The Need for Speed

Released: 1995
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Electronic Arts
Author(s):

Introduction

The Need for Speed (NFS) was a racing game by Electronic Arts. It came with eight high-performance cars to choose from: Toyota Supra Turbo, Lamborghini Diablo VT, Mazda RX-7, Acura NSX, Porsche 911 Carrera, Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, Dodge Viper RT/10 and Ferrari 512TR.

A total of six tracks were available - three open road and three circuits: Rusty Springs Raceway, Autumn Valley Speedway, Vertigo Ridge, City, Coastal, and Alpine.

In 1996, a Windows version was released called The Need for Speed: Special Edition. This was technically very similar to the original, but was enhanced to run on DirectX 2.0 and added two more tracks: Transtropolis and Burnt Sienna.

*** THIS ARTICLE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS ***

System Requirements

System Requirements	486DX2-66 CPU, 8 MB of RAM, 2x CD-ROM drive. Graphics support for SVGA only Audio support: Sound Blaster/Pro/16/AWE32, Ensoniq SoundScape, Microsoft Sound System, Gravis Ultrasound/Max. Peripheral support: Keyboard, joystick, mouse, steering wheel/pedals.
Original Media	One CD-ROM.
Installed Size (MB)	-

From where can it be run?

The game must be installed to your hard disk.

 

Copy Protection

<copy protection notes>

 

How to Setup

<installation intro>

<screenshots of installation>

 

 

Problems

Symptom:
Cause:
Resolution:

Keys

<controls>

 

 

To Quit the Game

<quit info>

 

Supporting Documents

 

Additional Files, Drivers & Utilities

 

Save Games

<save game info>

Versions of the game known to exist

Version	Date	Comments
1.0	<date>	Initial public release.

Original Floppy Disk Contents

The floppy disks have no specific volume label. Here are each disk's contents:

Disk 1 of x (<media type>):   Directory of A:\
Disk 2 of x (<media type>):   Directory of A:\

 

Installed Directory Contents

Once installed, the following directory structure exists in the game directory:

Directory of C:\<game install directory>

 

Game Review

Most gamers have heard of the Need for Speed series, as over the years it's had a presence on nearly every games console produced. It all started here though, with this title that came out in 1994 on the 3DO console and was ported to DOS a year after.

Sponsored by Road & Track magazine, the game came across as an arcade racer similar to Ridge Racer or Electronic Arts' own Road Rash, but the car physics model belied this assumption with fairly unique and detailed control for each car. NFS came with eight high-performance cars to choose from: Toyota Supra Turbo, Lamborghini Diablo VT, Mazda RX-7, Acura NSX, Porsche 911 Carrera, Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, Dodge Viper RT/10 and Ferrari 512TR.

A total of six tracks came with the original: Rusty Springs Raceway, Autumn Valley Speedway, Vertigo Ridge, City, Coastal, and Alpine. Three of these are 'open road', three are closed circuits and one is a bonus track that's unlocked later. You can race on these in a number of game modes: Head-to-head, Single Race, Tournament and Time Trial. In the first two, you race against a single computer opponent or another human player over modem connection. In Tournament you take part in all the tracks, competing against 7 computer-controlled cars. Depending on the car you choose, you are put into Tournament Class A, B or C, so you complete against similar-specced cars. You must complete every track in 1st place to progress. The Time Trial is just as it sounds: a race against the clock to get the fastest time with no cops or other traffic to get in your way.

If you're playing in Head to Head mode on one of the open road courses like 'Coastal', cops play a crucial role - your car is fitted with a radar detector to tell you how close they are, and if you're speeding (why aren't you?) they will give chase. These open road courses are also nice as you get general traffic on the roads to avoid also.

The Need for Speed is a tough game to win, and will require some patience and practice to learn the courses and the difficulty of your opponents. Just as with some other games here, the computer-controlled vehicles seem to recover from a crash so much quicker than you can.

The in-game graphics are gorgeous (up there with NASCAR Racing), and it can run in either 320 x 200 or 640 x 480 resolution, all in beautiful 256 colours. Numerous options exist to help the game run on slower hardware, all accessible from the Options menu and some, like the window size, image quality, horizon on/off and view distance can be changed during the gameplay itself - nice.

Joystick options were plentiful and demonstrate the aim of this title being a serious racer, with support for the top-class joysticks of the time from CH Products, Thrustmaster and the like.

The main menu is somewhat frustrating, as you need to go into the Options to change the game mode - this would have been better placed on the main menu alongside the car and track selections. Aside from this, it's nicely-presented with lots of photographic images, car specifications, and a video and history of each car. Some cars have ABS and Traction Control and if these are available you can set them on or off - nice one!

The replay mode in The Need for Speed is great, with five different camera angles to choose from - you even have the choice of just viewing a short clip of the key moments of your last race via the Highlight Reel. By default, the replay jumps to just the last 10 seconds of gameplay but you can go right back to the start if you wish. Replays can be saved to disk for later playback.

In 1996, a Windows version was released called The Need for Speed: Special Edition. This was technically very similar to the original, but was enhanced to run on DirectX 2.0 and added two more tracks: Transtropolis and Burnt Sienna.