The Need for Speed

This article is about the first Need for Speed video game from 1994. For the series, see Need for Speed. For the 2015 video game, see Need for Speed (2015 video game). For the 2014 film, see Need for Speed (film). For other uses, see Need for Speed (disambiguation).

The Need for Speed
3DO box art featuring a Ferrari 512TR and a Porsche 911 (993)
Developer(s)EA Canada[a]
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Studios (MS-DOS, Windows)
Producer(s)Hanno Lemke
Programmer(s)Brad Gour
Artist(s)Markus Tessmann
Composer(s)Jeff van Dyck
Saki Kaskas
SeriesNeed for Speed
Platform(s)3DO, MS-DOS, Windows, PlayStation, Saturn
Release3DO
MS-DOS
PlayStation
  • NA: March 20, 1996
  • EU: March 29, 1996
Windows
December 30, 1996
Saturn
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The Need for Speed is a 1994 racing game developed by EA Canada, originally known as Pioneer Productions, and published by Electronic Arts for 3DO in 1994. It allows driving eight licensed sports cars in three point-to-point tracks either with or without a computer opponent. Checkpoints, traffic vehicles, and police pursuits appear in the races.

Ports were released for MS-DOS in 1995, then PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996, with additional tracks and cars. The Need for Speed was renamed Overdrivin' DX in Japan, and a version for Microsoft Windows was sold as The Need for Speed SE (Special Edition).

Electronic Arts collaborated with automotive magazine Road & Track to match vehicle behaviour, including the mimicking of the sounds made by the vehicles' gear control levers. The game contains precise vehicle data with spoken commentary, several "magazine-style" images of each car's interior and exterior and short video clips highlighting the vehicles set to music.

The game was a commercial success. Video game publications praised the incorporation of realism into the gameplay and graphics, as well as the inclusion of full-motion videos. It is the first installment released in the Need for Speed series, which has influenced other racing games.

  1. ^ "The Need for Speed". Edge. No. 16. January 1995. p. 62. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  2. ^ "The Need for Speed". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 8, no. 1. January 1995. p. 254. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  3. ^ Electronic Arts (April 2, 1996). "ELECTRONIC ARTS SHIPS ROAD & TRACK® PRESENTS: THE NEED FOR SPEED™ FOR THE PLAYSTATION™" (Press release). San Mateo, California. Archived from the original on June 5, 1997. Retrieved September 4, 2022. Released in September 1995, the PC-CD version of The Need for Speed is still in the top ten of many software retailers charts.
  4. ^ "Checkpoint - Events And Software Releases". Computer and Video Games. No. 177. Future Publishing. August 1996. p. 52.
  5. ^ "Need for Speed, Road Rash, Shockwave Assault Released". Sega Saturn.com. June 25, 1996. Archived from the original on June 6, 1997. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  6. ^ EA Canada (December 1994). The Need for Speed (3DO Interactive Multiplayer). Electronic Arts.


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