Road & Track presents The Need for Speed (Game)

Road & Track presents The Need for Speed

GAME » on December 1994

3DO (Platform)PC (Platform)PlayStation (Platform)Saturn (Platform)

Electronic Arts's answer to the Test Drive series, The Need for Speed features recreations of eight sports cars to drive, with accurate tuning and in-depth details from the Road & Track car enthusiast magazine.

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Overview

Road & Track presents The Need for Speed, often known simply as The Need for Speed and known in Japan as Road & Track presents Over Drivin', is a street racing game developed by both Pioneer Productions and Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts (Company) for the 3DO (Platform) in December 1994.

The second and last game endorsed by the automotive enthusiast magazine Road & Track (after Grand Prix Unlimited (Game)) and similar to the Test Drive (Franchise) series, The Need For Speed has players driving in recreations of eight real-life sports cars as they duel an opponent (the "X-Man", who berates or compliments the player in live-action full-motion video) in one-on-one street races. In addition, the game features a detailed car showcase showing the technical details and real-life performance stats of each car, including a live-action full-motion video of the car being driven.

The game later received a DOS PC conversion on September 1995, updating the 3D engine while adding three new closed-circuit tracks, modem-based multiplayer, new eight-car racing modes (including a single-player Tournament campaign), and the removal of X-Man. It later received an updated "Special Edition" re-release on December 30, 1996, adding Windows support, eight-player networked multiplayer, two new Tracks, time-of-day settings, and a new soundtrack.

The original PC version later received console ports for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996, adding split-screen multiplayer. Japan only received a PS1 port as Road & Track presents Over Drivin' DX, although they received a reworked revision in late 1996/early 1997, where instead of a Road & Track license, they include cars from the Nissan Motor Company (Concept) instead (with the Saturn version as Nissan presents Over Drivin' GT-R and the PS1 version as Nissan presents Over Drivin': Skyline Memorial).

It is the first in the Need for Speed (Franchise) series, which dropped the Road & Track license starting with its immediate sequel and started focusing on more arcade-style gameplay and more exotic cars.

Gameplay

The original Need for Speed included only two modes: a one-on-one race against an opponent (known in the manual as the "X-Man") and a simple time trial mode. Later versions reworked this into four distinct modes:

Time Trial - Race against the clock.
Head-to-Head - Race against a single opponent.
Single Race - Race against a grid of seven opponents.
Tournament - Race against a grid of seven opponents, with each Road/Track having different restrictions on cars and scenarios. Winning all roads and tracks awards bonus tracks and cars.

Vehicle handling was markedly different to that of later Need for Speed (Franchise) games. Despite the outlandish jumps featured in the tracks, the cars had slower steering responsiveness and more accurately reflected each car's unique handling characteristics in the real world.

Cars

All versions of the game include eight cars to choose from, each tailored to best represent their real-life counterpart in performance. In the Tournament mode of the game's later versions, cars are organized by "Class":

Class C

Mazda RX-7 (Yellow)
Acura NSX (Object) (Silver)
Toyota SUPRA TURBO (Red)

Class B

Class A

Ferrari 512TR (Red)
Lamborghini DIABLO VT (Black)

The game includes a Car Showcase that details each car's real-life measurements, technical details, and performance, with later versions adding detailed history of the car.

All later versions of the game includes a ninth unlockable fantasy supercar, known as the Warrior PTO E/2.

Tracks

The original 3DO release includes three Roads to race on, ranked from easiest (City) to hardest (Alpine).

All later releases added new closed circuits, known as Tracks, as well as unlockable mirror and rally versions of all roads and tracks. The Rally versions replace the road with less grippier gravel for off-road racing.

In the Tournament mode for all later releases, all Roads and Tracks are categorized by vehicular Class, determining which cars can be driven (both by the player and their opponents).

Roads

These point-to-point courses are split into three segments, and has players dodging traffic while avoiding being pulled over by police (which can cause a game over if done three times in a single race).

City (Class C)
Coastal (Class B) - Known in some Japanese versions as Sea Side.
Alpine (Class A) - Known in some Japanese versions as Mountain.

Tracks

These closed circuits have players running laps instead of segments, without any traffic.

Rusty Springs Raceway (Class C)
Autumn Valley Speedway (Class B)
Burnt Sienna (Class B) - Added in the SE version.
Vertigo Ridge (Class A)
Transtropolis (Class A) - Added in the SE version.
Lost Vegas (Class A, hidden bonus track)

The Rally version of Rusty Springs is reworked into "Oasis Springs", while the PS1 and Saturn versions add a second hidden variant known as "Lunar Springs".

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