Need for Speed (NFS) is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of Burnout. The series generally centers around illegal street racing and tasks players to complete various types of races while evading the local law enforcement in police pursuits. The series is one of EA's oldest franchises not published under their EA Sports brand. The series released its first title, The Need for Speed, in 1994. The most recent game, Need for Speed Unbound, was released on December 2, 2022. Additionally, a free-to-play mobile installment released in 2015, Need for Speed: No Limits, is actively developed by Firemonkeys Studios, the developers of Real Racing 3.
Midtown Madness is a 1999 racing game developed by Angel Studios and published by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows. The demo version was released in April 1999. Two sequels followed, with Midtown Madness 2 released in September 2000 and Midtown Madness 3 released in June 2003 for the Xbox. The game is set in Chicago; the object is for the player to win street races and obtain new cars.
Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is likely as old as the automobile itself. It became especially prevalent during the heyday of hot rodding (1960s), muscle cars, Japanese imports (1990s) and sports cars (2000s). Since then, it continues to be both popular and hazardous, with deaths of bystanders, passengers, and drivers occurring every year. In the United States, modern street racing traces its roots back to Woodward Avenue, Michigan, in the 1960s when the three main Detroit-based American car companies were producing high-powered performance cars. Since a private racing venue was not always available, street races would be held illegally on public roads.
Automobili Lamborghini is a 1997 racing video game developed and published by Titus France for the Nintendo 64. It is a successor to Lamborghini American Challenge.
Redline is a video game for Mac OS X developed by Jonas Echterhoff and published by Ambrosia Software. The game's primary features are its ability to simulate actual racing physics, online play, and support for the addition of third party content via plug-ins. The combination of these features have attracted numerous players and led to the creation of a seasonal racing league. Redline also has several modes of gameplay for those who prefer arcade style physics commonly found in other racing games. The game is now currently obsolete and an error message will be displayed upon opening the application as of OS X Snow Leopard and above. However, a fan-made patch allows the game to run on OS X Mavericks and above, but in single-player modes only.
A body kit or bodykit is a set of modified body parts or additional components that install on a stock car. Typically composed of front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoilers, bonnets, and sometimes front and rear side guards and roof scoops. There are many companies that offer alternatives to the original factory appearance of the vehicle. Body kit components are designed to complement each other and work together as a complete design. Despite this, the 'mix and match' approach is often seen on cars, where the front of one body kit will be matched with the rear of another, for example.
Crashday is a destruction derby/racing/car stunts game co-developed by Replay Studios and Moonbyte Games and published by Atari Europe. It was released in February 2006.
Ford Street Racing is a game commissioned by Ford for the Xbox, PC, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable (PSP). The game was sold as Ford Street Racing on the PC while the various console releases were given region specific names. They are as follows: Ford Bold Moves Street Racing in the US and Canada, Ford Street Racing: L.A. Duel in the EU, and Ford Street Racing: XR Edition in Australia and New Zealand. It was released September 19, 2006 in the United States. It was developed by Razorworks and published by Empire Interactive under the Empire banner in the US and under the Xplosiv banner in the rest of the world. The game received mostly mixed to negative reviews.
Cruis'n is a series of racing video games originally developed by Eugene Jarvis for Midway Games and published by Midway and Nintendo. The series distinguishes itself from other racing games with its over-the-top presentation and fast-paced gameplay, featuring a wide variety of vehicles and tracks based on a variety of real world locations. The series debuted in North American and European arcades in 1994 with the release of Cruis'n USA, which, along with Killer Instinct, was advertised as running on Nintendo's Ultra 64 hardware. Two sequels followed, Cruis'n World and Cruis'n Exotica, which featured new vehicles and tracks. All three games were released for the Nintendo 64 as well, with Exotica also being released for the handheld Game Boy Color. The next game in the series, Cruis'n Velocity deviated from the traditional arcade gameplay of the series and was released for the Game Boy Advance.
Need for Speed: ProStreet is a 2007 racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the eleventh installment in the Need for Speed series and a follow-up to Need for Speed: Carbon. Unlike its immediate predecessors, which focused on the contemporary illegal street racing scene, ProStreet focuses on legal circuit races that take place on closed tracks. The game blends elements of both sim and arcade racing games, requiring players to customize and tune cars for various race modes. Most races take place in real-world locations such as the Portland International Raceway, Mondello Park, and Autopolis.
Midnight Club: Los Angeles is a 2008 racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fourth installment in the Midnight Club series. The game features 43 cars and 3 motorcycles. The open world map of Los Angeles is the size of all three cities from the previous installments combined. After several delays, Midnight Club: Los Angeles was released in October 2008.
Street Legal Racing Redline is a racing game developed by Invictus and published by Activision Value. The game was released for Windows in July 2003.
Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano, known in Europe as SCAR - Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo, is a racing video game for the PlayStation 2, Windows and Xbox. It was developed by Milestone srl and released in 2005.
Project Torque, also known as Level-R outside North America and HEAT Online for the 2010 North American version, is a multiplayer online racing game (MMORG) with partially chargeable content, or micro-transactions, originally developed by Invictus Games. It features gameplay elements such as tuning and customization.
Need for Speed: Nitro is a racing video game and the fourteenth title of the Need for Speed series. It was published by Electronic Arts for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms. It is also one of only two games in the franchise to date to not be made for PC and the only game of the franchise to be released only for Nintendo consoles. It was announced in January as part of a three-game announcement that includes Need for Speed: Shift and Need for Speed: World. The game was developed by EA Montreal who have previous experience with Nintendo titles, although the DS version was developed separately by Firebrand Games' Florida studio. An improved version of the DS edition of the game, Need for Speed: Nitro-X, was released for DSiWare on November 26, 2010.
Invictus Games is an independent Hungarian video game development studio founded in 1992 by Tamás Kozák and Ákos Diviánszky. They specialize in racing simulation games, like Project Torque, Street Legal and Street Legal Racing Redline, and Insane. In 2009, they have moved on to mobile games. They also developed onEscapee, a cinematic platforming game. Their publishers include Codemasters, Activision, 1C, Gamepot and Joyzone.
Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit is a mission-based driving game released for the PC in 2007 and Xbox 360 in 2008, and a sequel to Alarm für Cobra 11: Nitro. It is based on the German television series Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei, and features several characters from the show working their way through criminal cases set in fictitious versions of the city streets of Cologne, and the autobahn in North Rhine Westphalia. The developers created a "Pathfinder" to ensure that the AI vehicles do not always follow the same path during a pursuit. It was not received well by critics, with graphics and plot being of concern. Four sequels have been released on Xbox 360 and through online content provider Steam.
Cross Racing Championship 2005 is a racing video game developed by Invictus Games and released on October 4, 2005 for Microsoft Windows. The Hungarian metal band SZEG contributed to the soundtrack. The game combines elements of rallycross with those of tuning. It was relaunched on September 18, 2018 as Cross Racing Championship Extreme in the Steam store.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a 2005 open-world racing video game, and the ninth installment in the Need for Speed series. Developed by EA Canada and EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts, it was released in November 2005 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360. An additional version, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0, was released in the same year for PlayStation Portable. The game focuses on street racing-oriented gameplay involving a selection of events and racing circuits found within the fictional city of Rockport, with the game's main story involving players taking on the role of a street racer who must compete against 15 of the city's most elite street racers to become the most wanted racer of the group, in the process seeking revenge against one of the groups who took their car and developing a feud with the city's police department.
Garfield Kart is a kart racing game published by Microids and developed by Artefacts Studio. The game is based on The Garfield Show, which is based on the American comic strip Garfield. Garfield creator Jim Davis was executive producer. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and Nintendo 3DS, iOS, and Android.
