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Road and Track Presents: The Need for Speed, informerly referred to as The Need for Speed, and released in Japan as Road and Track Presents: Over Drivin', informerly referred to as Over Drivin', is a 1994 racing game, developed by EA Canada, co-developed by Pioneer Productions, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the 1st title in the Need for Speed series. The premise of the game involves racing in sport cars, including several exotic models and Japanese imports. The game noted for its attempts in realism, and audio and video commentaries. Electronic Arts teamed up with automotive magazine Road & Track to match vehicle behaviour, including the mimicking of the sounds made by the vehicles' gear control levers. The game also contained precise vehicle data with spoken commentary, several "magazine style" images of each cars interior and exterior, and even short video clips highlighting the vehicles set to music. There was also an edition of the game called Road and Track Presents: The Need for Speed: Special Edition.
Gameplay
Gameplay features the following:
- Features both closed circuits and three point to point tracks, each divided into three stages, with the latter having traffic vehicles which appear in races.
- Included police pursuits, where the player is ticketed or arrested after a police car succeded in catching up with the player. The player was arrested if he/she has received a third ticket, whereas in the Sega Saturn version only required two tickets for the player to be arrested.
- Features detailed specifications, history, audio commentaries, and real-life videos of each vehicle.
- Featured data and records of each race, during and after the race. These included speed, track records, and racer position.
- Replay feature which allowed the player to view a saved race. Multiple camera views, playback speed, and video navigation were offered.
- A special feature for finishing the tournaments (or entering the cheat) was "rally" mode. The car dynamics were changed to make for a faster 'arcade' experience.
Tracks
Seven tracks are included in the game with one bonus track that can be unlocked: "City", "Coastal", "Alpine", "Rusty Springs", "Autumn Valley", "Vertigo", and the bonus track "Lost Vegas".
Cars
Nine cars are available in the game including a secret tenth car: a black Lamborghini Diablo, a red Ferrari 512TR, a dark green Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, a silver Acura NSX, a dark blue Porsche 911 Carrera (964), a royal blue Dodge Viper RT/10, a yellow Mazda RX-7 (FD3S), a red Toyota Supra Turbo, and the secret car, the purple, silver, and green "Warrior PTO E/2". It is a fictional car with an interior that has parts from the Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 and Lamborghini Diablo, a digital speedometer, 800 hp, and had performance similar to today's Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. The police car in the game that chases the player is a Ford Mustang LX 5.0.
Road and Track Presents: The Need for Speed: Special Edition
In 1996, Road and Track Presents: The Need for Speed: Special Edition, informerly called The Need for Speed: Special Edition and The Need for Speed SE, was only released on PC CD-ROM, containing DOS and Windows 95 versions. The Windows 95 version supports DirectX 2 and IPX networking, and includes two new tracks: "Transtropolis" and "Burnt Sienna" and various enhancements in the game engine. The Need for Speed: Special Edition is the last game in the Need for Speed series to support DOS, as subsequent releases for the PC only run on Microsoft Windows 95 or above. However, it can still be run under Windows XP using DOSbox (x86 DOS emulator).