The Need for Speed (video game)

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This article deals with the first Need for Speed computer and video game. For the rest of the series, see Need for Speed series.

Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed

Developer(s)	EA Canada
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Series	Need for Speed
Release date(s)	1994 (3DO) 1995 (DOS) 1996 (PS, Sat)
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (6+)
Platform(s)	3DO, DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Media	CD

The Need for Speed (occasionally referred to in full as Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed^[1]^[2])is a 1994 racing video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first in the Need for Speed series, which would span more than 15 titles to date. The premise of the game involves racing in sport cars, including several exotic models and Japanese imports. The game noted for its attempts in realism, and audio and video commentaries. 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.

1 Features
2 Cars
3 Tracks
4 The Need For Speed: Special Edition
5 References
6 External link

[edit] Features

An in-game screenshot of The Need for Speed. Seen here as the player's car is an RT/10 Dodge Viper.

Features both closed circuits and three point-to-point tracks, each divided into three stages. For the latter, traffic vehicles would appear in races.
Includes police pursuits, in which the player could be ticketed or arrested after a police car succeeds in catching up with the player.
Features detailed specifications, history, audio commentaries and real-life videos of each vehicle.
Features data and records of each race, during and after the race. These include speed, track records and racer position.
Replay feature which allows the player to view a saved race. Multiple camera views, playback speed and video navigation are offered.

[edit] Cars

The Need for Speed includes a total of eight sports cars from Japan, Europe and the United States. The cars are divided into three classes, each representing model within specific performance brackets, such as speed and handling. Cars featured in the game include the following:

Class A
- Lamborghini Diablo VT
- Ferrari 512TR

Class B
- Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4)
- Dodge Viper (RT/10)
- Porsche 911 Carrera (993)

Class C
- Acura NSX
- Mazda RX-7 (FD)
- Toyota Supra (Mark IV) Turbo

The Need for Speed also features a fictional bonus car named the "Warrior PTO E/2." The car possesses unrealistically high speed and acceleration, sensitive handling, and also produces an unusual horn sound.

[edit] Tracks

The Need for Speed originally features seven tracks, which consists of varied locations suggestively located in the United States. They include four close circuit tracks (with one as a bonus track), and three point-to-point tracks (each divided into three segments). Point-to-point tracks are the only tracks in the game that allow the flow of open traffic and police, but is only featured during one-on-one races. The tracks as outlined below:

Point-to-point tracks
- City: Set on largely straight, highway-like roadways stretching across an urban setting.
- Coastal: Set along resort beaches, seaside cliffs and natural seafront terrain. The finish line of the track features a half-buried Statue of Liberty on the beach, reminiscent of that featured in the Planet of the Apes film.
- Alpine: Consists of a short drive along farmlands, and long, windy roads along alpine forests. The last half of the entire track is covered in snow.

Closed tracks
- Rusty Springs Raceway: An old, oval-shaped, and short race circuit set in the desert.
- Autumn Valley Speedway: A modern race circuit with numerous steeply banked corners, set among autumn-color trees.
- Vertigo Ridge: Highland roadway with passages through forests and mountain ridges.
- Lost Vegas (bonus track): A Las Vegas-like circuit, and the only track in the game to be set at night.

The Special Edition of the game includes an additional two closed tracks:

Burnt Sienna: Set in an American Old West ghost town located in barren land, with a segment of the track running below a mine and cave.
Transtropolis: Set in a heavily urbanized and industrialized setting, running across various industrial establishments, a multistory car park and an airport.

[edit] The Need For Speed: Special Edition

Released in 1996, an edition of The Need for Speed, The Need for Speed: Special Edition, is made available only on a PC CD-ROM, containing DOS and Windows 95 versions. The Windows 95 version supports DirectX 2 and TCP/IP networking, and includes two new tracks 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.