The 25 Best 'Need for Speed' Games, Ranked

Need for Speed Undercover isn't remembered all that fondly for a myriad of reasons - there's next to no challenge from a gameplay perspective, the overall gameplay loop grew old pretty fast, and the system attached to unlocking cars felt like a tiresome grind. The plot, which revolves around becoming an undercover police officer who looks into the illegal street racing culture of "Tri-City Area" isn't that much of a high point with this NFS series entry, either. The car roster and overall feel when it comes to controlling them are the only positive factors this game has, to be quite honest.

Up next on this ranked list of the best Need for Speed games, let's have a quick chat about NFS Payback. Sadly, it's another one of those series entries that's considered a "black sheep." While it feels good to go crazy speeding & drifting on the track and its visuals certainly look impressive, a lot of factors knock it down several pegs. The featured plot is entirely forgettable, the characters you run into are generic as all hell, the loot-box mechanics are bothersome, and the dialed-back car customization feature is just too hard to ignore.

The gameplay aspects at the heart of Need for Speed: The Run is solid - you just can't go wrong with an NFS game that retains the well-oiled racing mechanics and the feel of each high-end automobile included in it. But the main focus of this game hurts it more than it helps - a highly produced storyline with blockbuster cutscenes just doesn't work here due to an underbaked script and the short length of it all. This series entry proves once again that NFS games that try to offer a grand plot just don't work as intended.

Next up on our ranked lineup of the best Need for Speed games is something you probably missed out on when its online servers were still active. NFS: World was set up as a racing game/MMO that promised an open world where you'd run into other digital racers for some constant multiplayer fun. However, that lofty setup just didn't work out as fans envisioned - there wasn't much player interaction to speak of and the usual grind that comes with most MMORPG games just didn't feel all that interesting here. NFS: World no longer exists in an official sense. But to be quite honest, you're not really missing much if you never played it when it was live.

Like most gaming franchises, NFS got a series refresh back in 2015 in order to inject some new energy into the series and return it to its days of top-notch racing game quality. From a graphical standpoint and automobile feel, this reboot hits just right. We also have to show some love to the game's expansive car customization options and stylized art style. It's just too bad that the extremely corny characters, underwhelming story, and an always-online requirement that got in the way of simply being able to pause the game tripped up this hyped-up series reboot.

We were just as shocked as you are when we found out about NFS: No Limits when it first arrived on mobile devices in 2015. This game can grow quite addictive since its short races play out well during the rush hour portion of your public commute. This mobile racer looks and sounds great, too. But you guys and gals all know the deal here when it comes to your favorite gaming IPs taking the plunge on the mobile gaming market - an aggressive microtransactions system that blocks your progress in order to force you to pay up real money to keep moving ahead rears its ugly head here.

We're going back to the early days of this series as we continue with our list of the best Need for Speed games. NFS II has so much going for it that still makes it worth an extended gameplay session to this day - the combination of a strong car selection and a worthwhile lineup of interesting tracks to take those cars on works like a charm here. Problems arise due to this game's shoddy framerate (even for the standards of the time when this game was released), an unimpressive frame rate, and a car handling feel that's just not up to par when compared to other NFS series entries' implementation of a better car control feel.

You might find this shocking to hear, but the Nintendo Wii got its own console-exclusive NFS game back in 2009 called NFS: Nitro. And for the most part, it provides a decent time for younger gamers tackling their first-ever arcade racer. The international theme of this Wii NFS experience comes through in the way tracks are presented - being able to engage in normal and drag races across the likes of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Dubai, UAE is pretty damned cool. This racer isn't all that deep and doesn't come with a defining characteristic that makes it all that memorable, sadly. While not one of the best Need for Speed games, NFS: Nitro sticks out as a solid bout of Wii motion-controlled racing.

NFS: ProStreet offers your usual gamut of commendable features that most games in the series include - we're talking well-tuned racing mechanics, a rewarding career mode structure, a satisfying array of car customization options to take advantage of, and crisp visuals that make every part of this racer look extra flashy. The biggest blemish on this game however is its lack of an open world to explore at your leisure, which is a feature that appeared in a highly revered NFS release that arrived before ProStreet (more on that one later!).

NFS Heat taps into those familiar Miami Vice vibes to give players a fictionalized version of one of the biggest party cities in the world. Hitting the road in the daytime and nighttime in the gorgeous locale of "Palm City" remains an enjoyable affair to this very day thanks to high-octane races and a clever risk/reward system that comes from earning tons of "REP" points while fighting hard to keep all of it when on the run from some vicious AI-controlled police cruisers. NFS Heat doesn't go above and beyond to revolutionize the series formula here, which makes it kind of feel like your average run-of-the-mill open-world racer. Even still, this series installment remains satisfactory enough among the NFS fanbase.

One of the more slept-on NFS games out there is NFS: Carbon, which kept us plenty busy when it popped up on the Xbox 360. The main premise here (which centers on competing in wild races against rival street racing crews and building up your own crew of AI wingmen for aid on the track) makes this racer a nice change of pace from the usual NFS gameplay formula. The lack of police chases is a definite sore spot here, though - we would have loved this game a lot more if their presence was better implemented by making them a lot more challenging to deal with.

We may never be able to afford a Porsche or even be able to test drive one in the real world. But at least NFS did us and plenty of gamers the opportunity to take those fancy rides out onto the digital road in NFS: Porsche Unleashed. The PC version of this game sticks out as one of the best Need for Speed games due to its tip-top technical performance. Getting to take the wheel with 70 Porsche automobiles ruled back then and still rules today. But to be quite honest, the PS1 version doesn't really measure up to its PC brethren plus the GBA version is completely worth ignoring.

NFS Rivals can pretty much be broken down by the following statement - Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted (2012) got together, had a baby, and that baby ended up being such a wonderful bounty of joy. This game's dynamic weather system, a two-sided campaign that lets you take on the role of a racer or cop, and applause-worthy graphical prowess made this our go-to racing game around the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One. There are some commendable car combat mechanics sprinkled in here for good measure thanks to the use of "Pursuit Tech" weapons that both sides of the law could activate while zipping across each track. The low required number of players (JUST SIX) for online multiplayer play at the time of this game's launch certainly stuck out like a sore thumb, though.

While many initially scoffed at this game's cel-shaded character designs and graffiti-inspired elements implemented into each car's custom stickers & exhaust fumes, everyone eventually came around to liking it. NFS Unbound takes inspiration from the NFS: Underground games and throws in that familiar police opposition element featured in past NFS releases to offer an arcade racer that most fans were pleased with. Now we will admit - the incredibly corny characters, storyline, and dialogue made us cringe more often than not. Thankfully, we still regard NFS Unbound as one of the best Need for Speed games thanks to its amazing soundtrack, inspired open world full of enticing tasks to complete, and illegal street racing focus that still resonates with arcade racing game fans.

Show your proper respect for the NFS game that started it all! The Need for Speed that first arrived on the 3DO is great and all, but it's the Special Edition (that came to the PS1, Sega Saturn, and PC) that will always have a special place in our hearts. At the time of its release, this game set itself up as the ultimate racer for fans that wanted a more realistic interpretation of the sport/hobby. High-quality full-motion video implementation comes into play whenever you choose the behind-the-wheel viewpoint. The additional tracks, extra selectable car, and smart usage of random non-competitive vehicles on the road plus police pursuits are what we remember most of the NFS game that first revved up the series' engines.

Fun fact - in North America, Electronic Arts played the part of publisher for this rally car racer. This explains why the Need for Speed title gets placed before the actual name of this game. So technically, V-Rally 2 is only considered a mainline NFS game here in the States. So how is it? Pretty good, actually! This official video game rep for the 1999 World Rally Championship season held us down at the time of its release thanks to a wealth of cars to hop into, meaningful single-player content, track-changing weather conditions, and a highly addictive track editor. This hybrid arcade/simulation racer definitely belongs in the top 10 ranking of the best Need for Speed games.

The feds became a bigger threat once NFS III: Hot Pursuit dropped. And due to that gameplay focus, this threequel became all the better because of it. So you have your standard races, of course. But the true fun of this racer is derived from the fights for first place on tracks littered with cop cars that don't let up. We have to salute the PC version of this game for actually letting us play the part of the cop car looking to wipe out the six cars on the track. When you're talking about legendary NFS games, you have to mention this one.

Everything we love about Hot Pursuit gets included in this amazing series entry that continued NFS' hot streak during the late 90s. The cops are still in defense mode here, which keeps the fun racers vs. police rides war that adds an extra bit of buzz to every race. Now when it comes to monumental changes, High Stakes added realistic car damage that truly made players race a bit smarter and a cash payout system that gave those same players more incentive to nab the top spot at the end of every race. What we have here is one of the more feature-rich NFS games that further solidified it as arguably the best racing game series of all time.

As huge fans of the Burnout series, imagine how ecstatic we were wh new learned that the developer behind that franchise (Criterion Games) was working on this next game on our list! NFS: Most Wanted (the 2012 version) is acknowledged as another one of the best Need for Speed games for plenty of reasons - it features a vibrant open world where ruthless cops try to knock you off the road, plus its "Most Wanted" mechanic added a boss ladder-like structure that rewarded you with new cars once you wrecked the top racers one by one. The in-game city of "Fairhaven" is one of the better NFS hub worlds that we return to every now and then. Major kudos to this game's fierce "Ambush" races that made escaping the po-po an unforgettable thrill!

Need for Speed: Shift marked a major departure from the series' signature focus on arcade-style racing as it went the Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport route. Sim racing fans got something truly special here with a game that switched up its car handling feel to make it feel as close to real life as possible. With an exceptional car roster at the heart of this game came access to some of our favorite rides - the Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda R, and Lamborghini Gallardo looked and sounded just like their real-life counterparts. And they dame sure felt like a dream when it came time to take them on the road. An engrossing career mode and one of the best car cockpit viewpoints in racers also point to the biggest positives this sim-based NFS game is known for.

The sim racer format came back strong with this follow-up that added three new crucial elements to freshen things up - nighttime racing, an in-helmet camera to reflect the realistic experience of looking through your headgear during a race, and the "Autolog" social gaming feature that gave you assorted tasks to complete from your online rivals. Everything we love about the first NFS: Shift is still present here, plus the complete offering of 145+ selectable automobiles and 36+ tracks pushed this sequel closer to being on par with the top sim racers' comparable content offerings. Shift 2: Unleashed is a top-five candidate for the best Need for Speed games due to the fact that it masters the sim racer formula of its respected predecessor.

The illegal street racing culture dominated many people's lives during the mid-to-late-2000s. The Fast and the Furious movies are a part of that trend, plus racing games such as Midnight Club gave gamers a safer and legal way to dominate the streets in a fly ride. Need for Speed followed that same culture shift with its Underground games and right now we're shouting out the second game in the sub-series. NFS: Underground 2 is the first game in the series to throw players into an open world, which provides so much freedom and unlockable areas to speed through. The new "Outrun" races happen to be our favorite debuting addition to this fantastic NFS street racer. The voice acting from the many characters involved in this game could've been a whole lot better, but those lackluster performances aren't enough to push us away from this game.

"So why'd you guys rank the original Underground before the second one?" You just had to be there, fam! NFS came back in a major way and brought in a whole new audience of fans thanks to this game. This welcome reboot hit differently in comparison to the NFS games before it thanks to a banging soundtrack, a garage jam-packed with fully customizable cars inspired by the import scene, and NFS' first-ever career mode that's backed by a storyline. The evening skies in "Olympic City" will forever be attached to our warm memories of this racer and we love to go back to it every now and then to hop into some "Knockout" races. Picking up "Style Points" for our flashiest maneuvers on the track is another dope aspect of the very first NFS: Underground. We just love this one a wee bit more than its successor!

Electronic Arts clearly knew it had a classic on its hands with NFS: Hot Pursuit because it went out of its way to remaster it. And thanks to that refreshed re-release, it still maintains its relevance among modern-day racing game fans as one of the best to ever do it. The fictional in-game city of "Seacrest County" is and always will be an enticing hub world to navigate with our chosen rides - hitting extreme speeds is fun on the side of the illegal street racers and it damn sure hits the same when you're furiously patrolling the streets in police vehicles. From a single-player standpoint, NFS: Hot Pursuit gives players so much to do and see - the DLC rollout for this game added so much more in the form of new cars, events, and online game modes. If you missed out on this game's original launch, seek out its remastered rendition to experience it at its most definitive state.

If you consider yourself a dedicated follower of anything and everything NFS, then you already knew which game was going to top this list of the best Need for Speed games. It's pretty wild how a racing game originally released in 2005 still holds up so well, right? And that's due to the fact that NFS: Most Wanted offers best-in-class street racing competitions, graphics & audio that still impress, and an aggressive police presence that adds an extra bit of tension & challenge to your illegal racing exploits. The car customization mechanics aren't all that expansive here, but it doesn't impact our enjoyment of this game whatsoever. Taking our exotic rides out into the fictional city of "Rockport" is an activity that we'll never tire of. Shout out to those super clutch "Pursuit Breakers," by the way!