this but the PC versions

>>12806008
Second to Gran Turismo, though nowadays I do prefer NFS3/4

>>12806014
PC versions are not as good

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>>12806008
For me it's El Nino and Empire City

>>12806014
>>12806028
I wish some autist would make a guide explaining which versions are the best and why

>>12806008
Ugh.. no wonder people prefer 6th gen

>>12806028
Porsche Unleashed is better on PC and High Stakes is admittedly missing the cool hotrod but there's probably a mod anyways it's cool you get to race on NFS3 tracks it's pretty big but the skybox are downgraded. Oh yeah nevermide ps has a mod for the skyline from japan and the holden cars from australia.

>>12806058
NFS1 - Sega Saturn and PS1 (3DO overclocked if you want authenticity, and the old FMVs).

NFS2 - PC definitely

NFS3:HP - PS1 for Gameplay, PC for content

High Steaks - PS1 for Gameplay, PC for content.

Beetle Adventure Racing! - It was supposed to be NFS 64, but development issues relegated it to a (good) kiddie spin-off.

Porsche Unleashed - all versions are too different to categorise into ports. The PC's the best one, but the others are worth looking into apart.

NFS:HP2 - The PS2 version, no exceptions. All of the other ports are not only inferior, but are all the same exact inferior port.

NFSU - PC, if you mod it with fixes and content packs.

NFSU2 - same as above

From here on out, all of the ports are consistent with minor differences, aside from the Handheld ones and NFS Undercover for PS2, which was just a shovelware rehash of MW.

>>12806059
6th gen is soulless

Crash team racing is the best and not just from 5G

>>12806384
Get The Karters 2 then.

>>12806351
Just to add

>NFS1
3do version is cool on its own, feels like a driving game rather than racing

>NFS3:HP
PS1 version has arcade mode which controls like Daytona USA (fun drifting racer) and simulator mode, the first in the series with rather tough controls.
On PC there is no sim mode and controls are very weird - the car oversteers a lot and doesn't really control like a car. You don't have to use brakes in corners, drifting is useless etc. Camera position is awful and ingame UI looks very amateursh as opposed to stylish PS1 UI. All in all PC port is very weird and looks like a knock off game

>High Stakes
PS1 now has a single driving model which is like a middle point between arcade and sim mode of the NFS3. It feels similar to Gran Turismo 1 in this regard.
PC version is built on top of PC NFS3 and has all the same problems including controls, camera and UI but also very ugly car models which look like hot wheels toys with big wheels. On the other hand, it has NFS3 tracks.
One thing that is very different between PS1 and PC versions is the tracks visuals (skies, color palette, weather effects) but imo these look cool in both versions

>Porsche Unleashed
PC version is built on top of PS1 High Stakes engine by the same developer. Further refinement of that simcade driving model.
PS1 version is a different game entrely, doesn't feel like NFS to be honest.

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Country Woods... home.

>>12806008
I like NFS 4, GT2 and San Francisco rush. I also have a soft spot for test drive 6 on Dreamcast

the only thing the PS1 versions of NFS miss is the cockpit view.

>>12806381
No way v rally is awesome

>>12806787
there's literally a cheat code for that dude its funny because the driver has little block arms

>>12806008
for me it's Ridge Racer Type 4 and Sega Rally Championship

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I'M ABOUT TO DROP SOME AUTISM.

Today I am going to autistically talk about the first five need for speed games with the respective pros and cons on each platform and suggestions on which version you should play under the following caveats;

1) Emulation will be assumed for console versions
2) Patches to make the games run on modern windows will be used
3) Where applicable any enhancements to round off rough edges (such as emulation overclocks) will be mentioned.
4) I'm not competing against nostalgia on OG hardware - that warm fuzzy feeling you get doing it old school is fine regardless of how good or bad a given version is.

I will dedicate each post to each game unless I blow the character limit.

FIST UP;

Road & Track presents The Need For Speed.
>available on 3DO, pc psx and saturn

The 3DO version is the original release and is notably different from the other releases which are all very similar. The 3DO version is much more of a driving game than a racing game, very much showing its roots in the test drive series

Pros
>a more relaxed game style than other versions
>no music
>more punishing on mistakes as it has a life system (crash too much and game over)
>arguably the most visually impressive version
>time trial mode keeps traffic so it is just you vs the road
>THE MOTHERFUCKING X-MAN
>only a head-to-head duel mode

Cons
>runs sloooooooooooooow and the only emulator worth a damn only does 2x cpu overclock which still isn't enough
>very low resolution out of the box - a 2x res scale from 4DO can be applied but then your cpu overclock isn't doing anything for performance
>most limited content by far
>no music
>digital controls
>no time of day options
>only a head-to-head duel mode, full grid of opponents not available

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PSX/Saturn
Both are basically the same game at heart so we'll lump them together.

Pros
>has music
>has the circuit tracks added along with the warrior PTO bonus car
>actually runs at something approaching a usable framerate and psx/saturn emulators are much more feature rich than 3DO emus
>has the bonus rally modes and the lunar rally track
>has the better looking time of day options

Cons
>No real analog support. The psx version supports the negcon but its kinda shit (tested on both emu and real hardware)
>time trial is more what you'd expect, just player vs stopwatch
>related to above that means to get traffic on you have to do a head-to-head race
>no x-man


Protip: at least in the psx version pressing down on the dpad for a few seconds hides the HUD - a feature that is in the rest of the EA made games.

PC
The special edition re-release has the most most content (only lacking lunar springs, though an unfinished version does exist in the code).

Pros
>actual analog support available both for steering and acceleration, but you have to fight dosbox as usual
>has time of day options
>has two unique tracks only found here
>has music
>best framerate out of the box

Cons
>time trial is more what you'd expect, just player vs stopwatch
>related to above that means to get traffic on you have to do a head-to-head race
>no x-man
>limited enhancement options due to being limited to the dos version. The windows version requires black magic to get working and isn't worth the hassle

OVERALL SUGGESTION:
Play the 3DO version but if that is a bit too raw play PC special edition.

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Need for Speed II
>avilable on pc, psx

Playstation
Visually this sits inbetween the two pc releases - the normal software only release and the special edition which brings glide support (ooh, fancy hardware acceleration).

Pros
>visual consistency - straddling the difference between the pc versions does give it a unique look
>has the most colours available to cars
>has a few unique visual effects on the bonus track (smoke changes colour for example)

Cons
>cockpit view cuts your fps in half for fun so emulation overclocks are a must
>no real analog support - yeah supports negcon but is shit again

PC
This once again got a special edition re-release so that is the one to focus on.

Pros
>most amount of content - more cars and an additional track
>proper analog support
>is visually superior in a number of areas to the psx version, though inferior in others regardless of software or glide
>has rushhour cheat to get silly amounts of traffic spawning
>supports tracks being raced backwards
>has an additional physics mode called wild, which is essentially a drifty version of the arcade physics
>verok's patch allows for proper widescreen

Cons
>using the pc version means using verok's patch which is based on the glide version
>this means no cockpit view as it is a 2d element and the voodoo was 3d only
>need to pick between the software look or glide look, can't get the benefits of both

Protip: you can hide the HUD in both version - hold triangle on psx or press F5 on pc.
Protip 2: Using F1-F5 on the pc pause screen you can do some camera manipulation AND hide the pause menu for a proto photo mode

OVERALL SUGGESTION:
PC version using the special edition graphics (which verok's patch allows you to toggle from the launcher)

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Need for speed III: Hot Pursuit
>available on pc, psx

Arguably the best game of this era and one with the most subtle differences.

Playstation

Pros
>has some unique graphical effects not present in the pc version like lights in the aquatica tunnel reflecting off the car roof
>has the nazca C2, which is missing from pc version
>car models aren't mirrored unlike the pc version
>has more diverse traffic vehicles
>a.i is notably more aggressive - especially in hot pursuit
>has a number of hidden tracks on available through cheat codes
>pc equivalent bullhorn cheat is on by default so the cops really are bellowing at you
>can set time of day and weather to random in the menu for some pot luck racing conditions

Cons
>while analog support is available with the dual analog the only way to get analog throttle/brake is bind it to the right stick which isn't that great
>still supports the negcon, support is still shit
>has less standard content than the pc version
>the hidden tracks are kinda shit - good for a few laps but you're not going back to them
>no cockpit view at all
>traffic in the atlantica course is one-way for some odd reason
>some audio effects are massively lower quality than pc - notably the sound of thunder is really crunchy (applies to OG hardware too)

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PC

Pros
>using modern patch it has proper widescreen support and can handle modern resolutions
>runs much smoother out of the box
>proper analog support so you can use the triggers on your modern controller to get varied throttle/braking force
>more cars available
>has fancier smoke effects
>has option between vertex headlight lighting or projected headlights for night races
>mods avilable which opens up a world of possibilities
>cockpit view
>death star

Cons
>car models while a higher poly count are mirror so you get lamborghini twice on the back of your diablo and one of them is written backwards
>game engine is just a souped up NFS2 on pc, so handling model is more simple than psx
>vertex headlights are blatantly designed for 4:3 so you tend to get flickering at the bottom fo the screen when using bumper cam specifically at widescreen FoV
>projected headlights are basically just a gamma curve adjustment for the highlighted area, so you are just blowing everything out with the effect

OVERALL SUGGESTION:
A tough one really as you can't go wrong with either but these days I prefer the pc version.

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Need For Speed High Stakes/Road Challenge/ whatever the fuck


PC
PC version is at its heart a content add-on for NFSIII.

Pros
>best framerate out of the box
>proper widescreen support available
>proper analog support
>has all of the NFSIII tracks included, plus the new ones
>has higher detail tracks in many areas - the landstrasse track in the psx version has a windmill after the town section, whereas PC has a giant detailed castle
>features the el nino bonus car from III which is missing from psx
>has a cockpit view - now a fully 3D model which grounds it to the game world but is low detail compared to the old 2D overlays
>a million mods - with the high stakes mixer you can easily do car swaps and add ons. tracks can only be swapped out though
>has a longer career mode due to the NFSIII tracks
>higher sound quality
>gearing ratios depend on if you pick manual or auto transmissions i.e a corvette has a 4 speed slushbox if you pick auto but is 6 speed in manual to be in line with the real cars

Cons
>is missing two unique bonus cars - the titan and phantom
>the McClaren F1 isn't as cool as the psx version uses the awesome longtail version
>has a different time of day for the night time version of dolphin cove - just a generic night look rather a gorgeous sunset (which you'll see in the next post)
>still based on the NFS2 engine and physics have been tweaked again but imo for the worse - cars turn SHARPLY if you let off the throttle a relatively small amount
>is missing the unique road hazards from the psx version
>career mode car upgrades do not affect the single race mode, so you can't get the visual upgrades for custom play
>the longer career mode is too long as it is mostly just padding
>worse car model quality
>subjectively I think the bonus porsche looks worse and the bonus camaro certainly is not as cool as the psx's bonus corvette

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playstation

oooh boy this is where the fun begins

Pros
>higher quality car models
>features the phantom and titan (OH YEAH) bonus cars
>single race mode features unique road hazards that are randomly generated - things like logs/boxes in the road, an overturned traffic car surrounded by flares as a warning
>career mode car upgrades apply to single race mode
>features a playable police helicopter in test drive mode via a cheat
>has a better handling model than pc
>best version of night dolphin cove
>complete edition exists (more later)
>subjective but I think the bonus porsche looks cooler here and a corvette is always cooler than a camaro
>longtail F1 is sexy

Cons
>runs pretty slowly out of the box and gets real bad when lots of traffic and weather come into effect, but cpu overclocking combats this greatly
>makes an attempt at perspective correction because lmao psx wobble but this effect really doesn't look good at over 2x internal res and fights with your typical emulator perspective correction hacks, so high resolution play is visually wonky
>no cockpit view
>No analog throttle/brake support outside of a negcon as controls are selected from presets
>negon support still shit
>only new tracks, none of the NFSIII ones included
>less cars as pc version had some official add-ons
>pausing the game causes the music to restart when unpausing

Complete edition romhack;
Thi is a romhack that is basically fuck your region locking and enables nearly all of the regional variant content in a single iso.

OVERALL SUGGESTION;
PSX 6 days a week, pc for when you must have muh 4k and widescreen.

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Final game - Need for Speed Porsche 2000/unleashed

>available on pc, psx

The two versions are wildly different games with about the only commonality if they have a bunch of porsches in them. The PC version was made by EA while psx was done by eden games (of test drive unlimited fame).

Playstation

Pros
>has a few unique cars (like the 917K) not in the pc version
>tracks are visually the most different from each other
>has a bunch of multiplayer focused game modes like capture the flag
>tracks are all circuits

Cons - there will a lot as I do not look too favourable upon this version despite it being the one I actually played back in my day
>no option in single race to have just you and traffic on a course
>time trial is just reach each checkpoint before time expires rather than a timed lap
>runs slow out of the box
>handling is somewhat heavy and cars feel unresponsive under hard cornering and not in a good way
>no cockpit view
>lower quality car models

PC

Pros
>cockpit views for cars and they are higher quality than those in NFS IV
>higher quality car models
>subjectively the track design (as in layout, not visuals specifically) is better
>you can really feel the rear engine weight in the handling model, making some of those old turbos a real animal to drive even with tuning
>proper analog support
>proper widescreen support once patched
>cockpit view has the driver's arms and they actually change gear (and that satisfying thunk in many models)
>had a small number of add-on cars
>some mods available, but not many

Cons
>most tracks are just point-to-point which means if you want to do multiple "laps" you have to go back into the menu
>the monte carlo circuit courses aren't fantastic - 1 would've been enough
>moby dick is not as cool as the 917K
>subjective (and a minor one) the track visuals are not as visually striking as the psx tracks

OVERALL SUGGESTION:
PC version is the one to play as it is a better package and you can still cruise the tracks.

>>12807850
Very useful posts, thank you

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>wasted hours today doing stupid shit

>>12807840
What's your problem with negcon support? I've remapped it to an xbox controller including analog throttle and brakes, the game controls great this way.

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How the hell did they manage to fumble the PC versions of NFS3/4 so much? Fucking look at this UI drawn by a 3yo and the loss of the track visuals. Not to mention awful car handling that ruins the game.

Imagine if they just made straight ports with high res, high framerate, mod support, ffb support etc. Could've been the best racing games of the era.

>>12808063
Never played this game but top looks better

That is a lot of autism.

>>12807964
>CREASED & PRESSED
those toadline memes must've fried my brain because this had me laughing like an idiot for a good minute

>>12807843
i adore NFS4 PC's cockpit view so much, it's just the right level of detail to blend in with the world and the subtle sway and shift as you drive feels so good (always hated how 3's cockpit is fixed to the screen, come on, duke nukem 3D had this shit figured out years ago), i just wish everything else about 4 PC wasn't infuriating

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The fact the whole HUD in NFS3 turns green like a 1990s Ford when racing at night pleases me in a very specific way. I played through 3 recently and it's still fun and especially if you- might be heretical but- enable the 60FPS patch. I was genuinely surprised at just how SMOOTH it feels to drive, shit feels better than games way more modern. I wanna say it's always like that, just the inherent input delay from 30fps is sad.

>>12809919
Goddammit, now I'm laughing like an idiot too.

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>>12806389
in the PC games there's a few camera angles and options, and the widescreen patch adds a few more options as well
for some reason you can have only up to four cameras in your cycle, probably because it's just faster to cycle through fewer cameras and it's unlikely someone would want or need more

also, a port is a game already developed for one platform, then adapted to be played on a different platform. the PC version of NFS3 isn't a port, it's a game with the same title and a lot of same assets developed separately for a different platform