Need for Speed Turns 30: The Lasting Legacy of EA’s Fastest Franchise

It’s December 1994. The Santa Clause, Miracle connected 34th Street, Pulp Fiction, and Forrest Gump are duking it retired astatine nan bumi container office. Boyz II Men’s On Bended Knee is astir to (temporarily) cede nan number 1 spot connected nan Billboard Hot 100 to Here Comes nan Hotstepper by lyrical gangster Ini Kamoze. In video games, nan original PlayStation has conscionable launched successful Japan.

But hide nan PlayStation for a moment, because December 1994 besides marked nan presence of another interactive icon: The Need for Speed, connected nan ill-fated 3DO location crippled console. The 3DO, contempt being lauded arsenic Time Magazine’s 1993 Product of nan Year, was yet a flop. There was nary '3DO II'. The Need for Speed, however, was not a flop. There was a Need for Speed II. And III. And a fourth, fifth, sixth, and truthful on.

In fact, 30 years later nan Need for Speed bid is still pinch us.

And it’s go 1 of nan best-selling crippled bid of each time.

1994's Road & Track Presents The Need for Speed.

3DOh Yeah

“Need for Speed is really 1 of nan astir successful crippled franchises ever,” notes Criterion Senior Creative Director John Stanley. Stanley has been pinch Criterion for 14 years moving crossed aggregate EA series, from Battlefield to Battlefront, but his predominant attraction is Need for Speed. “So it’s a very large honour and mantle to beryllium lifted each time.”

15 years ago, income figures for nan franchise deed 100 cardinal copies. A decade agone they’d rocketed past 150 million. Precisely what they beryllium astatine coming is not known, but what’s clear is Need for Speed’s occurrence and longevity make it a monster wrong nan racing genre.

It surely comberan disconnected to a flying start. The original Need for Speed was an contiguous captious hit, contempt nan 3DO’s ain peculiar woes. Fortunately, consequent ports to PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn would spell connected to make The Need for Speed a commercialized smash arsenic well.

Presented by Road & Track Magazine and developed by EA Canada, The Need for Speed’s 3DO debut boasted conscionable 8 cars – a humble operation of European exotics and 1990s sports icons from nan US and Japan. It besides featured a full of 3 tracks. Yes, that’s paltry by later standards, but it’s worthy keeping successful mind that this was wholly emblematic for nan clip – astatine least, until nan original Gran Turismo arrived respective years later pinch a car shed pumped up to unprecedented proportions.

It’s besides important to statement that EA Canada had antecedently been known arsenic Distinctive Software. Prior to its acquisition by EA successful nan early ’90s, Distinctive Software was responsible for nan influential original Test Drive, its follow-up The Duel: Test Drive II, and cult, early 3D racing favourite Stunts (known arsenic 4D Sports Driving successful immoderate regions). That high-speed acquisition was abundantly evident successful The Need for Speed. Like nan early Test Drive games that came earlier it, The Need for Speed asked players to dodge postulation arsenic accelerated arsenic they dared while outrunning nan pursuing police. Electronic Gaming Monthly called it “the racing crippled to hit connected nan 3DO.” Edge Magazine declared it featured “the richest 3D situation ever seen connected a location system.” GamePro was likewise afloat of praise, positing that “[i]f you dream of racing exotic sports cars, it doesn’t get immoderate amended than this unthinkable game.”

The Need for Speed featured compartment views for each vehicles.

Raising nan (High) Stakes

Of course, it did get better. Need for Speed built itself into a existent racing juggernaut passim nan remainder of nan ’90s, and it lapped Test Drive arsenic nan premier purveyor of playable constabulary pursuits and forbidden thoroughfare racing. The bid became the place to find nan top exotics of nan era: nan Lamborghini Diablo and Ferrari 512TR. The Jaguar XJ220 and McLaren F1. Down successful my ain autochthonal Australia, nan games were moreover localised pinch their own, regional-exclusive covers, and injected pinch nan hottest homegrown sports sedans of nan time. That was genuinely something, arsenic a teenager; to beryllium stalking a games shop and spot nan sickest Australian cars connected nan thoroughfare staring backmost astatine maine from nan shelves. That was unsocial to Need for Speed during this era.

Regional-exclusive cars and covers made Need for Speed unique.

But possibly much than anything, Need for Speed carved itself retired a estimation arsenic a bid that celebrated not conscionable racing, but risk.

“I reason it’s nan forerunner, aliases has been and still is the forerunner, successful nan only franchise really delivering connected consequence,” says Stanley. “That thrill of nan chase. I deliberation thing other retired location successful nan racing crippled aliran does that.”

By asking group to outrun police, and yet moreover spot their pinkish slips connected nan line, Need for Speed was a bid that pushed its players to return risks. For clarity, by nan clip Need for Speed came around, we’d admittedly already faced nan agelong limb of nan rule successful 1987’s Test Drive, and galore of america would’ve already mislaid rides to rivals aft racing for slips successful 1989’s Street Rod. But moreover if it wasn’t nan first, Need for Speed was an highly early adopter of these philosophies of consequence – and it surely became nan astir recognisable.

1999's Need for Speed: High Stakes.

Tuna, No Crust

As nan years went on, nan spot yet recovered itself taking risks of its own. Firstly, pinch 2003’s radically reinvented Need for Speed: Underground, and past pinch 2005’s Need for Speed: Most Wanted – which is still nan champion trading crippled successful nan full series.

“Oh man, they’re my beloved,” grins Justin Wiebe, who jokingly describes himself arsenic nan “old fossil” EA dug up for this chat. Currently Studio Design Director astatine Ripple Effect, Wiebe’s history pinch nan Need for Speed bid dates backmost to Hot Pursuit 2 successful 2002.

“They’re for illustration my crown jewels, to beryllium honorable pinch you,” he continues. “I’ve had a agelong profession present and boy americium I proud of having a chance to activity connected those games.”

On Underground, Wiebe explains nan squad didn’t rather cognize what they had connected their hands astatine nan time, but they were each hooked.

“It was truthful addictive to play,” he says. “It was nan preamble of things for illustration resistance racing for nan first time, wherever it was a wholly caller measurement of playing astatine precocious speed. And we were starting to research different new, emerging racing genres – for illustration drift racing and worldly for illustration that – and starting to bring each of these caller and cutting separator ideas, and past mixing successful customisation. We were pioneering astatine that time.”

2003's Need for Speed: Underground arrived successful nan slipstream of The Fast and nan Furious.

EA followed Underground pinch a direct, open-world sequel – nan first unfastened world successful nan bid – but nan bigger mobility was wherever to return it next.

“We kept asking ourselves, ‘Well, what do we do now? How do we one-up this? What are we gonna do?’” says Wiebe. “And we had an exceptional executive shaper astatine that time, Mike [Mann], who came successful and he fundamentally said, ‘I want to make it the most elicit acquisition that we’ve done to date. I want to bring successful nan cops, and I want to make them consciousness truthful threatening, for illustration they are nan existent world.’”

“So that was nan instruction to me: return these cops and make everyone perfectly terrified of them.’ And I said, ‘Then, Mike, I gotta return distant people’s cars that they earned; I’m gonna impound them, and they’re gonna suffer them for a while.’ And he’s, like, ‘Do it.’

“[Need for Speed is] a franchise which is big, but it’s besides unafraid to effort to return risks. To do things differently. To situation nan norm. And that’s what I emotion astir moving connected nan franchise.”

In an entertaining twist, Wiebe moreover recovered himself in Need for Speed: Most Wanted arsenic nan racer Taz – number 14 connected nan Blacklist – aft 1 of nan actors grounded to show up for a photoshoot.

“They started wandering astir nan agency trying to see, like, ‘Who’s nan astir shifty-looking personification we person here?’, and past they’re, like, ‘You!’” chuckles Wiebe, stabbing his digit successful nan air. “So yeah, they conscionable grabbed maine and did a mates of shots and location I am. It was a bully time.”

Vince Kilic, aka 'Taz', was number 14 connected Need for Speed: Most Wanted's celebrated Blacklist.

According to Stanley, wrong nan corridors of Criterion, Most Wanted remains a revered illustration of nan bid astatine nan highest of its power.

“I mention Most Wanted truthful overmuch wrong nan studio,” he says. “Just astir nan measurement that it managed to weave together nan narrative, nan gameplay, nan progression. Everything comes together successful this.”

“A word that I usage a lot, and now I’ll person to portion a changeable for this: ludonarrative harmony. Because really executing connected that successful a game? So important. And Most Wanted is simply a masterclass successful that, and thing that I decidedly mention a lot.”

On: The Run

It’s been almost 2 decades since Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and nan bid has continued to evolve.

“If you look astatine it, Need for Speed’s ne'er remained nan same,” says Criterion Producer Patrick Honnoraty, who’s worked connected each Need for Speed since 2012 – from Criterion to Ghost and backmost to Criterion. “From 1 loop to nan next, it’s ever had thing that was different.”

“For bully and for bad – because those things don’t ever activity and they don’t ever resonate pinch players – but we guarantee that we’ll ever beryllium doing thing different.”

“‘For bully and for bad’ is simply a awesome example,” says Wiebe. “For example, my acquisition connected creating Need for Speed: The Run. We really tried to break immoderate caller crushed there. We talked astir getting retired of nan car, and we had each these grandiose visions for really it was going to beryllium much than conscionable racing; nan character’s going to get retired of nan car. But past we realised very quickly, ‘Well, we can’t really do that’, truthful we introduced immoderate quicktime events.”

“Yeah, we each emotion quicktime events, right?” he adds pinch an ironic smile.

However, Wiebe believes they yet created “a expansive racing adventure.”

“We wanted it to consciousness for illustration your life is connected nan line,” he says. “That it’s much humanised than ever earlier astir nan characteristic and nan communicative that they’re in, racing from seashore to coast. I’ll beryllium nan first to guidelines up and opportunity that didn’t really work, but I’m proud of nan truth that we tried it.”

“I was really connected a instrumentality forum a fewer months agone and I really was shocked astatine really highly-rated immoderate of nan fans really made that game. I had thought, ‘Well, that’s a spot of a lump of ember successful my resume.’ But it turns retired that it really has a monolithic cult following, and location are definite group that perfectly adore that game. And that brought a small joyousness to my heart; that we took a consequence and location are immoderate group that really recovered thing to emotion astir it.”

Honnoraty has noticed nan aforesaid thing.

“I deliberation each Need for Speed I’ve worked on, erstwhile it’s travel retired it’s been, ‘Oh my god, it was nary good; it was rubbish,” he says. “People didn’t for illustration it. And past years walk and it’s, like, ‘Ah, it was truthful good! It had these awesome elements to it. It was nan champion Need for Speed. Why don’t you spell and make 1 backmost for illustration that?’”

“Need for Speed is ever excessively up of its time, is my thing. Every clip we bring 1 out. Every clip we bring 1 and it doesn’t strike, group look backmost connected them truthful fondly.”

Defining nan Series

30 years on, building a Need for Speed crippled is an exponentially much analyzable task than it ever was, and much challenging than ever. For Senior Vehicle Artist Frankie Yip nan activity required is significant, but he wouldn’t person it immoderate different way.

“The cars successful Need for Speed are acold much intricate now compared to nan earlier days of nan franchise,” explains Yip, who has worked connected nan franchise for nan entirety of his 20-year profession successful nan gaming industry. After picking up a transcript of Need for Speed: Underground for PlayStation 2 arsenic a teenager, Yip comberan truthful hooked he took a 3D modelling people and was soon surviving his dream, making cars for Need for Speed: Underground 2.

“I really thought I was going to neglect successful nan 3D school,” says Yip. “All nan assignments? All I did was conscionable exemplary cars. And they’re, like, ‘That’s not portion of nan assignment.’ I don’t care; I for illustration cars. So my portfolio was conscionable each cars.”

According to Yip, dealing pinch nan immense magnitude of contented produced for each car is not arsenic straightforward arsenic it whitethorn seem.

“I’ll springiness you an example, conscionable to break it down,” he begins. “Bodykits, for example. Say a car has 3 bodykit designs. That’s 3 beforehand bumpers, 3 rear bumpers, 3 sideskirts, 3 beforehand fenders, truthful connected and truthful on. That tallies up to 15, 20 perseorangan parts. But allowing nan subordinate to seamlessly and smoothly operation and lucifer those parts? Yeah, it sounds simple, but it really involves a important magnitude of work. You tally into issues; like, this portion doesn’t fresh pinch this. This portion doesn’t fresh pinch that.”

“There’s different variations successful bumper widths, fender shapes, fender sizes; nan database goes on. Panel lines, unopen lines; thing lines up. So, really do we make this each work? We really person to build retired every azygous portion operation retired there. You return that 15 to 20 perseorangan parts I mentioned, and you multiply it to an further 60, aliases good complete a hundred. It depends connected nan car. Like, each car is simply a different shape. It is a ton of work, but what this does let is it allows nan subordinate to person thousands of portion combinations. And who doesn’t want that?

“So now you cognize why, successful earlier Need for Speed titles, we conscionable restricted nan assemblage kit to beryllium equipped arsenic 1 full unit. But honestly, where’s nan nosy successful that?”

For Criterion Vehicle Art Director Bryn Alban, there’s a bigger-picture challenge; that is, what defines Need for Speed to its monolithic and multi-generational audience.

“It intends truthful overmuch to truthful galore people, and everybody’s comberan a different sentiment arsenic to what a bully Need for Speed is,” says Alban, who’s been astir since nan days of Need for Speed: Shift and brings nan acquisition of building his ain Skylines complete nan past 20 years to his domiciled connected nan franchise. “So trying to appease everybody astatine each times is ace difficult. Even down to nan nitty gritty specifications of what customisation we put connected our cars; it’s truthful divisive a taxable for our players that it’s almost intolerable for america to get it a 100 percent right, each nan time.”

“So erstwhile we do get things somewhat correct, it’s great. But erstwhile you spot those comments wherever you’ve missed something, it really hurts. It hurts to your core. You’re, like, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot that we should’ve added that to nan game.’ So, yeah, it’s really tricky and reliable to get that equilibrium of making nan cleanable Need for Speed, really.”

For what it’s worth, I’ve been missing Australian cars successful nan Need for Speed bid since they stopped featuring backmost successful nan early 2000s, and Alban agrees it could beryllium clip for nan bid to circle backmost and see them again.

“Yeah, that’s a very sah point, and I deliberation it’s existent that Australian cars person been underrepresented successful Need for Speed successful its astir caller history,” he says. “I can’t springiness you a logic why that is nan case, but it’s decidedly thing that we should return a look astatine successful nan early moving forward, to spot if we tin redress that equilibrium a small bit.”

“When you look astatine things for illustration Holden, they’re very iconic wrong Australia,” adds Honnoraty. “They’re very absorbing things; nan utes that you have. So I deliberation those are absorbing examples for america to look at. And I’m sure, Bryn, you’d show maine there’s plentifulness of them successful nan drift segment arsenic well?”

“Yeah, you spot them harvest up,” Alban responds pinch his digit intelligibly connected nan pulse. “I mean, conscionable this past week there’s nan Drift Matsuri that’s happening successful Japan, and I saw that location were a mates of Ford Falcons complete location successful Japan doing their thing. So there’s decidedly opportunities to pat into that, I think.”

It’s evident Alban knows his cars. There’s besides a nosy synergy successful nan truth that nan first IG video I’d watched of nan very Falcons Alban is referencing features 1 cruising done a Tokyo passageway to Get Low by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. It should spell without saying that anyone who played Need for Speed: Underground has that opus seared into their synapses.

Redress away, team!

To nan Window, to nan Wall

Need for Speed itelf has cruised some precocious and debased complete nan past 3 decades but, while nan squad seems conscious that nan bid hasn’t always been astatine its best, there’s a clear emotion that it’s ever remained religious to being nosy and approachable supra each else.

“I deliberation nan trajectory has been bumpy, actually, successful immoderate cases,” admits Honnoraty. “But what’s happened – and I deliberation what’s been astir important – is if you deliberation astir nan first inception of what The Need for Speed was, it was really accessible.”

“I retrieve going to what was astir apt nan section video crippled shop, aliases machine shop, astatine nan time, and maine and my friends saw it connected nan 3DO. We were like, ‘What’s this?’ We each jumped connected it, connected nan 3DO, and you felt badass. Being capable to thrust it, being chased by nan cops; location wasn’t an acquisition that was really for illustration it astatine nan time.

“I deliberation it’s really tried to enactment existent to that formula. It’s still accessible today; a batch of car racing games are not truthful easy accessible, truthful group still person nan action to jump successful and person nosy pinch a Need for Speed game. It makes you consciousness for illustration you’re conscionable a bad-arse... It’s really wrong of nan DNA; it’s ever there.

For Honnoraty, what makes handling Need for Speed tricky coming are nan broadside effects of really agelong nan bid has survived.

“I deliberation coming nan biggest situation we look is virtually nan property of nan franchise, and what it's been,” Honnoraty continues. “It’s been truthful galore different things and appeals to truthful galore different people.”

“We moreover spot nan debates betwixt players: which is nan champion game, and why is it nan champion game? You look astatine [Underground and Most Wanted]. The divisive statement that happens betwixt which 1 of those is amended and why – and really different they really are and what they were looking astatine – intends that we beryllium successful a spot wherever Need for Speed intends galore different things to galore different people.”

Honnoraty gives an illustration where, aft speaking to attendees of nan Need for Speed Payback booth astatine EA Play, immoderate players compared nan demo to Most Wanted, and others were adamant it reminded them of Underground.

“And I’m, like, ‘How? What? They’re wholly different!’ he says. “So I deliberation it’s conscionable that group transportation pinch them nan emotion that they had erstwhile they played those games… I deliberation that’s nan hardest point today; it’s honestly reconciling what Need of Speed intends to players. And you’ve seen it; erstwhile we spell successful 1 guidance pinch thing that doesn’t rather work, and it doesn’t entreaty to definite sorts of players. Or we spell successful different direction, truthful it’s a existent point that we person to tackle with, time successful and time out. But John [Stanley] and I activity pinch it constantly. We deliberation we’ve astir cracked it, truthful we’ll see.”

“Don’t hide nan Porsche Unleashed crowd that would reason that that is nan number 1 Need for Speed of each time!” adds Wiebe.

“Exactly! Exactly!” smiles Honnoraty. “We person a very vocal personnel successful our subordinate assembly that’s very vocal connected Porsche Unleashed.”

“And past nan Carbon crowd, nan ProStreet crowd,” lists Stanley.

“The database goes on,” replies Honnoraty.

The database goes connected indeed. So too, we hope, will Need for Speed.

To nan window, to nan wall, ‘til nan sweat driblet down… well, you get nan idea.

Luke is simply a Senior Editor connected nan IGN reviews team. You tin way him down connected Bluesky @mrlukereilly to inquire him things astir stuff.