A series of racing games developed for both the PC and console systems by EA Black Box. Alongside Grand Turismo, it is among the more popular of racers out there. The first installment was released in 1997 and was initially limited to consoles but soon expanded afterwards to the computer.
Overall game play is typical of most racers with players controlling a vehicle in order to win a race. Winning successive races allow a player to unlock better cars and tracks. A choice of automatic or manual transmission is also available. A key highlight of a Need For
Speed game however, is the police chase where the object is to either pursue a criminal or outrun the police. Besides the police chase, each Need For
Speed game can vary greatly in how vehicle control and physics are handled. For example, in some games, vehicles don’t exhibit damage whenever they hit another object whereas in other games they do. The ability to drift and draft your car is also not available in all of the games as well. Scenery and locales also differ with the initial games taking place on tracks in Australia or Europe. Starting with NFS:Underground, however, races now primarily take place in a more metropolitan environment.
