Need for Speed Series

The Late 90s

There weren't many, if any, racing games played outside of the usual Pole Position at the local laundromat. My first racing game was on the PC and it was called Need for Speed SE (that's what I can remember from the game booklet). There were a handful of tracks available and lots of interesting cars to choose from.

The Lamborghini was an instant favorite since I use to own a die-cast car of the same, or similar, model car when I was little. Then there were the scenic track locations. I can only remember racing on the city, mountains and desert tracks; everything else is a blur.

Early 2000s

During this time, I was introduced to NFS 3: Hot Pursuit. I played it first on the PC, and then my brother got it for the home console which made gameplay a lot easier. Namely because it freed up the PC for others to use.

Anyway, this installment I can recall better than the first. The rural/country track, the mountains, the waterfront, the desert and Empire City. Empire City is the only track name I could remember and it's all because of the track background music.

One of the many highlights was that each track had an advanced option once you've mastered the basics. Lost Canyons and Aquatica were favorites among the advanced tracks, and I did make use of the known shortcuts. The only thing I can't remember well is playing Hot Pursuit mode.

Some years after this, I start playing Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 on the PS2. This would be the first time I've actually paid attention to the challenges including those related to Pursuit Mode. There was one Pursuit scene, which I didn't record unfortunately, where I was avoiding every single trap set out by the cops.

One of the highlights was the near miss with the flaming barrels and barricades. This particular installment also had track shortcuts which aren't your friend during pursuits. Why? Because the pursuit vehicles made use of the them too.

As an added bonus, the soundtrack was memorable and there were a few that were added to my playlists. The Keep It Comin' track was a favorite and always kicked in when you needed it most during endurance races.

Closing Thoughts

Most installments for the Need for Speed series is worth playing. Some offer the option to customize the look of your chosen vehicles, some let you alter the weather and time of day. That said, they have at least three things in common:

1. Fast and Unique looking vehicles
2. Amazing soundtracks
3. Challenging tracks filled with surprises

The only NFS installment I had a hard time with was Carbon. I thought it was going to be like past installments that were played where you just plug and play. This particular one had a dialogue that I couldn't even keep up with yet alone paid attention to; yeah a lot of skipping was present.

So far, this is the only installment to date, that I just couldn't onboard with. I didn't have any pics from my gameplay sessions but I did find a nice NFS trailer to show for Hot Pursuit 2010 as seen below from EA's YouTube Channel.