Genre: Racing
Developer: Electronic Arts Canada
Publisher: Electronic Arts

The Need For Speed features a number of bests for the 3DO in terms of graphical quality; it has the cleanest and sharpest FMV; it has the slickest and neatest menus and user interface; most importantly, it has, along with Blade Force, the best in-game visuals on the console. The game engine features 100% texture-mapped vehicles, draw-in distance that lets the player see at least a mile into the distance, and texture quality that rivals the best that other consoles, such as the Saturn or Playstation, have to offer.

With Dolby Surround implemented throughout, and fully recorded engine, horn, and tire sounds for each car, The Need For Speed is a ear-candy to the max. Tunnels and the passing of other cars is made realistic via some nice echo effects. The music that plays during the menus is light rock with some flair, and is exceptionally well composed, and is of fully orchestrated quality. Listening to your favorite car red-lining as you pull through a crowd of AI-constrolled cars is a wonderful experience.

There are eight cars and three courses with three segments each. These are paltry sums, but in the game's defense, after taking the Lamborghini Diablo on a whiz through the city, one is instantly hooked on the almost absurdly well paced courses that make you want to play them over and over with each car. You begin to memorize each course bend for bend, and the addiction becomes even stronger. The physics engine is, to this day, the most realistic I have seen in a video game, with cars that grip the road with uncanny realism, and can be coaxed into powerslides and other maneuvers in the exact manner that real cars can.

Along with the solo, clock racing efforts, you can race against a computer-controlled foe, a dorky guy named the "X-man", who, despite the geekiness, can be entertaining in his rant-laden, post-race FMV antics. In all, The Need For Speed is like Road Rash with cars, and, in many ways, is actually a better game than Road Rash. More cars and courses along with, of course, split-screen support, would have been nice, but the way that the 3DO's hardware is pushed, and given the quality of the game design, this is a game that absolutely must be played.