Need for Speed High Stakes

[rosemarymenace]

I've been playing a lot of the mod Need for Speed High Stakes Complete Edition lately thanks to spending the holidays with my only portable gaming hardware being a PSP and it kind of made me wonder why at least in my experience, so many people seem to completely ignore High Stakes when talking about the classic series because it honestly seems like just a plain better version of NFS3 for the most part

 

[Cris_Agev]

What NFS games enter in the category of "classic series"?
Before becoming addicted with Most Wanted I used to play and old nfs that I cannot remember which one was, was before the 2000.

 

[rosemarymenace]

All the games before Hot Pursuit 2 in 2001 are considered the "classic" series generally
The Black Box developed games (with the exception of their PS2 version of Hot Pursuit 2, which was essentially a remaster/remix of the EA Seattle developed versions since iirc it even ran on the same engine) have a very distinctive approach and differ heavily in terms of gameplay even though their driving physics and approach to difficulty follow a very similar design philosophy

 

[Cris_Agev]

I read about both games, nfs3 and high stakes, and I'm the same as you. I wonder why, it does seem that high stakes is a better nfs3, both games has more or less the same amount of awards, the same positive critic reviews, yet nfs3 not only got a direct sequel but a reboot too. The only difference is that some critics says that high stakes has inconsistent frame rate, but it doesn't seem enough to cast the game into oblivion, even by EA(assuming that they never used again high stakes unique features in the rest of the series, this I don't know).

 

[rosemarymenace]

whenever I see people talk about old school NFS in general now it seems to mostly only be in the context of talking about Porsche Unleashed or Hot Pursuit (I haven't played the former because of my personal bias towards disliking Porsches)

 

[ouyrtuy]

I've been playing a lot of the mod Need for Speed High Stakes Complete Edition lately thanks to spending the holidays with my only portable gaming hardware being a PSP and it kind of made me wonder why at least in my experience, so many people seem to completely ignore High Stakes when talking about the classic series because it honestly seems like just a plain better version of NFS3 for the most part

I guess not everyone feels like exploring the classic NFS era. I have the OG NFS High Stakes version tweaked on my PC, and it's pretty solid. For me, NFS starts with High Stakes since the earlier titles didn’t have a good single-player mode and didn’t feel as engaging. High Stakes introduces more meaningful single player mode where you can buy cars and more. What I do miss from NFS3, however, are some of the circuits.

Post automatically merged: Dec 28, 2024

I've been playing a lot of the mod Need for Speed High Stakes Complete Edition lately thanks to spending the holidays with my only portable gaming hardware being a PSP and it kind of made me wonder why at least in my experience, so many people seem to completely ignore High Stakes when talking about the classic series because it honestly seems like just a plain better version of NFS3 for the most part

By the way, is the complete edition better?

 

[Waffles]

I was always addicted to Hot Pursuit, but I didn't even hear about High Stakes til much later. It's a shame, since it'd have been right up my alley.

 

[ct9983]

So if you'd played both games, you'd know that NFS3 is far more arcadey and relies a lot on drifting and over the top action.
High stakes is a pseudo sim that doesn't do any of that. But both have police chases. Thats about where the similarities end.
And yes, NFS3 has sim as an option, but only psychos played it that way

High stakes is good, but its not for beginners. And its not really for serious sim fans either. So they made a game that effectively eliminated appeal to their only potential target audiences (IMO)

Hot pursuit is as accessible as any racer I've ever played. So it got a lot larger audience.
Thats it.

 

[rosemarymenace]

I guess not everyone feels like exploring the classic NFS era. I have the OG NFS High Stakes version tweaked on my PC, and it's pretty solid. For me, NFS starts with High Stakes since the earlier titles didn’t have a good single-player mode and didn’t feel as engaging. High Stakes introduces more meaningful single player mode where you can buy cars and more. What I do miss from NFS3, however, are some of the circuits.

Post automatically merged: Dec 28, 2024

By the way, is the complete edition better?

Honestly my take, having played the PC version briefly, the ideal way to play High Stakes is to play the PC version with a few mods to remove some of the dumb restrictions on what cars can be used in cop chases, everything Complete Edition does can be accessed through modding the PC version

 

[ouyrtuy]

So if you'd played both games, you'd know that NFS3 is far more arcadey and relies a lot on drifting and over the top action.
High stakes is a pseudo sim that doesn't do any of that. But both have police chases. Thats about where the similarities end.
And yes, NFS3 has sim as an option, but only psychos played it that way

High stakes is good, but its not for beginners. And its not really for serious sim fans either. So they made a game that effectively eliminated appeal to their only potential target audiences (IMO)

Hot pursuit is as accessible as any racer I've ever played. So it got a lot larger audience.
Thats it.

But what about the Career Mode? Isn't that important? Or people never cared much about it?

 

[rosemarymenace]

I played both games and honestly the physics felt incredibly similar, High Stakes honestly felt less punishing if anything, though for some reason the PS1 version's physics are different despite being built on the same engine as the PC release, and the PS1 physics are way more punishing and difficult to get a grip on imo

Post automatically merged: Dec 28, 2024

But what about the Career Mode? Isn't that important? Or people never cared much about it?

tbf when Hot Pursuit came out it was still kind of a thing for arcade racers to barely have any "career" mode to speak of, not to mention High Stakes' career has some stupid restrictions on gameplay that make it not that enjoyable to play through past a certain point (most of my time with High Stakes and Hot Pursuit was spent doing quick races and playing multiplayer with friends tbf)

 

[ouyrtuy]

I played both games and honestly the physics felt incredibly similar, High Stakes honestly felt less punishing if anything, though for some reason the PS1 version's physics are different despite being built on the same engine as the PC release, and the PS1 physics are way more punishing and difficult to get a grip on imo

Maybe High Stakes isn’t as popular because the PS1 version was simply more punishing, so people didn’t focus on it as much. But again, wasn’t the career mode that important? I remember watching a youtuber say that High Stakes was like Hot Pursuit, but better. I’m curious to see more comments because, to me, High Stakes is the better title, at least on PC.

 

[Clippy]

High Stakes seems to be a bit of an odd duck. Out of the classic NFS games I only ever played 2,3 and Porsche back when they were relevant. I still return to 2 every once in a while even though the game is objectively nothing to write home about. It's a fun arcade racer you can play for 15 minutes and be done with it. I never even knew High Stakes existed until long after it came out and by that point the NFS series reached far higher highs with Underground 2 and Most Wanted. Seems a lot of people had similar experience. From the few retrospectives I've seen over the years it looks like it was the first NFS to have a proper career mode so props for that I guess but I'm not particularly eager to play it. Maybe one day when I'm tired of revisiting Underground 2 or 2 for my NFS fix.

my personal bias towards disliking Porsches

They don't make'em like they used to, huh?

 

[rosemarymenace]

I need to revisit Underground 1 at some point, and maybe consider playing Porsche Unleashed if I can manage to overcome my dislike for one make racing games in general and Porsche specifically

Post automatically merged: Dec 28, 2024

UG2 was actually one of the first videogames I ever played lol : )

 

[Leifang]

I can answer why one got reboots and sequels:

Hot Pursuit is a very clearly defined gimmick: racing with cops. It was a thing since first game, The Need For Speed, and only went missing in NFS2, then was, again, cut in Underground, but every time cops reappeared in the series, that was heavily marketed, so Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit subtitles were re-re-used.

High Stakes mode was a multiplayer-only gimmick similar to a pink slip race in later games, you bet your car against opponent (it's erased from memory card in PS1), and it... felt like an afterthought... BUT because it required distinct cars "owned" in your garage, not just unlocked, they had to slap a career mode on. This was a meat of the game, GT-lite but with real car damage.

Now, racing-RPGs got really huge at the time thanks to Gran Turismo, THE top selling PlayStation game. Need For Speed tried to follow that simcade formula many times, but didn't reuse "High Stakes" subtitle simply because it's ehhhhhh.... hard to sell to people? Don't mean financially, I never cared for the mode itself in 4 and it was my second-fav racer after GT2.

MANY later NFSes have a career and car customization, but they were split between "street" racers like Undegrounds, Most Wanteds, Carbon, Heat etc., and circuit ones like Porsche (really good career, physics and tuning. despite me not caring for that brand), Carbon and ProStreet. So the new titles focused on vibes instead of "you can buy, sell, and bet your car" that was NFS4's main gimmick.

Hot Pursuit is always used for the ones where you can't customize cars, right? The more arcadish games. So people know what they're getting... my fav part was Chase H.Q.-like mode where you play as a cop and RAM into other cars, we need more Destruction Derby! xD

p.s.

Playing NFS5: PU is worth it, just note that PS1 and PC versions are very different, I liked both and I agree with you on one-make racers and Porsches. If you liked Underground and want more Japanese cars, Street Racing Syndicate is pretty good. It's on Steam.

 

[JustLooking123]

Well, i hope i don't disturb the flow, but this is my not-so-unique experience and i thought I'd share it.
The only NFS game i have ever played was Porsche! (PC version)
Both Evolution Mode and Factory Driver Mode were fun! I have played them at least ten times, from beginning to end!
After that, i always had fun abusing its flawed physics and sending cars flying into sky!
There was also a wall in Industry Zone where you could pass through it, and float in the void!
I even once recorded a gameplay of it, going into wall, and after a while jumping off the roof of a building back onto the road!
Good memories!

 

[OWG]

I've been playing a lot of the mod Need for Speed High Stakes Complete Edition lately thanks to spending the holidays with my only portable gaming hardware being a PSP and it kind of made me wonder why at least in my experience, so many people seem to completely ignore High Stakes when talking about the classic series because it honestly seems like just a plain better version of NFS3 for the most part

not many people care about the classic nfs games(sadly) and the people that did for the longest time were 90s pc gaming nerds and high stakes on pc is just very much not a good game and wasnt particularly very notable especially compared to nfs3 which at the time was a landmark title in terms of game graphics
also weird how my first 2 posts on this site revolve around high stakes but then again i just really like racing games, also it feels weird reading some of this thread since porker 2000 is my favorite nfs game... the pc version that is because the PSX version isnt even on the same ballpark for me though it did feel kind of weird seeing the evolution of eden's game engine from that + v-rally 2 to test drive unlimited(there is some oddly similar stuff between psx porky and tdu1 which i found really amusing)

 

[rosemarymenace]

I almost completely forgot that PSX Porsche Unleashed was an Eden games joint, I really need to go through their back catalogue at some point because I quite enjoyed TDU1 and V-Rally 2