Title: The Need For Speed
Company: Electronic Arts
Format: Sony Playstation
Release Date: March 20th, 1996
Reviewed by: William A. Castellano
E-mail address: bill@dworkin.wustl.edu
Home page:  http://dworkin.wustl.edu/~bill
---

In December of 1994, I purchased a game for my 3DO system that made me 
finally start to appreciate the $700.00 game-starved black box that I 
had so eagerly purchased exactly one year before.  This game was The 
Need for Speed (NFS) by Electronic Arts.  NFS is best described as an 
updated 32-bit Test Drive with a highly-realistic physics model for the 
automobiles.  You control one of eight exotic sports cars and race 
against the clock (time trials), a computer opponent (head-to-head), a 
human opponent (2 player head-to-head), or several computer opponents 
(tournament or single race modes).  The object of the game is to cross 
the finish line before your opponent(s) or to beat the track records in 
Time Trial mode.  In Head to Head mode, cops patrol the roads and 
attempt to pull you over if you’re driving over the speed limit.  If you 
get pulled over, you get a ticket.  Get two tickets and the race ends with a
policeman arresting you.  You can choose among three open courses and three 
closed-circuit tracks.  Two of the most fun parts of this game are 
(IMHO) catching air and crashing.  I've been able to get some serious 
hang time using the Diablo on the Alpine track.  It’s possible to jump 
over oncoming cars (a HUGE adrenaline rush) and get involved in 200 MPH 
head-on collisions.  The cars do not take physical graphic damage (as 
they do in Destruction Derby) but they flip and roll when crashed at 
high speeds.  If a car flips or rolls, after it settles it is "dead" and 
white smoke rises up from the chassis.  A new car is handed out and the 
race continues.  I've spent countless hours deliberately crashing just 
so I can watch the crash from different angles using the replay feature.  
IMHO, crashing in NFS is much more fun than crashing in any other racing 
title, including Destruction Derby and Daytona.  You can even slam into 
the cop car before he/she has a chance to ticket you for speeding.

I immediately loved the 3DO version of NFS for two reasons:  1) The 
graphics were excellent and definitely cutting-edge for a 32-bit game 
back in late 1994/early 1995.  2) The physics model used to simulate the 
cars was incredibly realistic and very well designed.  I'm not quite 
sure how to explain this, but before you try NFS for the first time, do 
NOT expect to play Ridge Racer, Daytona, Sega Rally, or Wipeout.  NFS 
has a totally different game engine than any of the aforementioned 
titles which are best classified as "arcade-style" racing games.  These 
games place emphasis on high-speed breakneck action and knee-jerk 
"twitch" responses.  While being tons of fun and highly addictive, games 
like RR and Sega Rally tend to get tiresome after a while because the 
cars themselves are modeled with arcade-like gameplay in mind.  

In comparison, NFS cars are modeled with realism in mind and the game 
should be classified as a "racing simulation".  The cars in NFS have 
much more momentum than the arcade-style cars in RR and Sega Rally.  
When the Diablo is screaming down the Alpine road at 202 MPH, don't 
expect to be able to turn on a dime or powerslide through a tight turn 
at full speed.  This takes some getting used to and may frustrate those 
gamers looking for Ridge Racer-ish gameplay.   We're given a parking break 
(hand brake) which locks the rear wheels when engaged.  This leads to 
fantastic spinouts and donuts.  The cars have automatic or manual 
transmissions and can be driven in reverse.  One of my favorite 
maneuvers  is the "Starsky and Hutch move" which is accomplished by 
driving the car in reverse until a high speed is obtained.  Then 
simultaneously apply the parking break, turn the steering wheel, and 
shift into drive.  The car will spin 180 degrees and continue moving 
with a minimum loss in speed.  The cars also have horns and the 
transmissions can be shifted into neutral.  When turning the steering 
wheel, you'll notice that the cars tend to lean ever so slightly opposite
the direction they are turning.  This can be seen best by setting the 
camera view to Tail-Cam.  It is this meticulous attention to detail that 
sets this game head and shoulders above the other racers in terms of 
realism.

The bottom line is that you should probably try this game before you buy 
it if you’re hesitant.  Even though the framerate and speed have been 
increased over the pokey 3DO version, the game isn’t as fast- paced as 
Ridge Racer or Wipeout.  Personally, I was able to fully appreciate 
even the 3DO version immediately because the physics model was fantastic 
and the cars behaved and controlled like the real thing.  For example, 
the Diablo has a higher top speed compared to the Porsche, but the Porsche 
has tighter handling and better acceleration because it is lighter.  
Even the engine noises, steering wheels, and car horns are sampled from 
the cars’ real-life counterparts.  My only complaint about the 3DO 
version is that it never gave the game player the feeling that he/she 
was traveling at 150+ MPH.  The game’s speed was intentionally slowed to 
keep the 3DO microprocessor from choking the frame rate.  Now that this 
drawback has been completely eliminated in the Playstation version, I'm 
almost ready to declare the PS port of NFS as being one of my all-time 
favorite games.

---
Note:  The Playstation version of Need for Speed is a direct port of the 
PC CD-ROM version.  However, I haven't seen the PC version and won't be able
to make any comments about it.  Instead I'll compare the 3DO and Playstation 
versions because I own both of them and spent long, long hours dreaming up 
and executing the most spectacular crashes with the 3DO version, just to 
watch them on the replay.  ;-)

--------------------------------
 Improvements over 3DO version:
--------------------------------

The graphics in the PS version are a bit more detailed than the 3DO 
version, but not by any large factor.  This is fine because the graphics 
in the 3DO version were already excellent.

The cars in the PS version leave skid marks when they spin-out or skid.  
Now you can leave marks when doing a donut with your Diablo.  ;-)

The PS version has an extra camera view analogous to the "in-car" view 
in Ridge Racer.  

Seven tracks in the PS version vs. three tracks in the 3DO version.  The 
seventh track is a bonus track which can only be used after coming in 
first place on all tracks in the tournament mode.

New game modes: tournament mode and single race mode, both which let you 
race against more than one computer driver at a time.  Single race mode
allows you to race against the "pack" which is all eight different cars 
controlled by computer drivers.

Ability to save tournament progress, game settings, and records on the 
memory card.  Tournament progress can also be saved using a password. 

The AI of the cops and computer opponents has been tweaked a bit - the 
cops are a bit harder to outrun and the computer drivers are harder to 
pass.

Split screen or link cable head-to-head 2 player mode.  The detail and 
framerate of the split-screen mode are incredible.  The screen 
resolution has not been sacrificed in split-screen mode and the high 
level of detail has been retained.  The silky-smooth framerate has also 
been preserved in 2 player mode.  I had a complete blast racing against 
human opponents!  Both players are allowed to choose the same car (with 
different colors to set them apart on the road) or different cars.

The PS version has a much improved sensation of speed which was 
desperately lacking in the 3DO version.  In my opinion, the improved 
frame rate is worth the price of purchase alone.  If there was any big 
gripe about the 3DO version, it was the inability of the game to portray 
the sensation of driving at 150+ MPH.  IMHO, the PS version is able to 
bring us this sensation of speed.

That annoying and cocky FMV personality, "Mr. X" from the 3DO version 
is GONE.  ;-)  The EA programmers mercifully omitted him from the PS 
version.  Although I’m very glad that he’s history because he was so 
incredibly smug, repetitive, and obnoxious, I loved it when I outraced 
him in head to head mode because he would become very humbled and 
apologetic all of a sudden.  The 3DO version also had an option to 
disengage the FMV, so we weren’t stuck with him when he grated on our 
nerves.
---
In closing, I would recommend that everyone who owns a Playstation 
should definitely rent this title.  Those of us who loved the 3DO 
version will be ecstatic over the PS version based on the above 
improvements.  It is obvious that the programmers and game designers at 
EA put a lot of time and effort into upgrading NFS for the Playstation.  
If Road Rash had been given this much of a facelift, I'd be 
wholeheartedly recommending that title as well.  Hopefully EA and other 
companies will follow this example and make an earnest effort to improve 
upon already solid games when porting them to the Playstation and 
Saturn.
---
Copyright 1996 - William A. Castellano
Please do not reprint or distribute this review without the author's 
consent.
---