Need for Speed (Series)

Need for Speed (abbreviation: NFS) is a multiplatform racing video game series with the first game The Need for Speed being released in December 1994.

On October 21, 2009, Electronic Arts announced the franchise had sold over 100 million units, making Need for Speed the most commercially successful racing game series at the time, and 2005's Need for Speed: Most Wanted being the best selling game in the series with 16 million copies sold.^[1]

Series[]

Games[]

Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed (1994) - 3DO, PC, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
- Road & Track Presents: Over Drivin' DX (1996) - PlayStation
- Road & Track Presents: Over Drivin' DX - Rally Edition (1996) - PlayStation
- Nissan Presents: Over Drivin' GT-R (1996) - Sega Saturn
- Nissan Presents: Over Drivin' Skyline Memorial (1997) - PlayStation

Need for Speed II (1997) - PC, PlayStation
- Need for Speed: Web Racing (2001) - PC (Web Browser)

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998) - PC, PlayStation

Need for Speed: High Stakes (1999) - PC, PlayStation

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (2000) - PC, PlayStation
- Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (GBA) (2004) - Game Boy Advance
- Need for Speed: Top Speed (2002) - PC (Web Browser)

Motor City Online (2001) - PC

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002, EA Seattle) - GameCube, PC, Xbox
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002, EA Black Box) - PlayStation 2
- Need for Speed (Arcade) (2003) - Arcade
- Need for Speed: GT (2004) - Arcade

Need for Speed: Underground (2003) - GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
- Need for Speed: Underground J (2004) - PlayStation 2
- Need for Speed: Underground (Arcade) (2005) - Arcade
- Need for Speed: Underground (GBA) (2003) - Game Boy Advance

Need for Speed: Underground 2 (2004) - GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
- Need for Speed: Underground 2 - Sha_do (2004) - PlayStation 2
- Need for Speed: Underground 2 (BREW) (2005) - Mobile Phone (Java)
- Need for Speed: Underground 2 (DS) (2005) - Nintendo DS
- Need for Speed: Underground 2 (GBA) (2004) - Game Boy Advance

Need for Speed: Underground Rivals (2005) - PlayStation Portable

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) - Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Mobile Phone (Java), Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (BREW) (2005) - Mobile Phone (Java)
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (DS) (2005) - Nintendo DS
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (GBA) (2005) - Game Boy Advance
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (J2ME) (2006) - Mobile Phone (Java)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted - 5-1-0 (2005) - PlayStation Portable

Need for Speed: Carbon (2006) - GameCube, Macintosh, PC, PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: Carbon (Arcade) (2008) - Arcade
- Need for Speed: Carbon (J2ME) (2006) - Mobile Phone (Java)

Need for Speed: Carbon - Own The City (2006) - Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Zeebo

Need for Speed: ProStreet (2007) - PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: ProStreet (DS) (2007) - Nintendo DS
- Need for Speed: ProStreet (J2ME) (2007) - Mobile Phone (Java)
- Need for Speed: ProStreet (PSP) (2007) - PlayStation Portable

Need for Speed: Undercover (2008) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: Undercover (DS) (2008) - Nintendo DS
- Need for Speed: Undercover (J2ME) (2008) - Mobile Phone (Java), Nokia N-Gage
- Need for Speed: Undercover (PS2/Wii) (2008) - Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2
- Need for Speed: Undercover (PSP) (2008) - PlayStation Portable
- Need for Speed: Undercover (Touch) (2009) - BlackBerry PlayBook, iOS

Need for Speed: Shift (2009) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: Shift (J2ME) (2009) - Mobile Phone (Java)
- Need for Speed: Shift (PSP) (2009) - PlayStation Portable
- Need for Speed: Shift (Touch) (2009) - Android, BlackBerry, iOS

Need for Speed: Nitro (2009) - Wii
- Need for Speed: Nitro (DS) (2009) - Nintendo DS
- Need for Speed: Nitro-X (2010) - Nintendo DSi

Need for Speed: World (2009) - PC

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Touch) (2010) - Android, iOS
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Wii) (2010) - Wii
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Remastered (2020) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Shift 2: Unleashed (2011) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Shift 2: Unleashed - Limited Edition (2011) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Shift 2: Unleashed (iOS) (2011) - iOS

Need for Speed: The Run (2011) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: The Run (Nintendo) (2011) - Nintendo 3DS, Wii

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) - PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Touch) (2012) - Android, iOS, Kindle Fire

Need for Speed: Rivals (2013) - PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
- Need for Speed: Rivals - OverWatch (2013) - Android, iOS, PC

Need for Speed: No Limits (2015) - Android, iOS
- Need for Speed: No Limits VR (2016) - Android (Daydream)
- Need for Speed: Duel (2016) - Android

Need for Speed (2015) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Need for Speed: Payback (2017) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Need for Speed: Edge (2017) - PC
- Need for Speed: Online (2017) - PC

Need for Speed: Heat (2019) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- NFS: Heat Studio (2019) - Android, iOS
- Need for Speed: Heat Takedown (2023) - Arcade

Need for Speed: Unbound (2021) - PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Need for Speed: Mobile (2024) - Android, iOS

Special Releases[]

Boxed[]

Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed - Special Edition (1996) - PC
Need for Speed II: Special Edition (1997) - PC
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed - 40 Jahre 911 (2000) - PC (Windows)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Black Edition (2005) - PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Need for Speed: Carbon - Collector's Edition (2006) - PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: ProStreet - Limited Edition (2007) - Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Shift - Special Edition (2008) - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Limited Edition (2010) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - EA Crew Edition (2010) - PC
Shift 2: Unleashed - Limited Edition (2011) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: The Run - Limited Edition (2011) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Limited Edition (2012) PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Rivals - Limited Edition (2013) - PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Rivals - Complete Edition (2014) - PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Need for Speed - Deluxe Edition (2015) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Payback - Deluxe Edition (2017) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Heat - Deluxe Edition (2019) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Heat - Collector's Edition (2019) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Unbound - Palace Edition (2022) - PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Need for Speed: Unbound - "Creative Subversion" Kit (2022) - PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Downloadable[]

Need for Speed: Carbon - Collector's Edition Upgrade (2006) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Carbon - EA Downloader Edition (2006) - PC
Need for Speed: ProStreet - Collector's Edition Upgrade (2007) - PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Undercover - Collector's Edition Upgrade (2008) - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: The Run - Heroes and Villains Plus Limited Edition Upgrade (2012) - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed (2015) - Deluxe Edition Upgrade (2015) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Payback - Deluxe Edition Upgrade (2017) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Heat - Deluxe Edition Upgrade (2019) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Need for Speed: Unbound - Palace Edition Upgrade (2022) - PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Compilations[]

The Need for Speed Collection (2003) - PC
Need for Speed: Racing Pack (2003) - PC
The World of Need for Speed (2005) - PC
Need for Speed: Collector's Series (2006) - PC, PlayStation 2
Need for Speed: Collection 2008 (2008) - PC, PlayStation 2
Need for Speed: Deluxe Bundle (2016) - PC
Need for Speed: Ultimate Bundle (2017) - PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Card Games[]

Need for Speed Trading Card Game (2007) - Base game
- Need for Speed Trading Card Game: Beach Blitz (2007) - Expansion
- Need for Speed Trading Card Game: Canyon Rush (2007) - Expansion
- Need for Speed Trading Card Game: Downtown Rush (2007) - Expansion

Films[]

Need for Speed (2014)

Trivia[]

"The Need for Speed" is a quote by Peter "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun, a 1986 action drama film directed by Tony Scott about United States Naval Officers training at the U.S. Navy's Fighter Weapons School. It stars Tom Cruise as Peter "Maverick" Mitchell, and Anthony Edwards as Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, whom share a line of dialogue prior to a training exercise; "I feel the need... the need for speed!"^[2]
The Black Edition of Need for Speed: Most Wanted was released to mark the series' 10th anniversary.
Need for Speed: Heat marks the series' 25th anniversary.
Need for Speed 64^[3], a 64-bit entry in the series for the Nintendo 64 was being worked by Paradigm Entertainment alongside EA Canada, but altered during development into Beetle Adventure Racing after EA signed a deal with Volkswagen to create a game around the New Beetle.^[4]
Early entries in the V-Rally series are often mistaken for being part of the Need for Speed series. They were published by Infogrames, and developed by one of its teams which would later become Eden Games. However, Electronic Arts bought the publishing rights to the series for North America and associated it with their Need for Speed brand to make up for the lacking interest for rallying at the time within the United States:
- V-Rally, published in Europe by Infogrames for the PlayStation in July 1997 as V-Rally: 97 Championship Edition, was published in North America by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation on November 4, 1997 as Need for Speed: V-Rally.
- V-Rally 2, published in Europe by Infogrames for the PlayStation on June 30, 1999 as V-Rally 2: Championship Edition, was published in North America by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation on November 16, 1999 as Need for Speed: V-Rally 2, and later published in North America by Infogrames for the Dreamcast on October 18, 2000 as Test Drive V-Rally.

Gallery[]

Need for Speed 20th Anniversary

References[]

↑ Article: gamespot.com (2009) Need for Speed series sells 100M, Shift moves 309K. Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/need-for-speed-series-sells-100m-shift-moves-309k/1100-6237491/
↑ Top Gun. Directed by Tony Scott, Paramount Pictures, 1986. Film. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e2qZXoK0GI&t=4s
↑ NEXT Generation, 1998. (46), p.96. Available at: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_46/page/n99/mode/2up
↑ NEXT Generation, 1999. (53), p.91. Available at: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_53/page/n91/mode/2up

[1] Article: gamespot.com (2009) Need for Speed series sells 100M, Shift moves 309K. Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/need-for-speed-series-sells-100m-shift-moves-309k/1100-6237491/

[2] Top Gun. Directed by Tony Scott, Paramount Pictures, 1986. Film. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e2qZXoK0GI&t=4s

[3] NEXT Generation, 1998. (46), p.96. Available at: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_46/page/n99/mode/2up

[4] NEXT Generation, 1999. (53), p.91. Available at: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_53/page/n91/mode/2up

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