"This is what happens when you don't fill your power steering fluid..."

The 3DO sure is an under appreciated gaming machine. Although many of it's titles were available for much less on other systems that didn't cost as much (The Need for Speed being one). The Need for Speed is a racing game on the 3DO and other systems as well. You choose from some rather nice looking cars and drive through the country side. Sounds decent, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Game Play
The Need for Speed pits you against an opponent controlled by either the cpu, another person, or you self (race against the clock type of thing). You drive your little car trying to beat the other guy or the previous time. Many obstacles hide in your path, such as other drivers (who seem to stay on the road), police cars, deadly curves, sign posts, bodies of water, trees, and some other things. The over all feel of the game is "just another driving game" and it pretty much is. The only thing that sets it apart from other games of its time are small Full Motion Video (FMV) sequences in between each race that give you tips or laugh at your face, depending on how well you did. When racing, even when going over 100 miles per hour, the scenery is crawling by and it doesn't seem like you are going more than 20 miles per hour at any time. Having to shift from Neutral to first gear to start the race, even when driving an automatic is pretty stupid. The only good part about the automatic transmission is you can shift down when going up hills if you need to (which you will). You can also switch into reverse making it easier to get going the right way after smashing into another car. Using an automatic transmission seems to be a joke. You shift into third gear at 78 mph. I don't know much about cars but I am pretty sure 3rd gear would come a while before that. All in all, the game play is par at best.

Score 4

Control
Wow. Totally abysmal. The reason I made the reference to power steering fluid in the title of this review is because it feels like you have no steering at all. This may be because I am 20 years old and don't have my driver's licence, but it is harder to control your car in this game than in any other game ever. The controls are unresponsive at best. When going around corners, you are sure to not fully make it and end up hitting the guard rail or a traffic in the on coming lane. The way the controls are set up is actually good, but given how they are implemented in the game is terrible. I like using the shoulder buttons for shifting, with the left being down shift and right being up shift but it doesn't matter because you won't play the game for long with these controls.

Score 2

Graphics
This is about the only area that the game does well. I imagine with the new technology of a 32bit CD system the programmers thought that graphics were the only thing that would matter in the future (creepy and unfortunate how it's true now). They really poured their heart and soul and resources into making the Need for Speed look damn good. The graphics look better than most racing games on the Sega Saturn do. Seriously awesome. Detail was paid so much attention to. The FMVs actually look good, and not grainy like on the Sega CD or the Play Station. The cars actually look real, shadowing from suspension bridges, detail on road signs; all of these things add up to one very good looking game. Too bad that graphics aren't everything.

Score 10

Sounds and music
With such fine detail paid attention to the graphics, I think that the programmers used up all room for any good music. There are sound effects, although not very good ones. However, there is no in game music AT ALL!!! I expect there to be at least one good music track to race to. Instead, all I get is some clicking noise, a weak sounding police siren, and the squealing of my car. Horrible job. Granted, early CD based systems were never fully tapped into because multimedia was new to programmers, but the Sega CD had in game music on racing games, even the NES did. Terrible. I will say that the FMV's had nice sound, but what good is a 3 second clip of some guy saying that you are a bad driver when you have no music to listen to when driving bad?

Score 0

Overall, The Need for Speed is something that should be left alone unless it is the only game available to you for some strange reason. The controls are bad, the sound is non-existent and the game play is average. Only the graphics are anything to marvel over, and it's not worth it with all the things that are wrong with this game.

Pros:
1. Graphics are sweet

Cons:
1. Bad controls
2. Uneventful Game play
3. No music at all

Final Score 4

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/05