Need for Speed II

Publisher: Electronic Arts. Developer: Electronic Arts


driving the Lotus

I was fortunate enough to borrow this game from someone for a couple of weeks, and Electronic Arts were good enough to include a screen capture button this time round. Of course, I took this chance to add it to my website...

After the success of NFS and NFSSE, a sequel was inevitable. (These days they're up to number 5 or so, although they have different names...) NFSII has you driving even more expensive cars even faster than before, with new features such as arcade or simulation mode, skill level and split screen options. The game still includes the same car showcase stuff as the previous games; you can watch the arty and confusing videos or listen to the rambly guy natter on for ages about car history.

Need for Speed II Features
lotsa Lotuses

The menu system in NFS II looks very smart, and uses little icons down the side of the screen to remind you of your current setttings. The in-game graphics haven't improved all that much since the original game (and the frame rate is worse), but they're still good and have very few glitches. The track is now darker in the distance, an interesting way to combat graphics pop-up.
Sound-wise, NFSII is definitely better than NFSSE. It has a better variety of gravel and metal crunching noises, and the skidding now sounds like you'd expect skidding to sound. The music in this game is performed by a band and played off the CD, but I find it generally much less inspired than the music from NFS 1.
The most noticeable improvements NFSII makes over NFSSE are in the gameplay area.



. . .Aargh! Even more Lotuses!. . .

In Need for Speed 1, the computer was very unrealistic and relied on cheating rather than having any idea of how to drive. NFSII's computer opponent is excellent, and understands how to skid around bends, get back on the road after a crash and stop you from getting past. Although its thinking is still slightly lane-based, it now behaves a lot more like a human-controlled car rather than having its own separate rules.
round the bend. an accident at the finish line. I'm.. err.. in the lead.

Because the game is based on real cars, though, you are never EVER going to beat a 230mph MacLaren in a 175mph Lotus on the oval 'Proving Grounds' course. If you want a decent race you'll have to go for a twisty course and/or race against similar cars to yours.

Electronic Arts have reduced the realism in NFSII to make it more playable, and you now accelerate and drive faster, you can skid quickly around bends and you are able to recover faster after a crash. The 'invisible walls' that surround the track are much less noticeable now, and you can drive off the road in some parts and take shortcuts.
Many of the other problems in NFSSE have been fixed - collision detection is now much better and it's possible to ram the computer players off the road. When you turn around the camera won't leave your car to prevent you seeing what's behind you. You don't gain large amounts of speed when you come down from a big jump. Your car can now rotate on any axis while in the air, rather than just tip forwards. Most importantly the computer appears not to wait for you if you're behind, or to cheat and catch you up if you're winning. (You can see this happening if you play the coin-op "Cruisin' USA".)

In short, NFSII is a more playable and less frustrating game than NFS or NFSSE. This sequel did, however, lose the police officers and the open road courses of the original game, and has so few playable tracks (about four circuits) that you may get sick of it pretty fast. I beat the tournament pretty easily (driving the MacLaren, of course), and got to learn all about the hidden Ford Indigo car. After that, there's not that much to keep you playing. The computer's not that much of a challenge, and crashing out or spinning in circles on grass or dusty roads will get on your nerves after a while.

Other gripes I have include the fact that the game only runs under Windows '95, the way your car settings do not apply during knockout races or tournaments (the settings are pretty useless anyway), and the dodginess of the network option. It often didn't detect that there was a network game loaded, and it was next to impossible to play a race involving computer cars. (The synchronisation failed due to loading times on the computer with 16Mb RAM. NFSSE never had these problems.)


traffic - avaliable in 2 or 1 car races
Traffic - you can select this option in a one or two car race

Overall
NFSII is a considerable improvement over NFSSE. The car physics and learning curve are just about right, and most multiplayer modes are catered for.
Presentation of the game is very flash, and there's plenty of smart - looking video clips to watch.
NFSII is a good, playable game that could do with more to keep the user interested, e.g. more tracks, a track editor or a storyline or more character in the computer opponents. My pentium 133 with 16Mb RAM runs this game fine UNTIL you try and play it over a network. Then you need more RAM.

Pros
cons

(sorry - I forgot to sample some sounds or save some good replays)

2001 Look Back at The Need for Speed II
I don't have this game any more, so I can't say whether I'd still be playing it. I do know that a special edition was released which had support for 3d accelerator cards, but unless they added plenty more tracks I'd leave it alone..

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