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The Need for Speed (video game)
Encyclopedia
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.
, 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.
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!".
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.
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
video game first released on the 3DO and ported to other systems, developed by Electronic Arts Canada
EA Canada
EA Canada is a video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened in January 1983 and is EA's largest and oldest studio...
and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. It is the first title released in the Need for Speed series
Need for Speed
Need for Speed is a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts and developed by several studios including Canadian-based company EA Black Box and British-based Criterion Games...
. 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
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
teamed up with automotive magazine Road & Track
Road & Track
Road & Track is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, and is published monthly. The editorial offices are located in Newport Beach, California.-History:...
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.
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 SaturnSega SaturnThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
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 DiabloLamborghini Diablo
The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engined sports car that was built by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It was the first Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of . After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the...
, a red Ferrari 512TR, a royal blue Dodge Viper
Dodge Viper
The first prototype was tested in January 1989. It debuted in 1991 with two pre-production models as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 when Dodge was forced to substitute it in place of the Japanese-built Stealth because of complaints from the United Auto Workers, and went on sale in January...
RT/10, a dark green Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, a dark blue Porsche 911 Carrera, a red Toyota Supra
Toyota Supra
The Toyota Supra is a sports car/grand tourer that was produced by Toyota Motor Company from 1979 to 2002. The styling of the Toyota Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider. Starting in mid-1986, the Supra became its own model and was no longer based on the Celica...
Turbo, a silver Acura NSX, a yellow Mazda RX-7
Mazda RX-7
Series 1 is commonly referred to as the "SA22C" from the first alphanumerics of the vehicle identification number. This series of RX-7 had exposed steel bumpers and a high-mounted indentation-located license plate, called by Werner Buhrer of Road & Track magazine a "Baroque depression."In 1980...
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. Jim Varner of GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
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!".
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 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
versions. The Windows 95 version supports DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
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
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
using DOSbox
DOSBox
DOSBox is emulator software that emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software....
(x86 DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
) for DOS version of the game.