However, Need for Speed has also had its fair share of struggles, the kind any franchise of this scale usually suffers from. In terms of car culture, there’s not much that the several dozen entries haven’t touched over the decades in the series. Casual open-world and track racing? Check. Deep, satisfying car customization? Check. Outrunning the antagonist in dark, twisty canyons? Check.
Crashing past Diggy’s donut shop in Rockport to disable cops? Check. It’s easy to see why, as this mostly arcadey series has been delivering fun and setting pulses racing in a myriad of ways, while also disappointing fans in a number of occasions. The Need for Speed franchise has been with us for nearly three decades, and is estimated to have sold over 150 million copies during this time. Over the years car fanatics have been living and driving the dream, all made possible by games like the iconic Need for Speed. Second is the first to lose, as the great Ayrton Senna would say. Most racing games have a deceptively simple, strict premise: be the first to cross the finish line.
