drag racing was removed from the series, but a new type of race called "Canyon Duel" was added, where the player and a game boss take turns racing down a canyon, trying to stay as close to the leader as possible. The closer the player is to the leader, the more points they accrue. If the player is unable to overtake the leader and remain in front (10 seconds), it will go down to the next round where the play
er must stay as far ahead as possible to gain more points and win against the boss.
Another new feature is "Autosculpt", which allows players to custom-fabricate their own ground effects, rims, hoods, and other parts. The cars featured on the front cover of game are the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and Dodge Challenger. The car featured on the front cover of the Collector's Edition is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX.
The Wii port lacked online play, but made full use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.
The Need for Speed: Carbon "Collector's Edition" features 4 exclusive cars, 10 pre-tuned cars, 6 new races, 3 unique challenge events, 10 unique vinyls and a Bonus DVD showing the making of Carbon and showcasing all the cars used in the game. The Collector's Edition also features alternate box art and metallic
finish packaging. Although the Mac edition doesn't display the Collector's Edition title, it contains all Collector's Edition features.
Need for Speed: ProStreet is the 2007 released t
itle in the Need for Speed series. Key features of the game include realistic damage, a return to realistic racing (instead of the arcade-like racing of previous titles),[15][16] modeling, burnouts and more. The game also lacks the free roam mode in which players can roam the streets. Instead, all of the races are on closed race tracks that take place on organized race days. The game consisted of Drag races, Speed challenges, Grip races (circuit racing), and drift races. you would progress through the career mode dominating racedays, unlocking events, and going to showdowns. you could improve your cars, but the main focus was on dominating each raceday to unlock more. you would eventually end up unlocking one or up to all of the elite kings-Drag, Speed, Drift, and Grip
kings. you would go to racedays and compete against others that get progressively better and just race the certain kind multiple times, until you could face the king, and win. you would then receive their car as a "gift" for beating the highest level of that type of racing. There is also a king over all of the types- Ryo. he is very good at everything, and you have to be able to beat him in everything to win his car.
The game was released on 14 November 2007 in North America and on 23 November 2007 in Europe. However sales were poor and critics bashed the game because of its awkward, unrealistic physics engine, boring
single player career mode and unresponsive controls.
The "Collector's Edition" for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 adds another 5 new cars. It is available via download.
Need for Speed: Undercover was released on 18 November 2008. The game had a significantly longer development cycle than previous games, taking 16 months to develop.[17]
The game focuses o
n, like NFS Most Wanted, tuning and cop chases. The game features 50+ cars. The game takes place in a fictional city, in a Tri-city Bay area. The player's role is an undercover cop, trying to stop the racers. The game contains live-action cutscenes which feature the actress Maggie Q. The game also features a damage system and now parts can break off after a crash. However, the player doesn't need to pay for the damage and the car is repaired automatically after each race, unlike 2007's Need For Speed Pro Street.
EA Games president Frank Gibeau stated that due to the fact that the sales of ProStreet didn't live up to EA's hopes for the ga
me, the franchise will go back to its "roots" with a number of features, including open-world racing and a new highway battle mode. The game was met with average responses, mostly in the 65% to 70% range, but the responses were higher than ProStreet (one response was higher than 70%, three of them were below a 65%).[18]
The "Collector's Edition" for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 adds another 5 new cars, plus twelve new circuit, sprint and checkpoint track co
nfigurations. Also included are specially tuned versions of ten existing cars which are available in quick race & online modes, plus 35 exclusive vinyls for adding a unique visual style to any of your cars.
EA also ported Undercover to various mobile devices. It is available for purchase and download in the iTunes App Store for the iPod Touch and iPhone, and in the Palm App Catalog for the Palm Pre, and Windows Mobile. It is also the last Need for Speed game for PlayStation 2.
Need for Speed: Shift, released on 15 September 2009, primarily centers around legal races in real-life racing circuits around the world, and maintain its mix of exotic, import and muscle cars. It features 60+ cars, divided into 4 tiers. It features 19 tracks, some of which are actual licensed tracks and others which are fictional. In addition to improved driving simulation and an adaptive difficulty, the game reintroduces cockpit view, the first in the series since Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed. NFS Shift focuses on racing simulation rather than arcade racing of previous titles. The car featured on the cover page is a BMW E92 M3 GT2.
It has received better reviews than the last 3 games, Carbon, ProStreet and Undercover. It has gained a 9.0 rating from IGN and the Official Xbox Magazine while gained a 7.0 from Eurogamer and Gamespot, who were considerably less impressed. The reviewers generally praised the in-car view of the game and its sense of speed while most of the criticism revolved around the Drift aspect of NFS: Shift.
A Ferrari racing DLC pack was released. It was available on the Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points. It featured 10 Ferrari cars and 46 specific Ferrari challenges in career mode.
An Exotic racing pack was also released. It features cars like the McLaren MP4-12C, the BMW M1, the Gumpert Apollo and the Honda NSX. It also features new races, a new championship & 5 more trophies for the PlayStation 3.
It is available for purchase and download in the iTunes App Store for the iPod Touch and iPhone, and Windows Mobile.
The "Special Edition" of Need For Speed Shift contains a special tuned BMW M3 GT2, and an Elite Series track.