NeedForSpeed 2 SE Download
Gameplay
The best thing about the original Need for Speed is its wildness. How exhilarating it is to whip around a corner and smash into an RV head-on, flipping bumper-over-bumper ten times before you come to a rest (then having the option to watch the whole thing on your replay video). Of course, it's better when your friend passes you first -- then you watch him get thrashed and flip over your head as you continue on to win the race. But either way you end up laughing your guts out at the sheer craziness and excitement of the whole experience.
Unfortunately, Need for Speed 2 tones down the fun recklessness. It's harder to flip your car in NFS 2, and when you do manage it, you'll maybe flip once or twice and then start over with a fresh set of wheels. Remember in Need for Speed when you crashed head-on and you got a great side view camera shot of your car flipping and flipping off into the sunset? You'll miss it here, no doubt about that. It seems like the designers of Need for Speed 2 went for a little more realism, but the result is a little less fun.
The feel of driving the cars is fairly similar to that in the original, with a few notable exceptions. The handling of the cars in general is more touchy, and it's frustratingly easy to spin out (and then spin out again trying to correct yourself). I don't like to spin out, especially in a close race. Not to say this wasn't an issue with NFS, but there it was more a matter of getting back on the road and out of the rough, not figuring out which way you should be going. Granted, NFS 2 includes a warning light that blinks if you head the wrong way, but why should you need it?
Yet perhaps my biggest disappointment with NFS 2 was its complete lack of road courses. In the original, you had a few tracks, and then you had the roads (Alpine, City, Coast). I had a lot more fun driving the roads, especially in a head-to-head match with oncoming traffic. You can choose to have oncoming traffic in the NFS 2 tracks, but it's not the same. Another great thing about the roads was that the race developed over three stages, giving you a chance to take a breather and/or plot a strategy or means of revenge in between stages. You can't do that in a track race.
Graphics
Enhanced, no doubt about it. This is really the only major revision that stood out enough to get my attention. Of course, the graphics in the original NFS were outstanding for its day (two years ago!), but NFS 2 benefits from technological advances since that time. The overall look is crisper, the animation smoother, the colors richer, and the details more noticeable, even on my lowly Diamond Stealth 64. The only bad part is that there are no pixelated deer standing by the side of the road for you to try to turn into roadkill (didn't anyone ever make a patch that would allow you to hit those deer in the NFS Alpine track?!).
Audio
This is EA we're talking about, so as you can guess, the sound is outstanding. Great quality, rocking music, and I swear that when I was driving the Isedra, the squeals from my tires were eerily in harmony with the ethereal background music...
Documentation
Nice illustrations, a fairly thorough description of game options, but nothing else worth mentioning.
System Requirements
90 MHz Pentium™ class processor (Intel, Cyrix 6x86), 16 MB RAM, Windows® 95, Direct X 3.0 (included on game CD), 4X CD-ROM drive (600KB/second transfer rate), Hi Color (65,535 color) capable 1 MB PCI video card with DirectDraw 3.0 compatible driver, hard disk -- 10 MB plus space for save games (additional space required for DirectX 3.0 installation), keyboard.
Reviewed on: P-120, 32 MB RAM, 16X CD-ROM drive, Diamond Stealth 64 video
Bottom Line
The crisp graphics and excellent sound make Need for Speed 2 a solid game by anybody's standards. Nevertheless, prepare to be a little disappointed with the gameplay if you're a big fan of the original Need for Speed. If you've never played the original and are looking for a fun head-to-head arcade racer, you may want to start with Need for Speed and wait a while on the sequel.
Download The Need for Speed 2
0 Pc Download
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Play station download
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Game Reviews
Overview
Last year's smash hit racing game now has a sequel: 8 new cars, new international tracks, new graphics, arcade and simulation modes, and car customization are all highlights of this second generation title. But does this game live up to the reputation of the orginal Need for Speed, or will it leave you wanting more?
Gameplay
The first Need for Speed was solid. It had cool tracks, cars that were available to the general public, and decent gameplay. The graphics were decent and the game was downright fun. With Need For Speed II, I was really excited about the possibilities. All they needed to do for this game to be a success was to add a few new cars, some new tracks, clean up the graphics a tad, and tighten the controls. No problem, right? Apparently not. In fact, the sequel falls far short of the strengths of the original game.
Let's start off with the cars. The thing I liked about the original game was that the cars were not untouchable. Sure, they were all big dollars, but I had seen every one of the cars on the road at least once. Then there are the cars in NFSII. You can choose between a McLaren F1, Ferrari F50, Lotus GT1, Italdesign Cala, Isdera Commendatore 112i, Jaguar XJ220, Ford GT90, and Lotus Esprit V8. Not only have I never seen any of these cars, I have never even heard of half of them. I guess it does not matter whether I have seen these cars in everyday life or not. That adds to the fantasy of video gaming. But I thought it was neat to be able to identify with the cars in the orginal Need for Speed.
Since you are probably not familiar with the cars, you can watch a video of the car in action or view still shots of the vehicle. Unfortunately, this was also done better in the original game. The videos are short and didn't really show the cars very much. They reminded me of the little MTV commercials that are 15-30 seconds long and don't really show much of anything. The still shots were better. You did get a good view of the car from different angles.
The best part about NFS2 is the different tracks. They ranged from oval raceways to longer tracks taking you through small towns or desert scenes. The tracks had a good variety of straight-aways and turns, and most were also quite lengthy so your laps would take some time to complete. Also, on some tracks, there were bumps placed strategically in the road that would let you catch some serious air. This was cool at first, but became rather annoying when this started happening around corners. If you are in the process of turning and hit one of these, it is almost guaranteed that your car will spin through the air like a helicopter blade.
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