Great review! I was one of the many programmers who worked on the NFS PS1 (PSX) version back in '95. I even put an easter egg in it -- since the gamer was only allowed to enter in 8 characters for your name I had the code append an 'i' if you entered in my **last name.** :-) Enough about me. We ran the physics rate at 100 Hz even though rendering ran at 30 Hz. We used a PSX daughter board in a 486 PC to develop the game. At the time they were ~ around $50K IIRC. Sony's C Run Time Library was SO broken that we didn't bother with most of it. i.e. printf() wasted a precious 4K of run-time memory out of the 2 MB. Lots of LONG hours, but it was a fun time at EAC.
That would be my last name, 'POHORESK' which the game changes to 'POHORESKI'. The reason this even works is because we reserved ~10 chars (IIRC) even though we only allowed the user to enter in 8 chars -- I've clarified my original post. I only know of one tester who found it. It would be very interesting to see if it shows up in any Japanese versions! That would be the litmus test to see just how much of the code they used verbatim!
What's been done here is really impressive! You guys have put a lot of work into making these videos, and it's obvious. Thank you and keep up the good work.
@@thischannel1071 not sure "high quality but they sounds like cd quality ish" so i can help you if you whant they have proper names too, cuz orginally they are not easy to rip from the game and they then dont have name so, i have the games and songs with proper name :) btw am making link now since i know how special the old nfs songs are ;D
@@StigDesign Cool! I'd love a link for them. From each of you, then I can download them both and find out which is the best quality version. And then you can both also see if one is better than the other.
Hector Garcia I was just about to say the same thing! And even better, I haven't watched it yet (just about to) so I still have this one to look forward to :-)
Whenever I see there is a DF Retro video uploaded I immediately click the like button before I've even watched it because I know it's going to be excellent.
Great video. The original NFS series (1-5) are some of my all time favourite racing games and its awesome to see the differences between the different versions. One error, however: the Saturn version has the same soundtrack as the PS1 version. What's more, it's CDDA, meaning you can listen to these killer tunes outside the game, which is something you can't do with the PS1 version.
But Saturn NFS misses some music tracks of PS1 and PC SE versions, likely due to storage capacity limitations. They are restored in OVER DRIVIN GTR howewer.
Having recently played and captured footage of both the Japanese and PAL Sega Saturn versions of The Need for Speed. It's become clear to us the Saturn DF Retro footage was captured on either emulators or a hardware revision of the Saturn that had problems running the game. As both the PAL and NTSC/J versions of the game have working car gauges on our footage captured, something the footage of the Saturn Nissan Over Driving' doesn't show in this video. The map in all the footage for Saturn also doesn't show the track either in this video, but was showing correct in our capture. While we don't have an issue with emulators being used DF Retro needs to make it clear which comparison are live captures and which are emulators. The music is also included in the PAL Saturn release of Need for Speed, so it's unclear if this is an issue with the NTSC/U build not having music in-game or a bad iso dump or emulation issue. [Edit: We are almost certain now this is an issue with certain hardware revisions of the console, so if you get this issue try on a different revision]
The Saturn version has music and working gauges in all versions. It's the crap emulator that was not mentioned. Lost all respect for this channel due to the biased review and lack of "proper" research.
I confirm that on console, the NTSC/U version has visible gauges and race track, and has music during race. Besides those glitches, Saturn emulators are certainly not accurate enough to be used for framerate measurement.
@@AtariBorn well I wouldnt be too quick to point fingers bc there must be more than one version for saturn bc mine looks and sounds like the one in the video
@@AtariBorn yes legitimate and I have a friend that has the game with working gauges and music so im not sure if it's a bug or if the first batch just didn't have those things in it
I had this on Playstation 1 and Sega Saturn. It blew my tiny 15yr old mind back in 1996. Watching the actual full motion video of them doing stunts in the cars never got old. But the most fun i ever had with a need for speed game was Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 on Playstation 2 in 2002. That stayed close to the original.
It was a cool time to be a gamer. Going from the 2D era of the 80s and 90's to the 3D era of the Saturn, Playstation 1 and N64 was the biggest leap in gaming history. Going from simple 2D platform games and beat em ups to these big Hollywood movie type 3D game worlds like Tombraider, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid etc was just such a huge leap. Without a doubt the biggest generational jump gaming has ever seen to date. From then on gaming has been pretty much the same just prettier.
Oh, definitely. The PS2 was another good generational leap. It may not have been as innovative as the jump from 2D to 3D, but it was still very impressive. After the PS2 era though each new generation hasn't been all that impressive really. Hopefully, we get another big innovative generational jump in the future.
Bad_Robot the console Warriors would have had a field day back then when their were really obvious differences between versions. not this resolution and 2 frame advantage nonsense
MovingThePicture i didnt play nfs u 2 but i played the first one, and i was not happy with the selection of cars i was seeing, most of them being fwd 4-cylinder shitboxes.
I played underground 2 and most wanted 2005 on my ps2 and now on PC. I think underground 2 was pretty amazing but most wanted 2005 is definetly the one I still play because of these cops xD
I had the orig 3DO version at launch and you won't believe it now but this game was jaw dropping at the time. Man the 16bit and 32bit era's really were the best for me.
It was scrapped in Hot Pursuit 2, the PC version of Porsche Unleashed even had driver animation in the cockpit view, it tried to make a comeback in the Shift games but was scrapped again because EA just didn't care about it
Yeah, i would say until PS2 hot pursuit 2, NFS was still NFS, underground started the divergence. The Porshe unleashed had some of the music vibe, but for some reason did not touched my soul like the ones before.
Hell what a Trippy musics! totally abstract and interpretative. I thin that this kind of music can make children smarter or at LEAST, more creative/imaginative! The music was also very sophisticated for its time. just on PAIR with the technology used to bring those cars to the world.
@Wadsy im talking about the ps2 version not the game, my all time favorite still is high stakes for the beautifull scenery and mood. To me the best music selection as well. I really loved the nfs road and track as well with those legendary car clips and wonderfull rock tracks. Saki Kaskas what a legend i feel so bad for him to have departed the way he did so at the age he did as well. Callista one of the best of his music collection, unforgettable, loved to play on the german stage while raining.
big fans of Hot Pursuit 2, Underground series, Most Wanted, and Carbon. The latest reboot is a good efforts by Ghost but it still not as awesome as the good ol' days of NFS
barfyman362 well, i actually start playing NFS from High Stakes on Playstation, it's a good game. I never own a good gaming pc so i never try older NFS game. But yeah i heard that Porsche Unleashed is one of the best
My NFS journey started with NFS II SE. Me and my best friend back then spent hundreds of hours playing the game in split screen mode. We knew every single corner in that game and I even heard that "SPIELER EINS" in my dreams permanently. From that game on, I owned every single NFS game up to NFS Rivals. I think the biggest disappointment was NFS Pro Street. And if I had to rank the best one, it would probably look like this: 1. NFS II SE 2. NFS Prosche Unleashed 3. NFS Underground 2 4. NFS Carbon 5. NFS World Also great retro review as always. Keep up the good work and thanks!
Almost same here but TNFS was my first game ever ! When I was 7. Though I feel like I played NFS2 way way more with my next door neighbour. Bus driving was our fav.
Hey, some 3DO love! I like obscure consoles and the 3DO was pretty ambitious. I still play a lot with mine, and even though NFS ran much better on PS1, it has a special feeling on 3DO.
Yep, I also love the 3DO. Such a fascinating system. That's what I wanted to convey in this video. The 3DO version does run a lot worse but...there's something special about it that the conversions couldn't capture.
Absolutely, the early attempts at a serious 3D environment and the taunting douchebag added a lot of charm to the 3DO version. Plus, the console had Plumbers don't wear ties, i mean come on. I still want that on my collection, don't think i'll ever find it :)
My favourite episode of DF Retro so far. I own the PS1 version of The Need for Speed, and I still play it. I'm impressed with how thoroughly you research the games you cover. I wasn't expecting you to mention DSI and Test Drive. I should have known better. Thanks John!
It's been about 20 years since I've played the DOS version, but I remember everything about this gem. Installing the game was a tease, the install progress bar was a car MPH gauge that pumped you up as you waited 10 years for it to install, lol
to many NFS started with Underground. To me NFS started to suck starting from Underground. High Stakes (NFS4) and the very first Hot pursuit (NFS 3) are my most favorite, partially because of the soundtrack by Rom Di Prisco.
The only positive I could think of in Underground was the car customization but everything else was a giant downgrade from the series beforehand. In NFS4 the intro was making fun of 4 cylinder rice-mobiles having one go up against a Porsche and stall at the traffic lights while a slew of supercars passed it. In Underground you couldn't even pick a supercar and instead got stuck with the very same kind of cars the NFS4 developers knew were a joke! Don't even get me started on the terrible soundtrack either! Need for Speed 3 was a masterpiece and Need for Speed Underground was a slap in the face to anyone who appreciated that masterpiece!
@Cyberdemon Mike Eh no, NFS has been shit since it went all about stupid ricer cars. NFS was best when it was all about exotic cars stunning scenary tracks, music from Rom Di prisco. Since you are are a ricer kid i se you as a plastic NFS fan, no fence im a real NFS fan since i have played since early 90s.
NFS 3/4/5 still remain some of my favorite games today, the soundtracks partially composed by both Rom Di Prisco and Saki Kaskas greatly solidified their greatness.
Yes I thought I was crazy when he said that. I was almost positive I heard techno-y music when I played it in my parent's basement all those years ago.
Socky Noob . What you really wanted was for them to keep making Road & Track games. The name "Need for Speed" fits a faster game than a slower simulator.
I was always wondering about the technicalities of the original Need for Speed, and now I know thanks to DF Retro! Thank you again, John, you are doing God's work for retro enthusiasts.
My thoughts exactly. It would have been great if they made the game a little more realistic than the underground games, didn't try to make the game physics like a half assed burnout and try to make a stupid crashed camera but with indestructible cars, mediocre crash physics and that annoying unlocked animation every time you unlocked something.
No that was when it got interesting again after all those terrible underground games Allthough i'd have to say that hot pursuit 2010 was the only decent modern NFS
Hot Pursuit was great though, Underground ultimately led to the death of the series because EA was tugged in all directions by the fanbase and didn't know what to do with it. Underground was great but lots of people hated it.
Was visiting a Tampa area mall in 1994, walked into a Babbage's Software and saw that they had set up a 3DO and TV with this game for people to test out. My mind was blown. There was nothing else like it available on a home console at the time. It was state of the art. I had never seen graphics scale like that outside an arcade. Within a few months, I had a 3DO, The Need For Speed, Road Rash, and Star Control 2. Needless to say, I had more fun with those three games than ANYTHING I played on the Genesis or SNES over the previous five years. In fact, even to this day, I feel more nostalgia for the 3DO than any other console from the 90s. Wish I had kept mine.
Retrofan 99 The 3DO really is a decent machine. Had they doubled the CPU speed, put more face buttons on the controller (why tf did it has less than the SNES?), put the 2nd controller port on the console, and had a better memory system like Saturn/PS1, it could really have competed. As it is it has a nice selection of good games. The controller is also surprisingly comfortable too.
@@alritedave The CPU is capable of 20MHZ max. If it launched at even 14MHz over 12.5MHz, it would’ve been stronger and more appealing at its price. The reason it’s so low clocked to begin with is apparently due to manufacturing flaw fears iirc.
Thank you for the wonderful video. Need for Speed and Panasonic 3DO are both very special. They definitely represent important milestones in the gaming industry.
Love this series. I would love to see John go through EVERY incarnation of the original Doom. That would also make a very awesome video! Keep up the good work!
At 16:50 it is soundtrack (propably the best track) from one of two best NFS's ever - NFS3 Hot Pursuit. Hope you will make an episode on that one too (and Porsche 2000).
I ADORE DF Retro. I'm having so much fun showing some of my friends, many of whom are slightly younger to me, or came into gaming later in life so they do not remember these days the way I do...
Nice try. The inconsistent 33 frames per second resulted in frame-pacing issues (as explained in this video) and that dithering is hideous. Saturn has a higher color palette and more responsive gameplay. If you prefer the PlayStation version then fine, but don't call people "insane" for liking a version of a game that isn't your favorite.
Saturn version was clearly the best - Ran the best and looked the best. And this video is incorrect in saying that it had no music while racing. The Saturn version had the same music as the PS version. So i don't know WTF John is on about.
Great vid again. Speaking of arcades, do you have any plans to do the history of 3D in arcades John? I remember growing up reading EDGE magazine and all the rage was the competition between Sega and Namco with their 3D boards as such Model 2/3/Naomi...etc..etc... and talk of how many "GFlops" Ridge Racer was doing :). It would be great to see a retrospective on those although vid capture might be trickier for you guys.
I remember seeing the original game at a Software Etx in Fresno. They had a kiosk set up to try it,always admired it. Looked hext gen and you could tell the focus was on driving,not at all crazy racing. On first encounter I saw it in cockpit mode and as I saw someone playing I said try and get the car out of its low gear setting,but as we quickly found out this was the car's full speed. Some courses suffered more than others as the frame rate took hits, but we were all floored by the graphics and presentation. This was a store than carried the giant sized Neo Geo carts for $200.00 a game, so it was like a candy store for gamers in those days,lots of great games and good staff to talk games. It was the only retail store where i ever got to try out Need for Speed on a 3DO and wished I could own one in 1994. Now I can play the game emulated,massively faster in frame rate to.but meh, its not the same anymore. Have seen so much since then that its hard to be impressed,even with this game running great on emulation. Sometimes you just wish you could have experienced the game in 1994 at home on real hardware,when you were a kid,it meant more in those days. lol.
Best driving game ever made (the 3DO version). My brother and I would take turns trying to set the best time on each point-to-point race, and it was always unpredictable because of the traffic. The other versions went too far away from the driving aspect with the closed circuit races and multi-car field. I loved hot pursuit 2 as well, but Need for Speed games since then went way too arcadey for my liking.
@@nexxusty and saturn/ps1 has absolute garbage handling, and the models look like crap on ps1. Boils down to just an early title using experimentation, and extreme differences in hardware setups. They all have something nice to their own regard. Not sure what makes people so upset that someone can enjoy the 3do lol
The original Hot Pursuit was my favorite Need for Speed game. It was such an incredible racing game for its time with great police chases! And my favorite Need for Speed when it comes to visuals is The Run. A lot of people didn't like that game, but those environments and particle effects were absolutely incredible!
Just found this series of Videos. Big thumbs up. Really enjoy the detailed look into past games, their history and the people who created them, and how they where created. Keep up the good work. I will now go watch the past shows.
My childhood right there. I hate what EA did with NFS after High Stakes and Porsche. Why oh why could they not let EA Canada (Distinctive) do what they do best. Oh and great video Dark.
@Cyberdemon Mike i guess u don't like originality and origins! i'd rather NFS to return to it's 1994-2002 original roots of NFS vs continue tha ricer era of NFS and milkin' it down! i would love a NFS High Stakes reboot over a continuing Underground milkfest! Country Open Backroads are way better than City Urban Street Racing period
Another great DF Retro episode! This is a high quality series so far, keep it up! My favourite of the franchise was the original Most Wanted from 2005, closely followed by the more simulation-focused Shift 2 in 2011.
The first NFS game I played as a full game was UG2, making street racing the thing I love most about the series. Though I have actually played TNFS before UG2 was released as a demo on a school computer. It only had the Viper as a playable car and it was only one track, but we enjoyed it.
For me the best NFS game was the 5th iteration - NFS Porsche Unleashed on PC, the console version was a joke in comparison. Close in 2nd place was NFS 4 High Stakes/Road Challenge.
Yep I agree 100%, I played all of them up to Underground 2 I think but Porsche Unleashed on PC was by far the best. Amazing driving model, beautiful tracks, great soundtrack.
Originally when it came out I played it with the keyboard, it was bit tricky but fun to drive. Lately I replayed it using XBOX360 controller (analog steering, accelerator and brakes) and I was shocked how good the driving model was. You just coudn't feel that with digital key control. If you had a wheel with force feedback you were in Porsche heaven.
I got to play NFS on 3DO once, it was at a kiosk in the Mall of America back in 1994. I was blown away. It wouldn't be until 1996 or 1997 that I would end up getting it for Playstation 1. Good memories!
NFS Porsche Unleashed/2000 is my favourite NFS game. Great handling (playing with keyboard) and very interesting to experience the difference between the Porsche models. The damage model worked great too.
So The Road & Track presents: The Need for Speed on the 3DO was actually meant to represent a simulation of road driving... I have one simple question then: Why didn't they tried to do that again?? nfs unleashed was trying to be a Grid clone and was decent in doing so but I'm talking about the exact opposite; a game set on the roads instead of tracks and that is aimed seriously at simulating the physics and pleasure of going fast without killing yourself among traffics on different locations just like the original game instead of a game about gaining points of respect of whatever crap. I would gladly pay for that kind of NFS!!
Cat M Thing is NFS on 3DO can be beaten without using the brakes once, and you NEVER have to slow down. It does feel very much different to most racers, but the utter lack of challenge kills it. The only danger is the easily avoided traffic.
@@alritedave So... does the 3do version is actually EASIER than the PS1 release? If thats the case i have to play that version. I cannot just tolerate the difficult of the PS1 version, the AI is so unfair.
@@alritedave Well, i guess i should give it a try. I only played the PS1 version and it was too much unfair. I definitely would prefer a ridiculous easy game over a ridiculous unfair game.
John, thank you so much for listening to my NFS suggestion! I still remember NFS SE as the first game I've ever played back in 2000 when my parents bought the first PC. Ironically I now find the same experience from that game by playing Forza Horizon 3; shame on you EA for messing up the series this bad (I played the 2015 reboot and it was a travesty).
It's not a case of regional differences, the PAL version has music and working cockpit instruments too. The abscence in this video seems to be an odd consequence of using a Japanese saturn with the Action Replay 4-in-1 to play a NA copy.
looked the best on ps2. emotion engine is amazing. ps2 make lamecast, shitbox and kiddy gamecube looks terrible because they are compared to ps2. ps2 make early shitbox 360 games look terrible and shitbox 360 was never able to keep up with ps3 because cell processor is incredible.
I was lucky enough to own a 3do when it came out in 93. Need for Speed was so damn awesome at the time. Had so much fun playing with my brother. It was cool trying to get different endings/videos by doing different things when playing. Even now the game is still one of the better need for speeds if you like more simlike games.
tfw when you played both Test Drive (on DOS) and NFS (on 3DO) as a kid and realise that you might be old -_- Also, I actually forgot there was no music. Always remembered the intro, though.
The Saturn version was the one I grew up with, and fondly remember putting the CD in my CD player to hear the sound track. It was great in terms of being a rare early title which had a low res, but photographic quality in car view. The Saturn boot up sound at the beginning of these amazing Digital Foundry videos also made me back up my entire Saturn collection to play on PC via emulation, though some titles run better than others. These videos also really take me back to being a kid during one of the strangest transitional eras ever seen in gaming. There were several games that floored me on the Saturn and Playstation, but ironically, what made that generation disappointing was Sega’s AM2 and AM3 Arcade Devisions. Tekken 3, both in terms of it’s Arcade and PS1 ports, couldn’t hold a candle to the older Virtua Fighter 2 Model 2 Arcade board. It would take the Japanese PS2 Sega Ages release to get a near Arcade perfect port of Virtua Fighter 2. While the PS1 and Saturn pushed 120,000-200,000 polygons with effects on, and the N64 was putting out stunning home titles with higher, but well bellow Sega Arcade polygon counts. Even my 3DFX dual Voodoo 2 enabled PC couldn’t touch Virtua Fighter 3, the first game to push 1 million polygons a second at 60fps, or the mighty Scud Race, which was the first racing game to do the same. The Dreamcast wowed me in ways I’ve never been wowed since. It was a game changer to see Soul Caliber, a 250-300,000 polygon per second Namco Arcade Classic, being ported to the Dreamcast at an astonishing 800,000 to 1 million polygon per second better than Arcade quality Sega Dreamcast port, depending on the characters and stages. The thing about the 2D era compared to the early console 3D era, is the use of sprites made the art itself timeless. I truly loved my Saturn, far more even than my PS1, due to a great selection of Sega imports, but every time I went to an arcade and saw the beauty of Sega’s stunning arcade titles, reality set in all over again. The defining quality of the Saturn for me, was the unique selection of stunning and exclusive 2d titles, or better than PS1 ports of Capcom 2D fighters, with or without an added Ram Cart.
I bought my PS1 the first week it launched, almost buying the 3DO but Panasonic didn't have "Twisted Metal" so I got the Playstation, this "Need For Speed" game & 3 others, the rest is history. A solid retrospective on an early favorite.
this series is worse now we have to see your face for 80% of the video. i mean, no offense to your looks, its just the older episodes with voice-over and clips worked better.
I loved NFS2 as a kid on the Playstation. I remember watching the included live action car videos and thinking "sometime in the future, graphics in car games will look like that" and now they pretty much do!
Openin Music makes me happy and smile :D I don`t remember witch need for speed but i was definitly playing on PS1 :D (ESL guy here) Thanks for the retro video.
I think you might have a bad Saturn copy, because in my copy for the Saturn, the gauges actually work and there’s music. It’s pretty much one-to-one with the Playstation version.
There was also A LOT of content and traffic removed after the 3DO to improve the framerate. There is a mod for the 3DO that does the same thing on the 3DO. Would have loved to see that as well.
Loving this DF Retro series, and I am _always_ down for more classic NFS coverage on TH-cam. Awesome vid!
YES! But what a shame about Saki Kaskas :(
yeah, and Rom Di Prisco aswell :(
+TK86 what are you talking about? Rom is still alive!
yes, but he doesn't make music anymore for NFS series...
It's you!
Great review! I was one of the many programmers who worked on the NFS PS1 (PSX) version back in '95. I even put an easter egg in it -- since the gamer was only allowed to enter in 8 characters for your name I had the code append an 'i' if you entered in my **last name.** :-) Enough about me. We ran the physics rate at 100 Hz even though rendering ran at 30 Hz. We used a PSX daughter board in a 486 PC to develop the game. At the time they were ~ around $50K IIRC. Sony's C Run Time Library was SO broken that we didn't bother with most of it. i.e. printf() wasted a precious 4K of run-time memory out of the 2 MB. Lots of LONG hours, but it was a fun time at EAC.
So, it would appear as iMichael? I wonder if anyone found this secret and blogged about it?
That would be my last name, 'POHORESK' which the game changes to 'POHORESKI'. The reason this even works is because we reserved ~10 chars (IIRC) even though we only allowed the user to enter in 8 chars -- I've clarified my original post. I only know of one tester who found it. It would be very interesting to see if it shows up in any Japanese versions! That would be the litmus test to see just how much of the code they used verbatim!
Ahhh I see now! That is cool!
Would be cool to get this on video, and post it to TH-cam!
That's a good idea! Let me see what I can do about that. :-)
What's been done here is really impressive!
You guys have put a lot of work into making these videos, and it's obvious.
Thank you and keep up the good work.
I regularly listen to NFS 1, 2, 3, 4, porsche unleashed (specialty Rom Di Prisco) songs, I dearly miss those games.
i Do too :D
Do you have high quality versions of the tracks for the NFS2 soundtrack?
@@thischannel1071 not sure "high quality but they sounds like cd quality ish" so i can help you if you whant they have proper names too, cuz orginally they are not easy to rip from the game and they then dont have name so, i have the games and songs with proper name :) btw am making link now since i know how special the old nfs songs are ;D
@@thischannel1071 I've uploaded it to Google Play Music, but I think I have on some hard drive, do you want it?
@@StigDesign Cool! I'd love a link for them. From each of you, then I can download them both and find out which is the best quality version. And then you can both also see if one is better than the other.
The best feeling ever is when digital foundry posts a video 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Hector Garcia I was just about to say the same thing! And even better, I haven't watched it yet (just about to) so I still have this one to look forward to :-)
You'll never know.
Hector Garcia Virgin confirmed
Whenever I see there is a DF Retro video uploaded I immediately click the like button before I've even watched it because I know it's going to be excellent.
Hector Garcia go get some friends LMAO thats sad tbh
now I know why it was called "need for speed", game ran slow af
GreenHare
this made my day xD
xD
ROFL !!!!!
Not the Saturn version jr.
Only compared to modern games. When this game came out, it felt really fast. Compared to Mario Kart and other races of the day.
Great video. The original NFS series (1-5) are some of my all time favourite racing games and its awesome to see the differences between the different versions. One error, however: the Saturn version has the same soundtrack as the PS1 version. What's more, it's CDDA, meaning you can listen to these killer tunes outside the game, which is something you can't do with the PS1 version.
But Saturn NFS misses some music tracks of PS1 and PC SE versions, likely due to storage capacity limitations. They are restored in OVER DRIVIN GTR howewer.
I had this and actually still have this on the 3DO because I could never part with it. Amazing game and such an underrated console.
It was ahead of its time
Having recently played and captured footage of both the Japanese and PAL Sega Saturn versions of The Need for Speed. It's become clear to us the Saturn DF Retro footage was captured on either emulators or a hardware revision of the Saturn that had problems running the game. As both the PAL and NTSC/J versions of the game have working car gauges on our footage captured, something the footage of the Saturn Nissan Over Driving' doesn't show in this video. The map in all the footage for Saturn also doesn't show the track either in this video, but was showing correct in our capture. While we don't have an issue with emulators being used DF Retro needs to make it clear which comparison are live captures and which are emulators. The music is also included in the PAL Saturn release of Need for Speed, so it's unclear if this is an issue with the NTSC/U build not having music in-game or a bad iso dump or emulation issue. [Edit: We are almost certain now this is an issue with certain hardware revisions of the console, so if you get this issue try on a different revision]
The Saturn version has music and working gauges in all versions. It's the crap emulator that was not mentioned. Lost all respect for this channel due to the biased review and lack of "proper" research.
I confirm that on console, the NTSC/U version has visible gauges and race track, and has music during race. Besides those glitches, Saturn emulators are certainly not accurate enough to be used for framerate measurement.
@@AtariBorn well I wouldnt be too quick to point fingers bc there must be more than one version for saturn bc mine looks and sounds like the one in the video
@@chrisr529 You're saying your legitimate, store bought, pressed disc doesn't have working gauges or in-game music?
@@AtariBorn yes legitimate and I have a friend that has the game with working gauges and music so im not sure if it's a bug or if the first batch just didn't have those things in it
I had this on Playstation 1 and Sega Saturn. It blew my tiny 15yr old mind back in 1996. Watching the actual full motion video of them doing stunts in the cars never got old. But the most fun i ever had with a need for speed game was Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 on Playstation 2 in 2002. That stayed close to the original.
It was a cool time to be a gamer. Going from the 2D era of the 80s and 90's to the 3D era of the Saturn, Playstation 1 and N64 was the biggest leap in gaming history. Going from simple 2D platform games and beat em ups to these big Hollywood movie type 3D game worlds like Tombraider, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid etc was just such a huge leap. Without a doubt the biggest generational jump gaming has ever seen to date. From then on gaming has been pretty much the same just prettier.
Oh, definitely. The PS2 was another good generational leap. It may not have been as innovative as the jump from 2D to 3D, but it was still very impressive. After the PS2 era though each new generation hasn't been all that impressive really. Hopefully, we get another big innovative generational jump in the future.
Bad_Robot the console Warriors would have had a field day back then when their were really obvious differences between versions. not this resolution and 2 frame advantage nonsense
Most Wanted (2005) is the best... graphics, sound, image, style, Josie Maran, cars & CGI movies!
Axel Rage It was garbage. An ultimate step down from NFS Underground 2
MovingThePicture i didnt play nfs u 2 but i played the first one, and i was not happy with the selection of cars i was seeing, most of them being fwd 4-cylinder shitboxes.
I played underground 2 and most wanted 2005 on my ps2 and now on PC. I think underground 2 was pretty amazing but most wanted 2005 is definetly the one I still play because of these cops xD
Hallison Michel No it's not better it's awful
Banana Babana Like I said Underground 2 is the best
1:51 OMG Road Rash... Brings back a lot of childhood memories 😞
So does NFS!
Try this game store.steampowered.com/app/300380/
Thanks
Md Ray road rash is awesome!
a DF Retro of that game would be nice... but as always the PC version was the best looking and the most feature packed... I think...
Road Rash would be a perfect segue for the next episode!
And we never got another DF RETRO of need for speed :c
I had the orig 3DO version at launch and you won't believe it now but this game was jaw dropping at the time.
Man the 16bit and 32bit era's really were the best for me.
Strange how in the original Need for Speed all the cars had Cockpit views, while there basically non-existent in the newer games..
It's a microtransaction now. Hahaha
It was scrapped in Hot Pursuit 2, the PC version of Porsche Unleashed even had driver animation in the cockpit view, it tried to make a comeback in the Shift games but was scrapped again because EA just didn't care about it
kids today: this has no 60fps, it sucks.
kids 20 years ago: wow, fotorealistic graphics, it's fun!
I love this series. You're a pro, John
love musics of early NFS till high stakes. Saki kaskas, rom di prisco, ohh good times
Yeah, i would say until PS2 hot pursuit 2, NFS was still NFS, underground started the divergence.
The Porshe unleashed had some of the music vibe, but for some reason did not touched my soul like the ones before.
Hell what a Trippy musics! totally abstract and interpretative.
I thin that this kind of music can make children smarter or at LEAST, more creative/imaginative!
The music was also very sophisticated for its time. just on PAIR with the technology used to bring those cars to the world.
@Wadsy To me hp2 ps2 versions is the best by far.
@Wadsy im talking about the ps2 version not the game, my all time favorite still is high stakes for the beautifull scenery and mood. To me the best music selection as well. I really loved the nfs road and track as well with those legendary car clips and wonderfull rock tracks. Saki Kaskas what a legend i feel so bad for him to have departed the way he did so at the age he did as well. Callista one of the best of his music collection, unforgettable, loved to play on the german stage while raining.
big fans of Hot Pursuit 2, Underground series, Most Wanted, and Carbon. The latest reboot is a good efforts by Ghost but it still not as awesome as the good ol' days of NFS
did you never go back and play the earlier ones? porsche unleashed for example was amazing
barfyman362 well, i actually start playing NFS from High Stakes on Playstation, it's a good game. I never own a good gaming pc so i never try older NFS game. But yeah i heard that Porsche Unleashed is one of the best
Need For Speed 2015/2016 was absolute shit...
dunno its my fave since carbon honestly, really enjoying it.
Zochu
the FMV's are so cringey and not in a good way like the original most wanted
My NFS journey started with NFS II SE. Me and my best friend back then spent hundreds of hours playing the game in split screen mode. We knew every single corner in that game and I even heard that "SPIELER EINS" in my dreams permanently.
From that game on, I owned every single NFS game up to NFS Rivals. I think the biggest disappointment was NFS Pro Street. And if I had to rank the best one, it would probably look like this:
1. NFS II SE
2. NFS Prosche Unleashed
3. NFS Underground 2
4. NFS Carbon
5. NFS World
Also great retro review as always. Keep up the good work and thanks!
Almost same here but TNFS was my first game ever ! When I was 7. Though I feel like I played NFS2 way way more with my next door neighbour. Bus driving was our fav.
Hey, some 3DO love! I like obscure consoles and the 3DO was pretty ambitious. I still play a lot with mine, and even though NFS ran much better on PS1, it has a special feeling on 3DO.
Yep, I also love the 3DO. Such a fascinating system. That's what I wanted to convey in this video. The 3DO version does run a lot worse but...there's something special about it that the conversions couldn't capture.
Absolutely, the early attempts at a serious 3D environment and the taunting douchebag added a lot of charm to the 3DO version. Plus, the console had Plumbers don't wear ties, i mean come on. I still want that on my collection, don't think i'll ever find it :)
Agreed. I really try to not sound like i'm wearing nostalgia goggles, but gaming REALLY was more exciting and fascinating back then.
Maybe is the X man
Technique San
14fps is special now? lol
The original 3DO version is the best. It may run slower but I much prefer the more simulation based gameplay and pacing.
My favourite episode of DF Retro so far. I own the PS1 version of The Need for Speed, and I still play it. I'm impressed with how thoroughly you research the games you cover. I wasn't expecting you to mention DSI and Test Drive. I should have known better. Thanks John!
You really need to do a retro video on Resident Evil..... so many different ports and versions..... It would make for a very interesting video.
It's been about 20 years since I've played the DOS version, but I remember everything about this gem. Installing the game was a tease, the install progress bar was a car MPH gauge that pumped you up as you waited 10 years for it to install, lol
to many NFS started with Underground. To me NFS started to suck starting from Underground. High Stakes (NFS4) and the very first Hot pursuit (NFS 3) are my most favorite, partially because of the soundtrack by Rom Di Prisco.
The only positive I could think of in Underground was the car customization but everything else was a giant downgrade from the series beforehand. In NFS4 the intro was making fun of 4 cylinder rice-mobiles having one go up against a Porsche and stall at the traffic lights while a slew of supercars passed it. In Underground you couldn't even pick a supercar and instead got stuck with the very same kind of cars the NFS4 developers knew were a joke! Don't even get me started on the terrible soundtrack either! Need for Speed 3 was a masterpiece and Need for Speed Underground was a slap in the face to anyone who appreciated that masterpiece!
NFS3 was my favourite, but there were other enjoyable games, but I am not a fan of NFSU.
For my it begun with Most wanted. I still play hot pursuit 2 ony ps2 nowadays
@Cyberdemon Mike Eh no, NFS has been shit since it went all about stupid ricer cars. NFS was best when it was all about exotic cars stunning scenary tracks, music from Rom Di prisco. Since you are are a ricer kid i se you as a plastic NFS fan, no fence im a real NFS fan since i have played since early 90s.
NFS 3/4/5 still remain some of my favorite games today, the soundtracks partially composed by both Rom Di Prisco and Saki Kaskas greatly solidified their greatness.
I literally bought a 3DO today in preparation of this video!
Louie I own a 3DO too, but why buy for this video?!
Sat version DO HAVE music during the racing. It's just a bit low volume, you can change that in settings.
Yes I thought I was crazy when he said that. I was almost positive I heard techno-y music when I played it in my parent's basement all those years ago.
@@letsgetacid and the gauges also work just fine with my version, he might be using a broken version
If only the slow and more realistic tone of the 3DO version continued with future Need for Speed games.
Socky Noob . What you really wanted was for them to keep making Road & Track games. The name "Need for Speed" fits a faster game than a slower simulator.
The NFS Shift series though?
@Cyberdemon Mike you most be a kid who never played NFS III Hot Pursuit.
And people have different tastes, now go to your room.
Need for Speed on the 3DO was one of the greatest racing games ever created. The ports were a million miles behind in terms of gameplay.
Nathan Da Vinci You never have to use brakes in 3DO....
Love that Saturn boot-up they used.
Now we need Gran Turismo franchise!
I was always wondering about the technicalities of the original Need for Speed, and now I know thanks to DF Retro! Thank you again, John, you are doing God's work for retro enthusiasts.
nfs started to suck when EA merged it with burnout.
literally need for speed burnout paradise least wanted
My thoughts exactly. It would have been great if they made the game a little more realistic than the underground games, didn't try to make the game physics like a half assed burnout and try to make a stupid crashed camera but with indestructible cars, mediocre crash physics and that annoying unlocked animation every time you unlocked something.
No that was when it got interesting again after all those terrible underground games
Allthough i'd have to say that hot pursuit 2010 was the only decent modern NFS
Hot Pursuit was great though, Underground ultimately led to the death of the series because EA was tugged in all directions by the fanbase and didn't know what to do with it. Underground was great but lots of people hated it.
"Underground was great but lots of people hated it."
w0t
Msot Wanted and Underground 1/2 are the most known and loved Need For Speed games lmao
Was visiting a Tampa area mall in 1994, walked into a Babbage's Software and saw that they had set up a 3DO and TV with this game for people to test out. My mind was blown. There was nothing else like it available on a home console at the time. It was state of the art. I had never seen graphics scale like that outside an arcade.
Within a few months, I had a 3DO, The Need For Speed, Road Rash, and Star Control 2. Needless to say, I had more fun with those three games than ANYTHING I played on the Genesis or SNES over the previous five years. In fact, even to this day, I feel more nostalgia for the 3DO than any other console from the 90s.
Wish I had kept mine.
This game was ahead of its time (graphics and gameplay). I love the 3DO, it isn't as bad as many people says imo.
Retrofan 99 The 3DO really is a decent machine. Had they doubled the CPU speed, put more face buttons on the controller (why tf did it has less than the SNES?), put the 2nd controller port on the console, and had a better memory system like Saturn/PS1, it could really have competed. As it is it has a nice selection of good games. The controller is also surprisingly comfortable too.
@@alritedave The CPU is capable of 20MHZ max. If it launched at even 14MHz over 12.5MHz, it would’ve been stronger and more appealing at its price. The reason it’s so low clocked to begin with is apparently due to manufacturing flaw fears iirc.
@@theobserver4214 I'd have to recheck but IIRC it's 25MHz with a no on chip cache version and the opposite.
Thank you for the wonderful video. Need for Speed and Panasonic 3DO are both very special. They definitely represent important milestones in the gaming industry.
LOL! at the end of Need for Speed, the X Man goes to jail for speeding
I played on Sega Saturn, there was definitely music while you were driving.
Great episode. Still waiting for Quake 2 ps1/n64 episode :)
zolwikwkurwik or resident evil 2 nintendo 64 version analysis :)
Love this series. I would love to see John go through EVERY incarnation of the original Doom. That would also make a very awesome video! Keep up the good work!
At 16:50 it is soundtrack (propably the best track) from one of two best NFS's ever - NFS3 Hot Pursuit. Hope you will make an episode on that one too (and Porsche 2000).
Here you go: /watch?v=ziX_f7rdFD4
I ADORE DF Retro. I'm having so much fun showing some of my friends, many of whom are slightly younger to me, or came into gaming later in life so they do not remember these days the way I do...
Damn, and I thought remakes and remasters only started with this generation of consoles.
Well, in this case it wasn't really remakes nor remasters, it was literally just ports that were completely different from each other.
Angry Toast They were enhanced ports, and it was EA.
The best feeling ever is when digital foundry posts a DF Retro video.
I loved the Saturn version!
Nice try. The inconsistent 33 frames per second resulted in frame-pacing issues (as explained in this video) and that dithering is hideous. Saturn has a higher color palette and more responsive gameplay.
If you prefer the PlayStation version then fine, but don't call people "insane" for liking a version of a game that isn't your favorite.
Saturn version was clearly the best - Ran the best and looked the best. And this video is incorrect in saying that it had no music while racing. The Saturn version had the same music as the PS version. So i don't know WTF John is on about.
Windows xperia Salty PS1 fanboy lol.
PC looked the best.
Pal version of the saturn sega there are functional gauges inside the car. how it came out later should have been better
i dont understand what this channel has only 350k subscribes, DF is Great!
omg that sega saturn intro
Good choice on the music, DF. The track you play as you draw attention to the music is easily my favorite track.
Great vid again. Speaking of arcades, do you have any plans to do the history of 3D in arcades John? I remember growing up reading EDGE magazine and all the rage was the competition between Sega and Namco with their 3D boards as such Model 2/3/Naomi...etc..etc... and talk of how many "GFlops" Ridge Racer was doing :). It would be great to see a retrospective on those although vid capture might be trickier for you guys.
It's been 5 years since a Need for Speed DF Retro, y'all got another one of them?
Awesome episode :)
Man, what a great TH-cam Sunday! New Game Sack, DF Retro, and Game Dave!
NFS Most Wanted 2005 is my favourite!
I remember seeing the original game at a Software Etx in Fresno. They had a kiosk set up to try it,always admired it. Looked hext gen and you could tell the focus was on driving,not at all crazy racing. On first encounter I saw it in cockpit mode and as I saw someone playing I said try and get the car out of its low gear setting,but as we quickly found out this was the car's full speed. Some courses suffered more than others as the frame rate took hits, but we were all floored by the graphics and presentation. This was a store than carried the giant sized Neo Geo carts for $200.00 a game, so it was like a candy store for gamers in those days,lots of great games and good staff to talk games. It was the only retail store where i ever got to try out Need for Speed on a 3DO and wished I could own one in 1994. Now I can play the game emulated,massively faster in frame rate to.but meh, its not the same anymore. Have seen so much since then that its hard to be impressed,even with this game running great on emulation. Sometimes you just wish you could have experienced the game in 1994 at home on real hardware,when you were a kid,it meant more in those days. lol.
I still have this for ps1 lol
Oh shit!! It’sAgundam!!
Nothing gets me excited quite like a new DF Retro does, keep up the amazing work John :)
Best driving game ever made (the 3DO version). My brother and I would take turns trying to set the best time on each point-to-point race, and it was always unpredictable because of the traffic. The other versions went too far away from the driving aspect with the closed circuit races and multi-car field. I loved hot pursuit 2 as well, but Need for Speed games since then went way too arcadey for my liking.
pinhead9 But the 3DO version can be played without EVER using brakes!!
No.
Like, clearly NO.
LOL.
Just because you have fond memories of something, doesn't make it the best version.
It is by far the worst version.
@@nexxusty and saturn/ps1 has absolute garbage handling, and the models look like crap on ps1. Boils down to just an early title using experimentation, and extreme differences in hardware setups. They all have something nice to their own regard. Not sure what makes people so upset that someone can enjoy the 3do lol
The original Hot Pursuit was my favorite Need for Speed game. It was such an incredible racing game for its time with great police chases! And my favorite Need for Speed when it comes to visuals is The Run. A lot of people didn't like that game, but those environments and particle effects were absolutely incredible!
My fav will always be NFS 5 Porsche Unleashed (2000)
Just found this series of Videos. Big thumbs up. Really enjoy the detailed look into past games, their history and the people who created them, and how they where created. Keep up the good work. I will now go watch the past shows.
My childhood right there. I hate what EA did with NFS after High Stakes and Porsche. Why oh why could they not let EA Canada (Distinctive) do what they do best. Oh and great video Dark.
porsche was awesome, what did you dislike about it?
I wrote "I hate what EA did with NFS after High Stakes and Porsche."
So I did not dislike it. Porsche was awesome.
8Paul7
sorry it's early
@Cyberdemon Mike not really! NFS Underground was tha longrun downfall of NFS
@Cyberdemon Mike i guess u don't like originality and origins! i'd rather NFS to return to it's 1994-2002 original roots of NFS vs continue tha ricer era of NFS and milkin' it down! i would love a NFS High Stakes reboot over a continuing Underground milkfest! Country Open Backroads are way better than City Urban Street Racing period
Another great DF Retro episode! This is a high quality series so far, keep it up! My favourite of the franchise was the original Most Wanted from 2005, closely followed by the more simulation-focused Shift 2 in 2011.
NFS 1-5 are part of my entire childhood
The first NFS game I played as a full game was UG2, making street racing the thing I love most about the series. Though I have actually played TNFS before UG2 was released as a demo on a school computer. It only had the Viper as a playable car and it was only one track, but we enjoyed it.
For me the best NFS game was the 5th iteration - NFS Porsche Unleashed on PC, the console version was a joke in comparison. Close in 2nd place was NFS 4 High Stakes/Road Challenge.
Yep I agree 100%, I played all of them up to Underground 2 I think but Porsche Unleashed on PC was by far the best. Amazing driving model, beautiful tracks, great soundtrack.
I think the same. NFSP is the best for many many reasons.
Originally when it came out I played it with the keyboard, it was bit tricky but fun to drive. Lately I replayed it using XBOX360 controller (analog steering, accelerator and brakes) and I was shocked how good the driving model was. You just coudn't feel that with digital key control. If you had a wheel with force feedback you were in Porsche heaven.
Funny thing that High Stakes is total joke on PC, PS1 version is just so much better.
I agree. And I go far by saying the same for Hot Pursuit (both from PS and PS2). Not about graphics. But about gameplay and balanced police.
I got to play NFS on 3DO once, it was at a kiosk in the Mall of America back in 1994. I was blown away. It wouldn't be until 1996 or 1997 that I would end up getting it for Playstation 1. Good memories!
Street fighter game history be awesome
NFS III: Hot Pursuit was my first NFS game.
Hot Pursuit 2 was my favorite.
UnderGround 2 may be the only game that made me late for the pub
pc - kicking console asses since the 90's!!!
betonman9 Insecure much?
betonman9 I disagree
pc started kicking console asses when ps2 came out
2000 and that was grdualy appeals
KP-48 nope the rise of 3d cards in 1997-1998 did that.
mid-end with 5% of pc features.
1980s.
So glad I came across this channel. Love your work!
RIP Black Box!!!
The last of the great Need for Speed developers!!!
More like the people who distorded the franchise's face instead of making as an spin-off of the original formula...
NFS Porsche Unleashed/2000 is my favourite NFS game. Great handling (playing with keyboard) and very interesting to experience the difference between the Porsche models. The damage model worked great too.
So The Road & Track presents: The Need for Speed on the 3DO was actually meant to represent a simulation of road driving... I have one simple question then: Why didn't they tried to do that again?? nfs unleashed was trying to be a Grid clone and was decent in doing so but I'm talking about the exact opposite; a game set on the roads instead of tracks and that is aimed seriously at simulating the physics and pleasure of going fast without killing yourself among traffics on different locations just like the original game instead of a game about gaining points of respect of whatever crap. I would gladly pay for that kind of NFS!!
Yeah, Hot Pursuit 2 on PS2 was the last one to do that I think. And it still plays pretty decent.
Cat M Thing is NFS on 3DO can be beaten without using the brakes once, and you NEVER have to slow down. It does feel very much different to most racers, but the utter lack of challenge kills it. The only danger is the easily avoided traffic.
@@alritedave So... does the 3do version is actually EASIER than the PS1 release?
If thats the case i have to play that version. I cannot just tolerate the difficult of the PS1 version, the AI is so unfair.
@@sebastiankulche3DO is ridiculously easy.
@@alritedave Well, i guess i should give it a try. I only played the PS1 version and it was too much unfair. I definitely would prefer a ridiculous easy game over a ridiculous unfair game.
Love your videos, i actually played the original on the 3DO, i was 15 years old....so many memories
NFS died right after Undercover.
Adam Wagner no Most Wanted 2012
Agreed
nfs is not dead
At undercover
@S1R Think you misspelled Underground :P
John, thank you so much for listening to my NFS suggestion!
I still remember NFS SE as the first game I've ever played back in 2000 when my parents bought the first PC. Ironically I now find the same experience from that game by playing Forza Horizon 3; shame on you EA for messing up the series this bad (I played the 2015 reboot and it was a travesty).
You said the saturn doesn't have music during gameplay wich isn't true.
DNG Maestro Also, the gauges work as well. I just played it on Saturn to double check.
One version NTSC or PAL doesn't have music. DO you have PAL or NTSC?
videolookertube I have the NTSC version.
Well there we have our answers, the PAL version doesn't have music. John commented that he lives in Germany and has only one version.
It's not a case of regional differences, the PAL version has music and working cockpit instruments too. The abscence in this video seems to be an odd consequence of using a Japanese saturn with the Action Replay 4-in-1 to play a NA copy.
You guys are such nerds to make a video like this!
That's actually a compliment. Thanks! :)
how good NFS MW looked back in 2005 on Xbox 360.... so awesome
It looked like somebody peed on it.
That´s why you play it on PC
? I don't own a Xbox 360 so PC and PS2 are the only option
looked the best on ps2. emotion engine is amazing. ps2 make lamecast, shitbox and kiddy gamecube looks terrible because they are compared to ps2. ps2 make early shitbox 360 games look terrible and shitbox 360 was never able to keep up with ps3 because cell processor is incredible.
Thats bullshit, Most wanted, Carbon and Pro street on the Xbox 360 blows away any other console, except PC obviously
I was lucky enough to own a 3do when it came out in 93.
Need for Speed was so damn awesome at the time. Had so much fun playing with my brother.
It was cool trying to get different endings/videos by doing different things when playing.
Even now the game is still one of the better need for speeds if you like more simlike games.
NFS MOST WANTED (2005) DF RETRO ??????????????????????
Solid Snake Gaming most wanted was influencial enough
No. That would be episode I wouldn't bother to watch. That game is seriously overrated.
MadFinnTech i agree. I liked more underground 2
2005 was horrible for me, just flr the exaggerated motion blur. made me dizzy every time. I didn't enjoy it at all. better do Underground 2
You know that you can dissable the fucking motion blur right?
tfw when you played both Test Drive (on DOS) and NFS (on 3DO) as a kid and realise that you might be old -_-
Also, I actually forgot there was no music. Always remembered the intro, though.
need for speed underground 2
The Saturn version was the one I grew up with, and fondly remember putting the CD in my CD player to hear the sound track. It was great in terms of being a rare early title which had a low res, but photographic quality in car view. The Saturn boot up sound at the beginning of these amazing Digital Foundry videos also made me back up my entire Saturn collection to play on PC via emulation, though some titles run better than others.
These videos also really take me back to being a kid during one of the strangest transitional eras ever seen in gaming. There were several games that floored me on the Saturn and Playstation, but ironically, what made that generation disappointing was Sega’s AM2 and AM3 Arcade Devisions. Tekken 3, both in terms of it’s Arcade and PS1 ports, couldn’t hold a candle to the older Virtua Fighter 2 Model 2 Arcade board. It would take the Japanese PS2 Sega Ages release to get a near Arcade perfect port of Virtua Fighter 2. While the PS1 and Saturn pushed 120,000-200,000 polygons with effects on, and the N64 was putting out stunning home titles with higher, but well bellow Sega Arcade polygon counts. Even my 3DFX dual Voodoo 2 enabled PC couldn’t touch Virtua Fighter 3, the first game to push 1 million polygons a second at 60fps, or the mighty Scud Race, which was the first racing game to do the same. The Dreamcast wowed me in ways I’ve never been wowed since. It was a game changer to see Soul Caliber, a 250-300,000 polygon per second Namco Arcade Classic, being ported to the Dreamcast at an astonishing 800,000 to 1 million polygon per second better than Arcade quality Sega Dreamcast port, depending on the characters and stages.
The thing about the 2D era compared to the early console 3D era, is the use of sprites made the art itself timeless. I truly loved my Saturn, far more even than my PS1, due to a great selection of Sega imports, but every time I went to an arcade and saw the beauty of Sega’s stunning arcade titles, reality set in all over again. The defining quality of the Saturn for me, was the unique selection of stunning and exclusive 2d titles, or better than PS1 ports of Capcom 2D fighters, with or without an added Ram Cart.
how about one review of gran turismo 3 ps2
Man, Papyrus. Those guys were *the* racing sim studio back in the day.
NFS 2 is the best NFS
I bought my PS1 the first week it launched, almost buying the 3DO but Panasonic didn't have "Twisted Metal" so I got the Playstation, this "Need For Speed" game & 3 others, the rest is history. A solid retrospective on an early favorite.
this series is worse now we have to see your face for 80% of the video. i mean, no offense to your looks, its just the older episodes with voice-over and clips worked better.
I loved NFS2 as a kid on the Playstation. I remember watching the included live action car videos and thinking "sometime in the future, graphics in car games will look like that" and now they pretty much do!
I thought 30 minutes would get me the full series... but this was only the first game...! Let's keep the NFS Retro videos rolling!
Openin Music makes me happy and smile :D I don`t remember witch need for speed but i was definitly playing on PS1 :D
(ESL guy here) Thanks for the retro video.
NFS will always be the single racing game series I ever actually enjoyed. Man, I wanna go back and play them again now.
My friend had a 3DO I remember spending weekends at his house playing NFS and other 3DO games like Road Rash and Gex back in the day.
The original 3DO NFS is still the best and still in my collection. Launch day 3DO owner and proud of it.
Excellent episode of DF Retro, thank you John! Pls continue with the NF2, 3 and so on ;)
Very nicely done. Played this heaps on the PC back in the day.
I think you might have a bad Saturn copy, because in my copy for the Saturn, the gauges actually work and there’s music. It’s pretty much one-to-one with the Playstation version.
There was also A LOT of content and traffic removed after the 3DO to improve the framerate.
There is a mod for the 3DO that does the same thing on the 3DO. Would have loved to see that as well.
A Channel About Video Games What mod?
And the biggest issue with 3DO is the CPU was too slow. Once increased framerates in 3D games go up drastically.