Need-for-Speed-II

Fans of the Need for Speed series would have to wait until 1997 for the next game and by then, things had changed slightly. The new game was simply called Need for Speed II, with "Road and Track" being dropped. That wasn't the only change -- gone were the police chases and simulation-style handling of the first game, replaced with more accessible, arcade-style gameplay.

A feature of Need for Speed II that made it ahead of its time was interactive music which reacted to how the player was driving. If you crashed, for example, you'd hear different music than if you were leading the pack.

One thing that remained the same was the ability to enter cheat codes to get special cars otherwise not available in the game. These unlockable vehicles included a school bus, a Volkswagen Beetle, and an old Wild West-style wagon.

That same year, a Special Edition of Need for Speed II was released for the PC, adding support for 3D accelerator cards, as well as one new track, four new cars, and three additional hidden vehicles.

• Release Date: 1997-03

  • Rating:
  • E
  • Platform:
  • PC,
  • PlayStation,

CARS

Need for Speed II ratcheted up the caliber of its vehicles, moving focus to supercars. They included the McLaren F1 (which at the time was the fastest car on the planet), the Isdera Commendatore 112i, and the Italdesign Cala (a concept car designed for Lamborghini that never made it into production).

Ferrari 355 F1 (only in Special Edition)
Ferrari F50
Ford GT90
Ford Indigo
Ford Mustang Mach III (only in Special Edition)
Isdera Commendatore 112i
Italdesign Cala
Italdesign Nazca C2 (only in Special Edition)
Jaguar XJ220
Lotus Elise GT1
Lotus Esprit V8
McLaren F1

TRACKS / WORLD

With a fun and creative assortment of different racing locations ranging from a movie studio to a quiet country road, the tracks inNeed for Speed II were pure joy to drive.

Mediterrano
Monolithic Studios
Mystic Peaks
North Country
Outback
Pacific Spirit
Proving Ground

The Need For Speed 2 System Requirements

Minimum Configuration

90MHz Pentium® Class processor (Intel®, Cyrix 6x86)

16 MB RAM

Windows® 95

Direct X 3.0 (included on game CD)

Quad speed CD-ROM drive (600KB/second transfer rate)

Hi Color (65,535) capable 1 MB PCI video card with DirectDraw 3.0 compatible driver

Hard Disk -- 10 MB plus space for save games (additional space required for DirectX 3.0 installation)

Keyboard and Monitor

Optional joystick or mouse

Optional Sound Card with DirectX compatible sound driver

Recommended Configuration

Pentium® 166 MHz or higher processor

Hard Disk -- 70 MB plus space for save games (additional space required for DirectX 3.0 installation)

Mouse

Analog joystick, Gravis PC Gamepad, or PC steering wheel

Sound Blaster® 16/32/AWE32 sound card

2 player modem

100% Hayes compitable 9600bps or faster modem

High speed serial port (16550 UART)

2 player serial play

Null modem cable

High speed serial port (16550 UART)

Supported input devices

Any analog joystick or steering wheel supported by Windows® 95

Some force feedback joysticks for more realistic play

The-Need-for-Speed SE

This was the game that started it all. With more than 100,000,000 copies sold worldwide, Need for Speed is the world’s most popular racing series. Road and Track Presents: The Need for Speed, which was released in 1994 on the fledgling 3DO console, was the first truly 3D racing game.

Police chases, full-motion videos introducing each car, as well as traffic trying to make you wreck your dream machine pushed this game ahead of its competition. It had an impressive number of tracks for its day (seven), and a distinguished car list which included such supercars as the Lamborghini Diablo, Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, and Ferrari 512TR.

A range of camera views were available, including a groundbreaking "in-car" view, giving the player more of a connection with their vehicle, rather than just the "chase cam" view present in most racing games of the day.

Staff at Road and Track magazine worked with the Need for Speed team for countless hours to get the handling and performance of the cars as close to spot-on as possible, making this a one-of-a-kind title.

• Release Date: 1994-08

  • Rating:
  • K-A
  • Platform:
  • 3DO,
  • PC,
  • PlayStation,
  • Sega Saturn,

CARS

Separated into three classes, the cars in The Need for Speed included some of the supercars of the day, such as the Lamborghini Diablo and Ferrari 512, but every car featured in the game had outstanding performance on the road and track. There was also a hidden car that could only be accessed through a cheat code, called the Warrior PTO E/2, a purple-and-teal machine that had acceleration and handling beyond any other cars in the game.

Acura NSXChevrolet
Corvette ZR-1Dodge Viper RT/10
Ferrari 512TR
Lamborghini Diablo VT
Mazda RX-7
Porsche 911 Carrera
Toyota Supra Turbo
Warrior PTO E/2

TRACKS / WORLD

With seven tracks -- one needed to be unlocked -- in its first release, and two more added by the "SE" edition that came out later, The Need for Speed was the most complete representation of racing available at the time.

Alpine
Autumn Valley Speedway
Burnt Sienna
City
Coastal
Lost Vegas
Rusty Springs Raceway
Transtropolis
Vertigo Ridge

The Need For Speed 2 SE System Requirements

Minimum Configuration

90 MHz Pentium Class processor (Intel, Cyrix 6x86)

16 MB RAM

Windows® 95

Direct X 5.0 (included on game CD)

Quad speed CD-ROM drive (600KB/second transfer rate)

Hi Color (65,535 color) capable 1 MB PCI video card with DirectDraw 5.0 compatible driver

Hard Disk -- 10 MB plus space for save games (additional space required for DirectX 5.0 installation)

Keyboard and Monitor

Optional joystick or mouse

Optional Sound Card with DirectX compatible sound driver

Recommended Configuration

Pentium 166 MHz or higher processor

3Dfx graphics accelerator card

Hard Disk -- 80 MB plus space for save games (additional space required for DirectX 5.0 installation)

Mouse

DirectX-compatible Digital/Analog joystick, game pad, steering wheel and/or pedals OR DirectX-compatible Force Feedback joystick or steering wheel.

Network 2-8 players

Pentium 133 MHz CPU or faster

IPX compliant network

1 CD per network game

2 player modem

Windows® 95 supported 14400bps or faster modem

High speed serial port (16550 UART)

2 player serial play

Null modem cable

High speed serial port (16550 UART)

Supported input devices

Any analog joystick or steering wheel supported by Windows® 95 including but not limited to: