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Category:
GAME GUIDES

How to Play the Need for Speed Games in Order

Image of Matthew Kevin Mitchell
Matthew Kevin Mitchell
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Published: Dec 7, 2022 04:05 pm

Are you wondering how to play the Need for Speed games in order? Did you crush through the latest entry, Need for Speed Unbound, or are you looking to catch up on titles you missed playing back in the day? This may be a tough decision because there have been an insane 25 titles created since the Need for Speed debuted in 1994. However, the Need for Speed has been one of the most reliable racing game franchises for almost 20 years, and we get a new entry every two years. Here is everything you need to know about how to play the Need for Speed games in order so you can experience the franchise’s evolution.

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How to Play the Need for Speed Games in Order

The-Need-for-Speed

The only games that carry the story from one title to the next are Need for Speed: Underground, Need for Speed: Underground 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2005, and Need for Speed: Carbon. You can view the main story arc similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the games’ stories above are in the same universe but aren’t directly related. Still, if you genuinely want them in the order, you should do so by the order they were released in. Since none of the other games are related to each other, you can play them in release order, which will be how we recommend you play all 25 Need for Speed games, as shown below:

  1. The Need for Speed (1994)
  2. Need for Speed 2 (1997)
  3. Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit (1998)
  4. Need for Speed: High Stakes (1999)
  5. Need for Speed: Porsche Unreleased (2000)
  6. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002)
  7. Need for Speed: Underground (2003)
  8. Need for Speed: Underground (2004)
  9. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
  10. Need for Speed: Carbon (2006)
  11. Need for Speed; ProStreet (2007)
  12. Need for Speed: Undercover (2008)
  13. Need for Speed: Shift (2009)
  14. Need for Speed: Nitro (2009)
  15. Need for Speed: World (2010)
  16. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010)
  17. Shift 2: Unleashed (2011)
  18. Need for Speed: The Run (2011)
  19. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
  20. Need for Speed: Rivals (2013)
  21. Need for Speed: No Limits (2015)
  22. Need for Speed (2015)
  23. Need for Speed Payback (2017)
  24. Need for Speed Heat (2019)
  25. Need for Speed Unbound (2022)

Note: While there are a few other spin-off games, the above list hits all mainline games.

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Author
Image of Matthew Kevin Mitchell
Matthew Kevin Mitchell
Matthew Kevin Mitchell has been a contributing writer for Attack of the Fanboy and PC Invasion since 2022. Matthew primarily covers Manga like One Piece, horror movies like Scream, and survival horror games like Dead by Daylight. His favorite moment came during his first press event covering Scream 6 for AotF. He hails from Denver, Colorado, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Regis University. When he isn’t scaring himself silly or writing, he loves to play ice hockey, spoil his dog, and drink an unhealthy amount of coffee.
twitter Link to matthewkevinmitchell.com