Evolution of Need For Speed

GameUtha May 12, 2022

Need For Speed Introduction

Need for Speed has long remained a staple racing franchise on consoles, PC and mobile. Starting out in 1994, the series has gone through numerous changes and reboots over the course of its almost 30-year history. There have been highs and lows, some changes that have gone down well with fans and others that have not received the warm reception. In recent years the series has struggled to retain what made earlier entries fun, often times deviating from the core of the series a bit too much.

Bold Beginnings (1994-2002)

Need for Speed initially launched in 1994 while subsequent console ports for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn came out in 1996. The game was intended to be a realistic racing simulator meant to capture a market that was mostly dominated by very simple racing games with little to no substance. The main objective of the game was to unlock cars and tracks by winning events. The game also featured police chases which have now become a franchise mainstay.

The Sequel, Need for Speed II released in 1997. It featured a plethora of tracks across a number of locations. The track design was less restrictive than what was present in its predecessor. It also introduced a new racing mode called “knockout” where the player at the end of each lap would be eliminated. This is perhaps the best-known game from the franchise’s early days, being the first Need for Speed game for a lot of people.

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit made its debut in 1998. It placed a bigger emphasis on the cop vs racer aspect. The player could assume the role of the cop, trying to catch the racer or vice versa. This was the first game to feature DLC in the form of downloadable cars from the Need for Speed website.

The next entry in the franchise, Need for Speed: High Stakes was released in 1999 and featured increased level of detail across the board. Cars could now take damage by colliding into obstacles and also iterated on the previous game’s pursuit mode.

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, released in 2000 was touted as the most realistic game in the franchise. It placed a heavy emphasis on Porsche cars. The player would have to test different porches in order to progress the game.

The Sequel, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit II, released in 2002 once again leaned heavily into the cop’s vs racers aspect of the third game, this was the first game that transitioned to the more arcadey gameplay one that the series came to be known for in its later years.

Second Gear (2003-2006)

Need for Speed: Underground released in 2003 completely redefined the series introducing franchise staples like a story mode, car customization (including both aesthetic and technical upgrades) and an open world sandbox to roam around in. It also introduced two new game modes; drag and drift.

Need for Speed: Underground 2 released just a year later iterated on these ideas by further enriching the customization system while also iterating on the open world formula by having open world race events. It also featured an outrun mode where players could race random racers on the streets.

The Sequel Need for Speed: Most Wanted was released in 2005 while it did not iterate much as compared to previous titles it featured what is considered by many as the best story the Need for Speed franchise has ever produced. It instantly became a fan favorite.

Building off the success of Most Wanted, Need for Speed: Carbon released the following year, featuring the same open world and customization design as the previous three entries. This installment introduced a crew that would aid players in races and featured only night time races.

Finetuning (2007-2012)

Need for Speed: ProStreet was released in 2007 and was polarizing amongst longtime fans as the series shifted towards a more realistic setting. The open world was removed, instead focusing on more “pro” style races with pre-determined tracks. It did however put more emphasis on realism.

Need for Speed: Undercover decided to undo what ProStreet did by going back to the franchise’s street racing roots. This game once again placed an emphasis on police chases and featured a robust story mode with over 60 cars.

Released in 2009, Need for Speed: Shift, once again went the route of more realistic racing like ProStreet but was met with more positive reviews by both fans and critics.

2010 saw a reboot to the Hot Pursuit games when Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was released. It was very reminiscent of the two Hot Pursuit titles from the franchise’s early years. Hot Pursuit once again allowed you to play as either a cop or a racer the game also introduced weapons, both racers and cops had different weapons. It was very popular amongst fans.

In 2011 two Need for Speed titles were released. The first of which being Need for Speed: Shift 2 which was very reminiscent of the first Shift game. The second title was Need for Speed: The Run. For the first time in franchise history the player could exit their vehicle, the game also featured quick time events.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted was released in 2012 like the previous Most Wanted game it featured blacklist members that you would have to take out in order to progress the story, it didn’t do much in the way of iterating the franchise.

Modern Era (2013-2019)

Need for Speed: Rivals released in 2013 it once again did not do much in the way of pushing the franchise to new heights, it borrowed heavily from the previous Hot Pursuit game.

In 2015, EA rebooted the franchise with the release of Need for Speed. The game was always online which did not go down well with fans. The game was praised for its graphics but everything was very lackluster.

EA followed this less than stellar entry with Need for Speed: Payback in 2017 it did not have an always online component. The game tried to do away with the traditional customization by introducing speed cards (that essentially replaced engine upgrades) which did not go down well with fans.

The latest entry in the series Need for Speed: Heat was released in 2019 it brought back traditional customization and also introduced a new mechanic where players could choose whether they wanted to play during the daytime or nighttime. The daytime portion features more organized events while the nighttime portion features street racing with cop pursuits.

Future of Need for Speed

The next installment is currently in development at Criterion games, there is no official release date as of yet but it is expected to launch in the latter half of this year. All subsequent installments will be handled by Codemasters, the studio behind the Dirt series.

Comparison

Now Let’s compare how things have changed in terms of graphics over the past decades.

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