Need for speed: all the games in the saga in order

The first years of the series

The origins of the Need for Speed saga are quite peculiar. The original title was made possible thanks to funding from Road & Track, a famous car magazine that put up the money for EA to develop the title. 

Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed (EA Canada, 1994)

Currently, we want Need for Speed to be an arcade game. In fact, we don’t like it when EA gives this game a simulator overtone. However, the original 1994 game was intended to be a simulator .

For the time, The Need for Speed had realistic gameplay , elaborate sounds, and plenty of roads. The essence of Need for Speed was already in this first title that came out for 3DO, DOS, PlayStation and SEGA Saturn. The idea was as simple as taking part in races with Japanese and European cars, dodging traffic and coming out in one piece in police chases.

This first version already had an online multiplayer mode. As you can imagine, it was the foundation on which a legend of driving games was built. 

Need for Speed II (EA Canada/EA Seattle, 1997)

The formula would be repeated in 1997, although second parts were never good. The critics had their complaints because the game had numerous technical problems. Popping and frame drops were pretty common. So much so that the official PlayStation magazine even stated that the game had an atrocious handling.

However, the saga took an important step with this title. The game became much more arcadey. There were those who celebrated the movement and also those who complained about the change. 

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (EA Canada/EA Seattle, 1998)

We arrive at the first great Need for Speed game after the original. With expectations on the floor due to its predecessor, Hot Pursuit had it easy to surprise. It had very good graphics, although the icing on the cake was the police chases. Now, the police could chase you during illegal races, a very interesting mechanic that was left for future titles.

The multiplayer mode let you play as a pilot or as a policeman. The tracks to race on were also very varied, and the car could be adjusted to suit the player’s handling or gain performance.

Need for Speed: High Stakes (EA Canada/EA Seattle, 1999)

When a franchise starts to work, Electronic Arts does not hesitate to squeeze every last drop out of it. A year later, High Stakes arrived on PC and PlayStation.

The game was well received, although it recycled as much of its predecessor as possible and didn’t risk anything new .

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (Eden Studios/EA Canada, 2000)

This title only featured vehicles from Porsche . The player had to participate in races that unlocked the models in chronological order. There were differences between the PlayStation and PC versions, as the Windows version did not have police chases.

Although this is not one of the best games in the series, it should be noted that it was the first to have a story. Later, this would become an important part of every development.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (EA Black Box/EA Seattle, 2002)

We jump to the sixth generation of consoles. Reusing the successful Hot Pursuit formula, this sequel came with much improved graphics. It also had a good number of game modes.

Hunt or avoid being hunted. Hot Pursuit 2 debuted ‘ Be the Cop ‘, a mode where you could even call in help from helicopters to stop illegal races. It featured a good number of vehicles and four different environments with varied circuits. 

The golden age of Black Box

The era following Hot Pursuit 2 was highly influenced by the success of the Full Throttle movies. The tuning subculture was at its best, something that was highly reflected in the titles developed by Black Box.

After the bombshell of Underground , Need for Speed became a successful game. Games weren’t just about racing anymore, there was a story . In fact, this block of games shares the protagonist. Each story is the continuation of the previous game. The titles started out with very simple plots, but they got more and more complicated.

During this stage, Need for Speed was selling like hot cakes. People of all ages enjoyed tuning vehicles until they became authentic tacky. Unfortunately for Electronic Arts, this period had an end. 

Need for Speed: Underground (EA Black Box, 2003)

Need for Speed and the culture of tuning were constantly feeding each other. In 2003, Electronic Arts decided to reboot the franchise with a title that would lay the groundwork for the future of the IP.

Underground had a career mode with a story, not that it had a very complex plot. With Samantha’s help, we would climb the list of the most reputable racers in the city and we would get cars, including our partner’s Honda Civic Type R.

The game also had a workshop to customize the vehicles and make them as brown as possible. However, the police persecutions were not implemented. The players were getting the taste of racing in Olympic City, and the title ended up being a complete success .

Need for Speed: Underground 2 (EA Black Box, 2004)

The direct sequel to this game would come a year later. Underground 2 released a new free mode that allowed the player to do the cafer through the streets. The story of this installment begins just after the events of the previous one. After beating Eddie, we will receive a mysterious call to join a racing street gang. However, it will all be part of an ambush. Our Nissan Skyline GT-R will be in pieces after being run over by Caleb’s Hummer H2. With the insurance money, we will buy a basic car and we will have to start from scratch a few months later.

This is one of the most complete games of the entire saga . We can compete in many different tests, participate in special events and access various game modes that gave the title a lot of replayability. Car customization was substantially improved.

In general, Underground 2 garnered good reviews, and laid the ground very flat for the next installment, which would take the biggest hit of all.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA Canada/EA Black Box, 2005)

If you’ve ever browsed used car websites and fantasized about buying a BMW M3 E46, it’s because you played Need for Speed: Most Wanted .

We change the night for the day and repeat the play of Underground 2 . In this case, we start out as Rockport’s best illegal race car driver. The game presents us with a racing system in the form of a list, similar to what was seen in the two previous installments. The goal is to be the most wanted in the city by the police.

Rockport is a haven for illegal racing. Being high on the list means having power and reputation. Of course, climbing the steps of the Blacklist is not easy, because in Rockport we bet the car with our opponents.

The plot of Most Wanted begins when a certain Razor challenges us. We accept, as it seems that it will be an easy victory for us. We went out and got quite an advantage over our rival. However, a few meters from the finish line, our protagonist’s “bemeta” stops. Razor wins the race and gets our M3.

Shortly after, our partner will explain to us that a member of Razor’s gang has sabotaged the BMW. Come on, it is not that we have lost, but that they have robbed us. From this moment on, the goal of the protagonist is none other than to regain the #1 position on the Blacklist . We’ll have to do it from below. We will start with humble cars, and we will be raising sports cars to each of our enemies. However, the police and Sergeant Cross are not going to make it easy for us to recover the aforementioned BMW.

Most Wanted became the most recognized game in the entire Need for Speed series . It was a sales success, and we could say that Electronic Arts hasn’t been able to release a video game since then that surpasses it.

Need for Speed: Carbon (EA Canada/EA Black Box, 2006)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted had set the bar very high. The saga was selling like churros, and EA could not miss the opportunity.

Need for Speed: Carbon ( Carbon in English) is the explanation of what happens when a franchise is exploited in excess . Objectively speaking, this installment has the same quality as its predecessor . However, it came at a time when people were already saturated with the formula .

This is a direct sequel to Most Wanted , although its story begins before that of the previous game. Palmont City is a city where the gangs divide the territory. Years ago, during a big racing event where a lot of money was at stake, the police unexpectedly burst into an ambush. For some reason, the cops turned a blind eye to us, and brazenly let us escape. All of our colleagues were arrested, and that’s the explanation of how we ended up coming to Rockport to experience the Most Wanted episodes.

After killing Razor and escaping from the law, our protagonist arrives in Palmont City with his salvaged BMW M3 GTR. But it doesn’t come with a hand out the window like in the ad. He does it at full speed, because Cross is on his heels. Cross has been expelled from the police force for his misconduct, and now works as a bounty hunter. To get rid of him, we will take Cross to the canyon, underestimating his ability to drive. Unfortunately, the BMW M3 will be destroyed in the escape attempt after colliding with a trailer loaded with concrete pipes.

The plot of Carbon is developing slowly. As we gain reputation, we will meet characters who were present on that fateful night. They will tell us what they saw that day and we will get an idea of what happened. To do this, it will be time to set up a new gang and win territories . Carbono ‘s ‘crew’ system allowed us to participate in races with teammates who had special abilities in the race such as slipstreaming us, throwing enemies off the track or warning us of shortcuts.

Carbon also has a very interesting mechanic that was never used in Need for Speed again: the cannon . It was a final test in which two contenders risked their lives in the Carbon Canyon. It was a two-leg race where you couldn’t make a single mistake, as a countersteer in a bad corner would end up with your car falling into the void. Not surprisingly, this title was the official video game for the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Race movie.

The decline of Black Box and the changes of course

Despite having closed a brilliant era, Electronic Arts did not seem satisfied with the numbers moved by Carbon. Thus began a new stage in which they tried to reinvent themselves without success. So much so that more than solving the problem, what they did was sink the reputation of the IP more and more.

Need for Speed: ProStreet (EA Black Box, 2007)

Electronic Arts is a company that always makes the same mistakes. The formula of playing the hooligan in the streets and being chased by the police seemed to have reached its ceiling. But the Americans were unwilling to slow down the rate of release. Need for Speed had to be released a year , so they tried putting the label on a different game.

ProStreet is the first in the line of rare Need for Speed games. And it is that ‘Street’ had the name, because here they competed in legal races .

At the time, fans of the franchise were highly disappointed by this experiment. Seen with perspective, it is not a bad game. In fact, it cannot be denied that it did not serve as an inspiration for titles like The Crew or Forza Horizon .

Need for Speed: Undercover (EA Black Box, 2008)

We continue with the experiments. We’re back to street racing , but we’re bringing back the mechanics of the cops from Hot Pursuit 2 . The result is a strange video game that didn’t catch on with the general public either.

In Undercover we participated in illegal races, but we also collaborated with the FBI to end up arresting various criminals. The game innovated just enough, and hence the criticism ended up eating it alive.

Need for Speed: Shift (Slightly Mad Studios, 2009)

We continue along the path of ProStreet . We removed the arcade mechanics from the equation and embarked on a full simulator . Shift was not bad at all, considering that Gran Turismo 5 took millennia to arrive on PlayStation 3.

Need for Speed: Shift is a very good title . It had a good catalog of cars, a good variety of circuits and really good handling. The only negative about this game is that it’s not really a Need for Speed game. However, taking into account that the saga was currently in low hours, the experiment can be understood. 

Try to rip it off, Criterion

It was necessary to recover the essence of street racing. Electronic Arts took it as a priority.

So much so that they ended up hiring Criterion Games (the creators of Burnout) to embark on a project as delicate as the remake of one of their most important titles. The stage from Underground to Carbon was left behind, and EA wanted to try the formula that had already worked in the past.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remake (Criterion Games, 2010)

Reinventing itself wasn’t paying off, so Electronic Arts decided that the most sensible thing to do was to restore Need for Speed from the first stage .

Hot Pursuit (2012) takes place in an open world four times the size of Burnout Paradise , a game it draws from for obvious reasons. It was the first game to feature Autolog , putting quite an emphasis on multiplayer. Vehicle customization disappeared. The title focused solely on the gameplay of the chases.

The game was well received , despite the fact that under no circumstances exceeded the barrier set by Most Wanted . It had several awards and a Remaster version of this remake was released in the year 2020. 

Need for Speed: Shift 2: Unleashed (Slightly Mad Studios, 2011)

Before going down the road of illegal racing, Electronic Arts tried simulation once more. It turned out pretty well, as the sequel to Shift raised the bar a little higher. In fact, even though more than 10 years have passed since its release, it’s still quite an enjoyable title to this day.

It was not a best seller, but it is a very good simulation game . To Caesar what is Caesar’s.

After this title, EA said goodbye to Slightly Mad Studios , who would go on to create games like Project CARS . Come on, EA has more aim with business than Fernando Alonso signing for a new F1 team.

Need for Speed: The Run (EA Black Box, 2011)

Criterion was embarking on a major project, so EA gave Black Box another chance. The developer who gave Need for Speed everything would end up walking out the back door. The team had the difficult task of introducing the Frostbite engine (Battlefield’s graphics engine) into a car game.

The Run introduced missions on foot , something never seen in this franchise, in addition to being a mechanic that absolutely no one had asked for. The time Black Box spent adapting the graphics engine was probably the reason this game didn’t stand out at all.

At this point, EA did what it does best: shut down studios. The Run was the end of Black Box , which would end up dissolved in 2013.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted Remake (Criterion Games, 2012)

Good with good equals good. If we merge the best game in the entire saga with the studio that apparently makes the best games in this genre, the result must be unbeatable. TRUE?

Well no, but not because the game was bad. Criterion was already coming off a game that had done well, and expectations were sky high. Before the game came out, it already had nominations and had won awards. And, with so much hype , then what happens happens.

Most Wanted 2012 is a very good Criterion game, but it’s a very bad Most Wanted . The open world title was seen by many as the spiritual takeover from Burnout Paradise . People almost forgot that they were in front of the same Most Wanted that had hit it 7 years before.

The Ghost Games era and the return of Criterion

In the previous stage, EA had two hits and many misses. With such a low batting percentage, and with so few cards in hand, something had to be invented again. 

Need for Speed Rivals (Ghost Games, 2013)

Rivals was Ghost Games ‘ first Need for Speed game. A decent title, but one that followed a continuous path.

At this point, Electronic Arts decided to put a stop to the franchise for the first time. Apparently, a lightbulb went off for some director and he realized that the time factor could be limiting the quality of the productions. 

Need for Speed (Ghost Games, 2015)

Ghost Games had a second chance that they knew how to take advantage of really well. The title itself already indicates that Need for Speed is a complete reboot of the saga . Fans of this game usually call it “Need for Speed: Need for Speed” to be a bit funny.

We return to the streets at night in an open world with impressive quality thanks to the Frostbite engine. We are the typical motorhead who wants to make a place for himself in a group of motor-fan kids. Our protagonist wants to make himself known among important personalities of this world such as Ken Block, Akira Nakai and Magnus Walker.

The game is told like a movie, even though the plot is very basic. When we are not in the car, we are with our colleagues organizing situations or making plans to avoid getting into trouble.

Ghost was spared modeling the characters in 3D and shot directly for live action . A brilliant decision, because everything marries with an astonishing naturalness. Also, since the ‘bosses’ of the game are people who exist in the real world, this, and the first person perspective, added a very fun touch to the game.

Need for Speed (2015) is probably the best NFS of this decade, going head-to-head with Heat . It ‘s not perfect , but it does have the spark that I like so much from the Underground era . It had its own personality and an unbeatable setting.

Of course, the negative points of this game spoiled the successes of Ghost quite a bit. First of all, the handling of the car was still weird. Frossbite was still an engine made for a shooter and not for a racing title. On the other hand, the police ceased to be a diversion. The police chases turned into a real nightmare . Patrols were almost impossible to disable, and sometimes we spent more time running than competing. This mechanic that we liked so much in Underground 2 , Most Wanted and Carbon would end up becoming something annoying. Unfortunately, it continued like this for the following titles. 

Need for Speed: Payback (Ghost Games, 2017)

Maintaining the level, Payback would arrive a couple of years later, but without surprising in the least. The game repeated the same scores.

Need for Speed had become a car without chains in the middle of a snowfall. To make matters worse, Electronic Arts wanted to get more slice of the account, which made them make a big mistake. They introduced a card system to progress with microtransactions and loot boxes . Graphically, Payback looks worse than the previous one. And if to this is added that his only contribution is a mediocre story and a transition between day and night, then better move on to the next one. A title to forget.

Need for Speed: Heat (Ghost Games, 2019)

In the year 2019, Need for Speed recovered the visual aspect of the 2015 title and seemed to progress in some points.

In Heat we compete at night in street races for reputation. During the day, we will get in the car to participate in legal races and earn money.

Despite being an entertaining game that easily enters the eyes, Heat is also no wonder . It’s a good game when compared to previous titles, but it’s still not even the shadow of the Black Box stage.

Eight years after Frostbite was released, Need for Speed still has serious handling problems due to the use of this graphics engine, which is not designed to handle vehicles. On the other hand, the plot of the game is ridiculous. There is no interesting common thread that encourages you to continue playing. And finally, the game is ruined again by police chases .

In Heat you have to advance both at night and during the day. Parts are unlocked with reputation. To do this, you will have to participate in illegal races, make a mess and get the police to chase you. However, the system they used for this game can make you spend hours wasting time. You only accumulate reputation if you make it to your garage and sleep until the next morning. It doesn’t matter how many points you’ve got; If you are stopped by the police, all your efforts will be in vain. Unfortunately, the police in this game are skimpy, and getting rid of them is anything but fun.

Need for Speed: Unbound (Criterion Games, 2022)

After a very fruitful time for Ghost Games, Electronic Arts has once again trusted Criterion for the next Need for Speed on the list. Unbound goes on sale on December 2, and is already one of the most criticized games in the franchise.

Unbound will be based in a city inspired by Chicago . Criterion has strongly opted for the visual identity , giving this installment a cartoon style, removing realism to bring back the arcade.

This title only comes out for new generation consoles and PC. Everything indicates that street racing will once again be the fundamental part of the title. Proof of this is the use of eighties cars.

Time will tell if Criterion has found the key, or if EA should have continued with the style initiated by Ghost Games. In any case, it is still early to draw conclusions 

Other Need for Speed games

Need for Speed World (EA Black Box / EA Singapore, 2010)

It was a massively multiplayer freemium model with the same engine and style as the games from the Black Box era. The game included the Rockport and Palmont City maps. Graphically it wasn’t great, as EA wanted the game to be compatible with as many computers as possible. The game was financed with microtransactions and was a manual pay to win .

This MMORPG was nothing more than a fusion between Need for Speed Most Wanted and Carbon , but online. Players had to do illegal races and run away from chases to get money and mods. Mechanically, it inherited many elements from Carbon such as the classification of the cars or the mechanics during the races.

However, it didn’t pan out either. Electronic Arts shut down the servers in April 2015 . Since 2019, there are communities that have dedicated themselves to maintaining their own servers for this game in an unofficial version.

Need for Speed: Nitro (EA Montreal, 2009)

It was only released for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. It was an independent game with circuits and a system adapted to Wiimote controls.