Need for Speed: High Stakes: Difference between revisions

{{Header Nav|game=Need for Speed: High Stakes|num=1}}

{{Game

|image=Need_for_Speed-_High_Stakes_US_box.jpg

|developer=[[EA Seattle]], [[EA Canada]]

|publisher=[[Electronic Arts]], [[Electronic Arts Victor]], [[Dice Multimedia]]

|genre=[[:Category:Racing|Arcade Racing]]

|ratings={{ELSPA|3}}{{ESRB|E}}

'''Need for Speed: High Stakes''', released in Japan as '''Over Drivin' IV''', released in Europe and Brazil as '''Need for Speed: Road Challenge''', released in Germany as '''Need for Speed: Brennender Asphalt''', and released in France as '''Conduite en etat de liberte''', is the fourth game in the [[:Category:Need for Speed|Need for Speed series]]. It once again features a host of exotic cars and tracks located in Western Europe and North America. It is notable in the Need for Speed franchise for the first installment to include a damage model and a career mode where the player earns money by winning races and can spend it on more cars, upgrades, or repairs. There is also Classics, DICE, and Sold Out versions of Need for Speed: Road Challenge for Windows and a Platinum version of Need for Speed: Road Challenge for the PlayStation.

Need for Speed: High Stakes is an arcadier title compared to Hot Pursuit. Cars can make sudden swerves and brakes are usually not needed. The game also features higher jumps than seen in Hot Pursuit. High Stakes is the first Need for Speed game to include damage, which can affect the performance and appearance of cars after an impact with a wall, object, or other cars.

* '''Tournament''' - Tournaments consist of several races against a full grid of opponents of the same class of cars as the car your driving and players are awarded points for completing each race. The better position a player places, the more points he/she gets. The person with the most points at the end of the tournament is the winner. The winner is awarded with one or more bonus cars depending on the difficulty of the tournament (for example: on Champion difficulty, the player gets all three of the bonus cars). By completing a tournament, PSX players will unlock the Special Events Mode.

High Stakes is the first game in the series to allow visual modifications to cars. These mods are only purchasable in Career Mode. It's only possible to buy packages, which include spoilers, vinyls, and new rims. Visual mods are only purchasable in packages, which contain performance modifications as well. Parts cannot be bought individually. Fine-tuning is still possible to perform in High Stakes. The new performance upgrading mechanism also allows players to keep up and compete with higher classed vehicles.

==''Need for Speed: Road Challenge (Platinum)''==

The Platinum version has a platinum/silver band on the games casing and the original disc design is replaced with a simple silver design with copyright notices along the edges and the games name in the centre surrounded by a black outline. This is just a distinction that a game receives after it has reached over 400,000 sales after generally one year on the market for all PlayStation game consoles. However, if a game reaches over 400,000 sales, it does not neccessarily qualify for a Platinum title.