Top Need for Speed Games

Need for Speed has a special place in every gamer’s heart. The sheer joy of having a car all to yourself (when you’re eleven years old) and being able to pump outrageous speeds on it with cool customizations has cemented NFS as THE racing game.

All ’90s and 80’s babies have had a taste of these games and that too when petrol head fever was at its peak. NFS has been clever with its marketing since day one and ensured that its games come out on top in the racing genre for the foreseeable future. We’ve had a blast playing most of them and today we’re here to shed light on some of our personal favorites. So, rev up your engines!

NFS Carbon

The OG. The maestro. Carbon is our number one when it comes to the top NFS lineup. This game single-handedly catapulted the entire racing game industry into an unyielding position that they enjoy to this day. This is also the game that introduced slow-motion drifting which had a charm of its own.

Where earlier NFS games had a clunky drifting mechanic which involved haphazard turns and uncertainty on where even your car would end up, the slow motion provided a massive help in aligning your vehicle on the road while still performing sharp turns and looking aesthetically very, very cool. Carbon came out in 2006 and the car lineup it had in stock was the absolute best.

Cars ranged from Subaru to Nissan to Lamborghini and Audi. There were lots to choose from. And then lots to customize from too. The excitement only added up when the entire state was divided into factions, each with its own mini missions and challenges. Boss fights were fun and consisted of two phases. One, where the player and the boss would enter a drift challenge that had you skip a heartbeat as you raced down mountains. Two, a regular race that was one or two laps, which had you brush up on your skills and speed. All in all, a great game.

NFS Heat

A treat for older and newer fans. The game was a welcome refresh after the considerably flopped performance of NFS Rivals which we are generously going to let slide after the lackluster performance it displayed. Heat chose to bring in multiplayer gaming as well by introducing “ghost racing”. This pitted players and their cars against each other with the one with the best lap time becoming the winner.

Of course, with any multiplayer game, you’d need a viable internet connection and nothing worked for us better than CenturyLink. CenturyLink internet deals help it stay ahead of the competition with blazing-fast internet and competitive deals that keep your gaming unaffected and performance optimal. Heat came out in 2018 and proved that NFS still has gas in its tank by introducing car customizations again.

On top of that, the game absorbed all the good stuff leading up to its premise. Cop cars got upgraded, environments became crisper, controls got better and smoother and Miami, the city that’s gloriously represented, is shown as close to reality as possible. The result? A game that nabbed multiple awards and got gamers wanting even more.

NFS Most Wanted

The game that got famous for its car-cop chases. Most wanted was notorious for getting its players riled up to create havoc. See, the entire fun of the game was when you became most wanted. Get it? The game? Name? Okay, anyway, MW had its own thrilling car races and mechanics that were although a bit buggy and clunky but all that washed away when NFS put in cops that had a personality and cars that could cause some serious damage.

The point is, NFS added some very distinct flavor(s) to their game and presented it with an outlaw-ish vibe that appealed to the public. This coupled with all the feel-good customizations and a heart-pumping story got players waving money in the shopkeeper’s face.

Additionally, falling objects were put in place to make chases more exciting. Speeding down a road with a building in construction prompted players to run through its scaffolds and make it fall down behind them. This was made even juicier when, if timed correctly, the game would show a slow-motion cut scene of the police cars crashing and tumbling over each other as they got caught in the wake of the mayhem. Satisfying.

NFS Shift

A game made for portable devices. Shift came out at a time when the PSP was all the rage in markets and handheld/portable gaming was peaking. People enjoyed the idea of having a smaller screen they could take anywhere and play games on it that were otherwise available only on their bigger consoles. NFS was quick to join this party when they introduced NFS Shift.

The color palette used in this game was spectacular. Customizations were a-plenty and the addition of racing tracks and professional races embellished an already appealing game. Users could take the racing wherever they went provided they could keep their console charged enough. This was a wild idea and for a hot minute, NFS Shift enjoyed a brilliant run before mainstream consoles took over again.

Conclusion

Many believe that NFS is slowly losing its steam but honestly, we think that NFS is here to stay. Cars keep coming in and environments keep changing. As long as NFS can keep making games that are closer to reality and keep its players sweaty and jacked up with adrenaline, the game will never be in a position to die off. And if you’re looking to reminiscence their lineup then our list will serve as a wonderful reminder of just why NFS is the racing king in the video game industry. Stay frosty and keep the pedal to the metal.