Someone tracked down and bought a copy of this game for me (which I had owned and traded-in 3 times before). I'm talking about the very original Road & Track Presents The Need for Speed ... originally on the 3DO console. I had it on 3DO and then Playstation after that ... it was also eventually made for the PC but wasn't as good.
I spent some time with this game tonight and in 10 years (more than that since the 3DO version) games really haven't come all that far. The graphics are long in the tooth but for the most part they still look pretty decent ... then the physics are honestly still the best I've seen in a racing game I swear. You can drop the clutch and the car gets all floaty as the rear tires spool up ... I even checked the 0-60 times in the game and they were spot on. The crashes are also still the best and most realistic. Burnout is pretty great in that regard ... but it's very arcadey.
Back in the day I never gave this original Need for Speed enough credit. Looking back now ... it was awesome and I just couldn't appreciate it as well 10 years ago. I just wish now I could find a nice looking complete box ... as I only have the CD :(
Anyway, the biggest point ... I've said it numerous times but since games went 3D ... not much has really changed. Any game you could make now ... pretty much could have been made back then. I suppose we might never see such a leap again as when gaming went 3D from being predominantly 2D. I felt a bit of a leap like this when games became more networked on the PC and then with Xbox Live ... but well ... it still wasn't quite the same as the jump to 3D.
Anyway, yeah I'm happy I finally got another copy of this classic ;) Now if only I could have just one of the cars showcased in it!
I spent some time with this game tonight and in 10 years (more than that since the 3DO version) games really haven't come all that far. The graphics are long in the tooth but for the most part they still look pretty decent ... then the physics are honestly still the best I've seen in a racing game I swear. You can drop the clutch and the car gets all floaty as the rear tires spool up ... I even checked the 0-60 times in the game and they were spot on. The crashes are also still the best and most realistic. Burnout is pretty great in that regard ... but it's very arcadey.
Back in the day I never gave this original Need for Speed enough credit. Looking back now ... it was awesome and I just couldn't appreciate it as well 10 years ago. I just wish now I could find a nice looking complete box ... as I only have the CD :(
Anyway, the biggest point ... I've said it numerous times but since games went 3D ... not much has really changed. Any game you could make now ... pretty much could have been made back then. I suppose we might never see such a leap again as when gaming went 3D from being predominantly 2D. I felt a bit of a leap like this when games became more networked on the PC and then with Xbox Live ... but well ... it still wasn't quite the same as the jump to 3D.
Anyway, yeah I'm happy I finally got another copy of this classic ;) Now if only I could have just one of the cars showcased in it!