Need For Speed II - 24 Years Later: An LGR Retrospective

A review of Need For Speed 2 from 1997, focused on the Special Edition presented in all its 3dfx Glide mode glory. And it is a downright goofy game when compared to its predecessors! A dozen supercars and one-off concept cars to drive, plus dinosaurs and outhouses. Superb.
● LGR links:
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
● Background music is from the NFS2 OST:
• Need for Speed II: Spe...
#LGR #Retro #Review

[@LGR]

Ahh dang it, I wish I'd seen this before... I was wondering how they went about filming the game's intro cinematic and well, here's a making-of video from 1997 that shows some behind the scenes stuff regarding exactly that. Fantastic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5SseGR3g7d2gKc

[@nvrndingsmmr]

This is incredible, thank you for sharing!!!

[@DanielTheFreak]

Very interesting! Incredible how ambitious EA were back then..

[@masternobody1896]

do age of empires 2 de and max payne and commando

[@masternobody1896]

which games were famous in 1990s

[@therealsnow]

Those car videos in the game have to be the most 90s thing I have ever seen! Lol

[@thecyanide]

RIP Saki Kaskas, the creator of the old NFS games music. Still have the soundtracks of the games in my playlists

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa3728]

Yeah, I'm so glad he mentioned him. Kudos.

[@orbitaljunkie]

Oh man, High Stakes had such an incredible soundtrack.

[@arbutusunedo2069]

One of his tracks ended up in Mass Effect 2. His music was truly timeless. RIP

[@halofreak472]

Check out his posthumous album called Theodosius! Before he passed, he was working on new music; a lot of the old musicians that worked on NFS with him came back together to finish it.

[@NCC-0000]

@@arbutusunedo2069 The mentioned track is "Callista". Original from NFS High Stakes showcase, which somehow it reached ME2 too

[@guimello_silva]

As a kid, I remember buying this game and finding out later at home that my pc could not run it. Oh man, those were sad times.

[@waynemangan9925]

I feel your pain. No pain like not enough MHZ back then.

[@eccIefechan]

I had the PC version but it ran slowly on my PC and kept crashing. I then bought a used copy of the PSX version which although lower resolution was pretty close to the PC version. The difference between the PSX and PC versions of NFS3 and 4 (High Stakes) were much bigger though. That was the era when technology was advancing at an incredible pace and the old Playstation seemed so primitive against new 3DFX technology on PCs.

[@FabricioEGiovanni]

Same issue here! I had a Cyrix processor 133 Mhz equivalent to Pentium 75 Mhz and 16 MB of RAM... actually it barely could run at 320x240 but I played anyway... I was FAR away from a Pentium 200 Mhz with a 3dFX card... it was the best PC at that time and my dream as a child... well...

[@neoshirako5520]

Only us from 90s decade (or lower) knows how it feels, buying a game thinking if our pc can run the game even on lowest graphics, fortnite generation will never know the feeling of our era

[@machina_spirit]

Same, my dad got me the game as a gift, i remember waiting patiently as he tried installing it on the super slow and super underpowered family computer that took ages to finish. And when it finally did and fired up the game, i had to watch the menu options on the left load in at like 1 fps. Legit took 10 mins just to load the main menu... but hey at least that awesome menu music was playing fine the whole time!

[@mrnicktoyou]

That main menu music just gave me shivers. I didn't realise how burnt into my brain it is and I haven't heard it since the 90's.

[@TekTrekgamer]

I just had the same experience

[@gav240z]

Same lol

[@sidejua]

just shed grown ass man tears, more than I'd like to admit.

[@stevenrussell5937]

Me too!!

[@bar1s]

There was a music with destorsion electro guitar. Anyone remember the name?

[@psivewri]

3:42 As an Australian, I can confirm this is a regular occurrence in our day to day life.

[@joxituk]

hi

[@zguyofficial6206]

Yee

[@LPB207]

Real pest when I'm driving to work of a morning

[@simonb6982]

No wonder your continent is so sparsely populated

[@vero0992]

😅

[@victorlgcarvalho]

Fun fact: When playing on 3d accelerated mode, the textures were actually lower resolution, because of the limitations of the Voodoo1 cards...

[@caodesignworks2407]

Still blows my mind that there's an actual GT90 in existence that actually runs.

[@Chatboy91]

Holy shit, when the menu music kicked in I got goosebumps. NFS II was one of the first racing games I ever played, I remember being obsessed with the McLaren F1. Thank you for the nostalgia LGR.

[@tilda140]

I'm 33, this was one of the best early PC games, right around the time it was this and Age of Empires! MSN Gaming Zone krew 4 life!

[@siddharthakvr5154]

Saaaaame dude...I played this game around 2004-5 at my cousin's house and it was amazing

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@tilda140Age of Empires 1 and 2 are still the KING.

[@staticchoir]

I only ever played this on software render at a stupid slow framerate. Seeing it in 3dfx mode at full speed looks like a different game.

[@LGR]

It honestly still looks "wrong" to me, the entire aesthetic is different than the NFS2 I most remember!

[@Phynix0228]

My words. We only had the ability to run the game in software mode since we didn't had a 3d accelerated GPU at the time. Was still fun beside the choppy FPS.

[@BillLambert]

It looks very different indeed. I remember being very disappointed in this one, figured they had struggled to adopt the Glide API and decided to phone it in to meet some arbitrary deadline. TD5 came out barely a year later and blew it out of the water.

[@AlexCreemers]

Good old days. I feel really old now.

[@charlesdorval394]

@@AlexCreemers You and me both mate.

[@MasterGGG]

One of the first games I tried on my Voodoo 4MB card, all my friends that had a playstation and an N64 were all amazed beyond belief, the 90s were the best!

[@FlashMan16NG]

It's crazy seeing the subtle similarities between this and my personal jam, Need for Speed III Hot Pursuit. Would be great to see a retrospective on that one!

[@vero0992]

100% agree! I loved that game and still think of the dispatcher guy's voice when I pass through certain tunnels or other areas in real life that remind me of the game. Get me a Diablo!

[@fitnesswithsteve]

The menu music is where a young Clint fell in love with electronic music which eventually lead to his synth-lord status today!

[@whiism]

Hehe, back in times u could have random techno or psytrance party just hanging in the menu

[@whiism]

11:50 like dude, u could play this at psy party and noone would notice its from 25 y old game

[@carltonleboss]

Dark lord of the synth

[@eldorado3523]

I can say NFS3's techno soundtrack influenced my music style, when I started making it 10 years later..

[@markisaki979]

He even name-dropped Rom Di Prisco. That makes him a true fan in my eyes.

[@Notorious40z]

This game was my life as a kid , it’s what made me a car guy to this day! That music and those cars oh man what a throw back. The Nazca C2 was my favourite.

[@mesharial-malki5721]

Same dude. I swear to god if this game didn't exist I wouldn't love cars at all.

[@skidak541]

fzr2000 best car :D

[@JV64]

His grill looks liie BMW

[@KaneDennisWilliams]

Ahhh yeah. This game and the December 1997 issue of Road & Track set my life down the gear head path. Mclaren F1 forever. Thanks the nostalgia trip!

[@felipefernandes9053]

​@@JV64 It is a prototype made by Italdesign at the request of BMW. And Calà is a Lamborghini prototype (baby Lambo) made by Italdesing that became inspiration for Gallardo.

[@firebrand36]

DANCING CURSOR IS ALL THAT I NEED NOW

[@alexsilva28]

10 hours loop when?

[@firebrand36]

@@alexsilva28 ITS WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW

[@lcmiracle]

Check out Kevin MacLeod specifically on KZbin, where you fullfill all your dancing cursor needs.

[@firebrand36]

@@lcmiracle YESSSSSSSSSSSSS LIKE MOTH TO FLAME

[@thawkade]

He has a small one with the Sims 1 Autorun Jungle.

[@PunkNDisorderlyGamer]

I still remember when my mom brought this home out of the blue for me when I was a kid. I never even asked or knew it existed but she saw how much I loved the first game, so she picked it up.

[@victorvance2573]

Sounds like your mom is awesome!

[@FallenJustice]

I loved NFS 2. Still have the box and CD. That menu music is legendary.

[@PowerInOne22]

When I’m an old man my line will be “back in my day we had cheat codes!”

[@Madsy9]

"Back in my day, 'game hacks' were called trainers and we used them to absolutely break single-player games!"

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

OK boomers 😂

[@XMguy]

Yep. I was a THPS fan for the consoles. Cheat codes and game winners was my jam. lol

[@Madsy9]

@@XMguy reddit has a gamewinners subreddit if you want to meet old GW forum members. Just a tip :)

[@Madsy9]

@@adventureoflinkmk2 ..I'm not even mad. 😂

[@valeriosanna5381]

The FMVs of the intro, and the single ones for the Italdesign and the Jaguar, that's definitely Sardinia, my homeland... Since I had a pirated copy of the game as kid, without the videos, this is totally new for me

[@casioak1683]

Oh yess. I like the location they used. Seems like somewhere in Mediterranean. I love the Mediterraneo map.

[@SjoerdvanGestel]

My first ever racing game, still remember it fondly.

[@PplsChampion]

same here, first playstation game, and got the same maisto model of the gt90 too lol (except in white)

[@TheJunky228]

this was the first one I played a ton of. I think the actual first one I played was NFS shift maybe? I just remember it being on a proper race track, it being incredibly difficult for child-me to control the car and keep traction. I never got more than 15 seconds in before ruining the race lol (I did play with a wheel and pedals too)

[@santisven]

Mom: Daaad, your son is gonna be driving like a maniac when he grows up, playing that game all day. Present day: can't even manage a stick. Fearful of driving auto.

[@akaki202]

To this day I think NFS II SE is my most played racing game, hours wise.

[@victorvance2573]

It could be in my top five as well.

[@SDRIFTERAbdlmounaim]

Your cursor has more dance vibes than most of us

[@FabricioEGiovanni]

Than me for sure!! LOL hahah

[@bastien-]

"...after the Dodge Viper, of course." Ah, Clint, I see you are a man of taste!

[@SandwichGlitch]

Or a kid/preteen /teen of the 90s

[@DankbeastPaul]

I, too, can only love cars that actively try to murder me.

[@SandwichGlitch]

@@DankbeastPaul like Christine?

[@RacingVideoGames]

Man, 90's Need For Speeds were something special. Countless memories. Hoping for a return to this style of NFS game sometime in the future!

[@jammygamer8961]

in my opinion the best need for speeds got made from 2003-2007

[@thisemptyworm4677]

@@jammygamer8961 for me, last good nfs was 2011, the run

[@Grandmastergav86]

@@jammygamer8961 Not a chance, 3 was the best, all downhill from there.

[@WayOutGaming]

Can't agree more. NFS3's soundtrack and raceways are still burned into my memory, as well as NFS High Stakes. Always enjoyed that one.

[@b.c.2281]

The car showcase videos in this game were literally my favourite thing in the world for a time. The F1 and GT90 in particular. That menu music still hits deep for me.

[@hsy831]

Extremely well-planned and articulated video. Thanks for the memories! :')

[@Raycevick]

Hello there

[@LGR]

_HI_

[@carlblaskovich2812]

General kenobi

[@gtPacheko]

Oh my God it's Vick! Raycevick!

[@that_sleepy_snorlax9241]

General Kenobi!

[@gruntingskunk2237]

the angel from my nightmare

[@danielmad]

EA really needs to remake/remaster these games and bring them back to the market. In a golden era bundle, or something. NFS3 Hot Pursuit and Highstakes were always my favourite. Oh man, the music... that 90s techno. Especially “Callista”

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

After the mess they made of the Most Wanted "reboot" no thanks

[@rompevuevitos222]

@@JohnSmith-xq1pz Yeah, online requirement, invasive DRM, trimmed down on mechanics If i wanted that BS i would get a console

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@rompevuevitos222 lol

[@ZX3000GT1]

We don't need that. NFS2 to 5 already have custom renderers for them to make it run at modern resolutions and widescreen with proper FoV. In fact, you can use the DirectX 8 renderer, use d3d8to9, then use Reshade to enhance the graphics (and possibly add software raytracing through RTGI, although I haven't tested it myself, so I don't know if it's possible).

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@ZX3000GT1 Ohh that sounds cool

[@anthonyhusiak]

I feel like the entire LGR channel is deserving of its *own* Retrospective.

[@johnmills5106]

I agree 100%

[@Nuskrad]

He did one for the 10 year anniversary kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYPFZ5ubfZl_has

[@undeadtotheend6420]

@@johnmills5106 I think your post should have its own retrospective.

[@hahathatsgreat2]

Why wouldn't you just watch all the episodes? No recap needed.

[@SahiPie]

It really messed me up having not been caught up on his channel for years and coming back to see that he had hit well over a million subs.

[@NikhilBlr]

Hi, Thank you LGR. This was the very first game I played on my cousin's PC. I still remember every single moment of it. Thanks for bringing more memories back :)

[@LiquidTurbo]

GOOSE BUMPS. THANK YOU for making this video.. just brought tears to my eyes, no joke. the nostalgia. the good feelings. thank you LGR.

[@TheBurg229]

The game I miss most is NFSIII: Hot Pursuit

[@Corkoth55]

HP2 was my first one. The music is still nostalgic to me today.

[@dutmala]

I miss nfs X

[@yumann]

X2

[@MegaMoonse]

playing as a cop was something. Deploying spikes and setting roadblocks

[@LexoAstonov]

I still play NFS3 to this day. Still my favorite.

[@Xahn777]

LGR and Raycevik both talking about a Need for Speed game, released within a minute of each other?

[@MooseheadStudios]

Now i gootta go check his

[@Natana3lis]

Now that is perfect timing !

[@JoshuaJacobs83]

I thought the same. Very weird

[@billschannel1116]

I love coincidences, assuming it was one. Raycevik had great graphics for his opening credits.

[@stuff31]

Insert incredibles meme here

[@PaddyFullyRandom]

Greatest memory of my childhood, sitting with my brother in front of a 14 inch CRT and racing in split screen mode. When you pressed too many keys at once, the system would lock up for a brief moment. Hearing NFS2 or NFS3 music today still goes right to the core for me and I can barely contain myself.

[@keiiko]

NFS2:SE is playable on Windows 10. Just google for verokster patch (on his blogspot) or Zaps166 wrapper (on his GitHub). There is also Discord community for first 6 NFS titles with multiplayer sessions. Yeah, you can play NFS2SE online! Invite is on needforspeed3(dot)racing ;)

[@Hyvelez]

I highly recommend this Classic NFS community!

[@mic1482]

+

[@NCC-0000]

Does exist some kind of Widescreen/HD patch for NFS High Stakes too?

[@keiiko]

@@NCC-0000 sadly not... ( Widescreen )

[@spark198rus]

I was a member of it for the past 5 years if i am correct

[@layerp]

I never thought I would feel so represented by a mouse cursor 5:54

[@Vnix]

YES!

[@queenkjuul]

As a fellow late 90s car kid, the Dodge Viper was truly untouchable.

[@Highrollinhunter]

Me as a truck kid the Chevrolet Silverado 454SS was the ultimate dream truck of they 90's

[@andresvalverde5182]

For me, a European kid it was the BMW Z3, always took it to school, until some kid brought a Lamborghini Diablo and the other brought a Countach. After playing NFS Carbon though, i always wanted a Aston Martin Vantage model.

[@armchairgeneralissimo]

@@Highrollinhunter The Dodge Ram was the truck to have in the 90s!

[@Highrollinhunter]

@@armchairgeneralissimo yeah James Hetfield from Metallica was driving an single cab Dodge RAM 1500 when making the load and reload albums.

[@mid-s_to_earlysViBEZ]

@@armchairgeneralissimo Red 1997-'98 Dodge Durango...Ho-LY S#!T!!!!

[@moses4188]

Man, those memories! I remember playing this after school at my friend with other classsmates. Those cars, racetracks and great soundtracks... Just pure fun! 🏁

[@Whatbow1238]

HAHAH that cursor bobbing along with the menu music. That’s a picture worth a thousand words. Thank you for this amazing review!

[@rgb8289]

I’d pay top dollar for a classic NFS collection on modern platforms. 90s goodness with modern support, sounds great to me.

[@memeplayer1923]

Or get then on internet without need to pay. I tried it and it's dang smooth.

[@leruty]

NFS1-4 with better netcode and native Windows 10 support, then yes

[@casioak1683]

I can finally install this game on Windows 10 after *10 years* . Albeit the sound is not perfect.

[@RAA12586]

@@casioak1683 I've noticed it's kinda scratchy sounding. I'll trying messing with sound setting on my desktop.

[@LaidbackLost]

Even in the 90s EA still has ways to charge you extra just to get an extra color

[@MarkMeadows90]

I grew up loving this game so much as a kid. My dad and I played the heck out of this game back then. This also prompted my mind to start loving fast cars.

[@camotech1314]

These games were the pinnacle of my youth

[@Ar1AnX1x]

LGR has more fun with this than sims 4, and I don't blame him.

[@LGR]

If EA makes a GT90 Stuff Pack though...

[@HachiMiura]

Oh man, the menu music. Totally remember it now hearing it again.

[@Frankenburger]

0:20 "...Half a year earlier. That was an irrefutable eternity in kid time" As a fellow 90's kid - 😭 Time moves so slow as a kid, but so fast as an adult. Whyyyyyyyyy?!

[@MaD0MaT]

Relativity is a bitch.

[@ACTNRPLY]

I read something about how When you’re 10 half of your entire life and memories was 5 years ago As an adult, half your entire life and memories was 15 years ago It’s not about time moving fast, it’s about our perception being skewed because we remember so much of it

[@Frankenburger]

@@ACTNRPLY I would argue that there's more milestones as a kid - things that bookmark your memories. As a kid, there's always something new going on, always something to absorb. We meet new people on the regular, learn new things, explore different activities, and partake in different events. As an adult though, we have a routine, and most of the time we rarely deviate from it. We learn less than when we were kids, and simply repeat our day to day actions until a major change comes about. But still, Clint's comment makes me feel old lol

[@legendarydragoon]

My brothers and I had NFS2 on Playstation and we loved it; we were all under the age of 10 so we didn't know any better when it came to driving models or it's competitors, but none of that matters. We sunk a ton of time into it and loved every moment of the goofyness. Those cars are also legendary to me, especially the McLaren F1, even to this day. Thanks for reacquainting me to that McLaren FMV, I use to watch it so many time lol.

[@cgasparetto]

Holy nostalgia! Pure '90s feeling. I played NFS II SE so much when I was around 15 yo, and I didn't have many games to play. I still have the CD and fond memories of the time I spent playing it. Awesome video.

[@dvdkolk]

The joy in your voice talking about need for speed makes me happy.

[@FRoZeN_ACiD]

This game brings back memories... I still can hear the sound of the announcer talking about the cars with specs and background!

[@Chris-uh5vv]

Damn, the live action intro and menu were even more nostalgic than I thought they'd be.

[@FabricioEGiovanni]

The exactly same feeling here!

[@GamerGee]

12:42 lovely “interactive music” when you get to first places it would ramp up and when you hit sections it would changed. I loved that feature.

[@purwantiallan5089]

The interactive and dynamic musics in NFS II also is a noticable highlight.

[@meta7gear]

I loved the video showcases in the game as a kid. Was absolutely thrilling to see clips of cars like the McLaren F1 and Ferrari F50 on the road

[@iz2006]

I do miss when people had to game TOGETHER in the same house. Great video!

[@nickwallette6201]

Oh yeah. My college roomie and I had NFS III and a LAN. Play for a couple hours, order some pizza, slam a Mtn Dew, get back to playing. :-) Those were simpler times.

[@cmmmmmmmw]

Clint, you are a masterful reviewer. Thanks so much for making these videos. We're about the same age and I get much more out of watching a 20-minute overview of a game from my childhood than digging up a copy of the game somewhere and playing it. You are the perfect guide for a walk down memory lane.

[@advang4820]

I take this silly physics over the new NFS games. It just more fun seeing the cars just rolling, flying and tumbling around when crashed.

[@millie9814]

Yeah, cruisn exotica is my favorite racing game for that reason

[@Maximus20778]

But most wanted🙁

[@Toxic2T]

@@Maximus20778 this is miles better than Most Wanted. The replay value with this one is insane.

[@Maximus20778]

@@Toxic2T I respect your opinion but no your wrong

[@Toxic2T]

@@Maximus20778 I am not wrong, I played Most Wanted too. Has nothing to begin against NFS I, II, III and High Stakes. Most Wanted gets stale after 40 minutes of replay.

[@andreidmny]

That menu music! This was my first 3D accelerated racing game ever! (I've started gaming on the NES, but this was truly revolutionary)

[@At0micPunk90]

Commenting on a three-year-old video here, but I just recently watched this and it compelled me to try NFS 2 SE via MyAbandonware. And I've had a blast with it; this game from 1997 has given me more than most AAA racing games from the past ten years. And I'm someone who has no nostalgic connection to it. The bangin' soundtrack, the chance to control cars I'll never drive in real life (always welcome), and the wacky physics even on "Simulation" mode, so much comes together to bring me a joyful experience. I actually really love the crazy physics, bopping an opponent off the road and watching them tumble like a Hot Wheels car down the stairs brings such a goofy smile to my face and it gives me the vibe of a proto-Burnout, just not as violent. Good stuff.

[@LGR]

Ahh I am happy to hear that! I've always thought that this game retains a special kind of silliness that holds up to today, so long as you're not expecting anything "realistic." It's just raw late 90s fun, and I'm glad that came across to you too. _Hot Wheels tumbling down the stairs_ is a great way to describe it.

[@DiabolikalRA]

The viper is perfect. When it was released and up until this day, it manages to look futuristic, retro and current, all at the same time. It's an amazing vehicle.

[@joshuasharrock466]

McLaren F1 and Lamborghini Diablo is %94 of that game for me

[@joshuasharrock466]

@Neoand12 that car was badass. Not gonna lie

[@NJTCOMET]

I don’t think NFS 2 had a Diablo, there was the Italdesign Cala which was a Lamborghini prototype but the Diablo was absent from this one.

[@ggj1987]

Need for Speed needs to go back to its roots instead of trying to come up with movie-like storylines and NOS tuner cars. NFS 2 was a lot of fun, pure ‘90s goodness

[@icky_thump]

Hot Pursuit 2 on PS2 was the last of the great non-tuner era NFS games

[@generalgeneral616]

Look, we love tuners, but we also love non tuner cars too!

[@Juan-gt7ro]

I really hope that one day EA relaunch an old-school NFS.

[@maitele]

@@Juan-gt7ro Hot Pursuit 2010 is exactly that, and it even *just* got a remaster...

[@ianism3]

@@maitele I replayed the PS3 version not so long ago. it's good, but the cars handle like absolute bricks. I prefer Rivals.

[@cuypz1]

NFS2 intro is possibly the best intro to a game, ever. I have nothing but good memories of this game. Cheat code to get the school bus on hypercar speed, and ramming all traffic as hard as possible. Seeing those semi trucks rolling down the track was amazing

[@szeltovivarsydroxan9944]

I've played all of the classic NFS games up until Most Wanted (2005), and the only ones that held my attention for the longest were NFS Underground, and NFSII: Special Edition. Man those games were amazing. They just don't make'em like this anymore.

[@jasper_saberwolf]

I love that you made this tribute to the game! This and the other classic NFS games will always be special to me for a lot of the same reasons you mentioned. Would love to see a video on NFS III and High Stakes!

[@frederickletterblair]

I'm kinda at a very low point in my life, this brings me such nostalgia and I literally want to weep.

[@DoodMangSpeaks]

hang in there man!! 🤙

[@nutellaplaysx]

bless you beautiful boo!!

[@user-mi4yc7pr3x]

Why man what happens?

[@AMG_V12]

I'm not exactly at a low point in my life and that still brings tears to my eyes, specially the music.

[@darcybowyer5743]

This brings back the childhood memories! I remember the reversing trick into the stands for the wild jumps over the rails to the "Pioneer" cheat making everything that little bit faster and more insane. Used to drive the Unimog heaps just to obliterate the traffic 2CV! The game that also introduced me to the XJ220 which in my eyes is the prettiest car ever made. :)

[@NathanGibb]

AMAZING!!! This was actually the first game I purchased when I was 15!! Incredible memories, thanks so much for this video dude ❤️🔥👌🏻

[@Ferrarilover108]

My first ever NFS. Thanks for the nostalgia hit. This game made me a car nerd which i am to this day. I remember i used to watch the irl images of the cars in the game and now this video just hits different. Again, thanks for this

[@jotdot]

Need for Speed: High Stakes was my all-time favorite

[@Solarnova]

Me and my friend used to call it Need For Speed - Hot Steaks. It was that good!

[@videolookertube]

Objectively the best retro nfs unlike Porsche Unleashed no police mode and only Porshe cars was rely disappointed back then.

[@EDFCentral]

I got to valet an XJ220 at the North Ky/Cincinnati Airport during the WINTER WITH ICE AND SNOW! Car actually got frozen in place in our parking lot. Good times.

[@El_ACG]

High stakes on ps1... oh boy the memories start lighting up

[@ggj1987]

I loved that one too! There were A LOT of mods available for it. New cars, tracks, they were so much fun!

[@forklift1712]

Heinerklingle is one of my all-time soundtracks in any game I've ever played. Just listening to it now makes me feel like a kid all over again.

[@crimsonkate8241]

A German folk section on Hienerklingle, A didgeridoo on Pavlova, bongo's & a sitar on Nashat, & all mixed wonderfully with techno, rock & metal. I wish I could of been in the meeting where that idea was proposed lol. On paper it sounds ridiculous but man they knocked it out of the park. Add the childhood nostalgia & whenever I hear the fist few bars of any of those tracks, I grin from ear to ear :)

[@VladoT]

When Need For Speed 3 came out, a local IT magazine had a famous headline: "Need For Speed 3, better than the second, worse than the first".

[@zackjay71]

So dumb. The 2nd was awesome. First one was wonky as fuck.

[@TAURON85]

@@zackjay71 I second that, no matter how many likes the bloke's comment above gets.

[@T0m0zuki]

Probably a true statement. NFS 1 was almost a semi simulation, NFS 3 was far from that, but real fun with cop chases and NFS 2 was just ... boring. I remember how angry I was, when I bought the game. Roads were boring, cars handled like Mario Karts and there were no cops.

[@fardimnazir666]

@@T0m0zuki I wouldn't call a game that allowed you to ride a T-Rex Dinosaur into a cave of lava and a sci-fi movie set "boring." Also the cars were much cooler than the first game and Rom di Prisco's soundtrack was killer. But yeah, cops were sorely missed.

[@T0m0zuki]

@@fardimnazir666 Truth to be told; I`ve never tried to drive a T-rex or a log as it seemed ridiculous to me. My friend however loved the idea. But my perception of NFS was, that it was kind of serious racing game and with the NFS II my reaction was "WTF". Cars were cooler or at least more exotic, but that was also the turn off for me. There were mostly concepts which was a step into different direction from what street racing was or what it was supposed to be. Soundtrack was good, tho. NFS III kind of satisfied my taste, despite the fact that the game was more arcade than the first NFS.

[@nubscrub]

Grinning from ear to ear reliving my childhood experiences. The intro movie, the intro menu, it was the maximum

[@Joel-ew1zm]

I remember walking a quarter mile up the road to my friend's house on the weekends to play this back in the day. Excellent review

[@AJ6spd]

This was my first pc game! I still remember that day when my dad gave me nfs 2 disc. I was so happy. Sad to see what ea has become today

[@matcarfer]

I watched that intro as a kid a hundred times, and the music still pumps me up to this day!

[@noiseeater-toxicbyte1513]

Dude... For me it was NFS III : Hot Pursuit the thing that kickstarted my passion for electronic music and cars thanks in big part to the OST that Rom Di Prisco (ROM) created for it and it seems like there also were cool original music in the II SE, I still go back and listen to the OSTs from the NFS III and Porsche Unleashed because there are so many great songs by ROM, Morphadron, Captain Ginger and others. Good times.

[@Quarker]

This is a pretty thorough and insightful analysis, with lots of respect given to the game both in its original context and how it stacked up today. Nice job!

[@ThunderTHR]

I do hope this means more NFS reviews in the future... always loved the classic games!

[@PaulR1200]

Omg... the memories man! Would have spend 1000's of hours on the entire NFS range. Many thanks for your work.

[@sbojan83]

Man, what an awesome and great soundtrack the NFS games had! This was before executives and creatives directors of racing games decided that it would be easier to just license shitty rap music, instead of hiring great musicians to produce techno/rock melodic, hard, fast-paced music that really did put us in the emotional roller-coaster fantasy of driving the space age, super cars of the time.

[@o0JamesJutsu0o]

I was finally able to find a wide screen fix for this game, and man it runs like a dream on my Win10 PC

[@MasterSaunders]

LGR talking about NFS is ALWAYS a good time.

[@aa-oo2tt]

NFS II was the first game i bought for our family pc back then. We just got our P-II system at 300mhz and while it had a 3dfx voodoo banshee, the guy who sold the pc to us didn't bother selling us the SE version. I found out that there was 3dfx support for NFS II years later but i could never get used to the aesthetics of it. Still love it as a game. still play it whenever i boot the 98 machine i built. A huge fan of the nfs series till most wanted, loved HP2. Love to see your videos about the series! As for the menu music, NFS II and Andretti racing menu theme still give me the chills.

[@renatoigmed]

I still have NFS III. looking forward to the review in the future videos of this channel.

[@IgorKolar]

NFS2SE has the best track name I remember seeing in a game. "Hell bent for Lederhosen" :D

[@uninstaller2860]

I need to watch Blues Brothers now

[@Caraxian]

"The Australian Outback" sure looks different to how I remember lol

[@akoch1337]

This game changed my life as a kid. That intro music takes me back. Also, my local mall also had a store with tons of 1:18 scale die-cast models. Car’s the Star... RIP 🥺

[@A_furry69]

9 years ago, I got this game when it was delivered from my mom job, and I just couldn’t wait to play it, but when I played it. It just goes faster, and then it crashes when I tried to run it on my moms old pc (because of the 3DFX) over and over again, but after a few weeks go by, and I got my own computer, the game worked without crashing every couple of few minutes, but the problem is the game ran in software mode. But at least I finally get to play it for the first time. Thanks for sharing memory’s with this game.

[@fritzfantom2783]

I remember the place in the store when i bought this game 24 years ago.

[@TheAtoll]

yes! I remember my mother playing this game on the family PC way back in the day!

[@Sir_Robin_of_Camelot]

Wanna trade moms?

[@Alianger]

Some info regarding the four tuning settings: Front and rear downforce - how much you want to pin the car down to the ground which makes it easier to turn but sacrifices speed (useful for some twisty tracks like Mystic Peaks) - more downforce at the rear prevents oversteering Front or rear brake bias - setting it to the Rear makes the car tend to oversteer while braking and setting it to the Front makes it tend to understeer Gear ratios - Tall will slightly increase acceleration with some sacrifice in top speed while setting it to Short will increase acceleration more but with a bigger penalty to top speed; can also be useful for twisty tracks

[@smirkingrevenge6]

Ohhhh the nostalgia.... That menu music. Those cars. The cheat codes.... Outhouse races in split screen with the horn crash cheat, pretty sure I never ever laughed as I did trying to get away from my friends in that mode =D =D Great review as always 🙏🙏😁

[@huleyn135]

Okay seriously how tf DID they get a cala to be in the intro???

[@Yoshik379]

Probably like they do in movies. Take a chassis from a cheaper, existing car and put on replica bodywork.

[@gl9724]

@@Yoshik379 That's actually the real car! There's a "making-of" video of NFSII in which they show the videos behind the scenes. IIRC, they had to shoot the films in Italy, because that's where the Cala concept is located. EDIT: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5SseGR3g7d2gKc&feature=emb_title

[@palantir4280]

i had the opportunity to see a cala in a car show in my country back in the day!

[@ankurmehrotra6506]

Oh mate, some memories, that music was fantastic! Also I dont remember the graphics being so clunky, this was life like back then. Did you do something to it?

[@DenverStarkey]

memory did that .... it's called "rose tinting" sheet , i remember hopping on mechwarrior 4 mercenaries and feeling like i was an actual mech pilot ... looking back ... it just looks like a blocky polygonal mess.

[@turrican4d599]

NFS1 has better graphics.

[@agustincabrera3551]

These are not tears... My eyes are just sweating...

[@jgagnier]

The music, man, the memories. Going to my neighbour's place (my PC sucked, and e had a humongous 17 inch screen) was a lot of fun. The catch-up mechanism was a bit farcical since it didn't prevent lap times from being homologated. It made for crazy stupid lap records that were unbeatable in normal mode.

[@jasonbrown467]

sweet video. random trivia: gran turismo 1 came out the same year and gt2 came out just two years later, which are two of my most fav racing games to this day

[@bradley163]

That music got me so damn hyped when I was a kid.

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Can somebody pleaseee send LGR one of the Acorn BBC computers we had in schools in the UK in the 80's/90's with the black and orange keyboard keys?! I would frikkin *love* to see _that_ video..

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

That "game" on it where you have to get the two adults, the child and the dog across the river.. 😂

[@bobg58]

I have been a fan of racing games for a long time. My introduction to Need For Speed was with Hot Pursuit 2 on the Game Cube. I didn't have any NFS titles on PC, so when I found NFS 2 one time in a store's bargain bin, I jumped at it. To this day I still keep it on at least on of my PCs.