I cruise along at high speeds while flipping off the police. A review of the original Need for Speed.
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: Playstation
Genre(s): Racing
Release Date: 1996
"Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed. With 7 Racing Tracks, Nine cars, and a good amount of music, The Need for Speed is the game that began a racing franchise. The Need for Speed graced the Playstation in 1996 and came with significant improvements from its previous forms.
What set The Need for Speed apart from other racers was also one of the highest points of the game and that is the traffic and those damn coppers! Racing on public roads and trying to avoid the admittedly either dumb, or really douchebag pedestrian drivers while also trying to avoid that cop tail you just picked up was something really fun to bring to a racing game and definitely raised The Need for Speed above it's peers at the time. The one good thing about one of the pedestrian AI's cutting you off though was how spectacular the wrecks and spin-outs were. I remember laughing til my sides hurt because of a particularly hilarious crash my friend had gotten into because the AI decided to be a jerk again.
The HUD is easier to read than previous versions of the game and the mode where you can go in and listen to descriptions of the cars and learn more about them adds a nice touch of education to the game without forcing it down our throats or making it boring. The controls work well for the most part but sometimes my car would stick a bit and argue with me about what I wanted it to do, and admittedly on the Playstation I did encounter a bit of what I can only describe as LAG.
In conclusion with a couple of minor problems, some infuriating AI The Need for Speed is not perfect. But it was a wonderful starting point for what has become arguably the most popular Racing series of all time."
+Good Graphics and Audio for a Playstation Game
+Improved HUD from Previous Versions
+Interesting Educational Bits
+Effective Realistic Racing Game
+Physics Engine allows fun crashes
-Irritating AI
-Clunky Controls at times
-LAG
9.0/10
Gold Seal of Satisfaction