About The Need for Speed
The game’s full title is Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed. EA Canada developed it with Pioneer Productions, the two studios credited on the front cover, and Electronic Arts released it for the 3DO in December 1994. It is the first game in the Need for Speed series.
Versions with extra tracks followed for MS-DOS in September 1995, for the PlayStation in March 1996 and for the Sega Saturn in June 1996. A Windows release subtitled SE came out in North America at the end of 1996 and in Europe in January 1997. Hanno Lemke produced the game, and Jeff van Dyck and Saki Kaskas wrote its music. The original offered both single-player and multiplayer modes.
The copy on DOS.Zone is the September 1995 MS-DOS release, so it includes the additional tracks that the 3DO version lacked. It is also one of the most-reviewed games on the site, with a five-star average from 4,879 player reviews.
How it runs in your browser
Pressing Play takes you to the game’s page on dos.zone in a new tab. DOS.Zone runs the DOS release inside an emulated PC using js-dos, its open-source build of the DOSBox emulator made for the browser. The game files come from DOS.Zone’s servers, so you don’t need a copy of the game, a disc or an installer. There is no account to create, and DOS.Zone doesn’t show ads.
Online racing isn’t part of this listing, so treat it as a single-player game. The page doesn’t say whether your settings or results are kept between visits, so don’t rely on that.
Controls and devices
A keyboard is all you need. DOS.Zone doesn’t list the key layout for this game, so look through the game’s own options or the notes on the DOS.Zone page before your first race. DOS.Zone also offers virtual on-screen controls on phones, but this game was designed around a keyboard, and a desktop or laptop is the better fit. Chromebooks haven’t been confirmed either way.
Who it’s for
This page suits anyone who wants to see where Need for Speed started, and players who remember the DOS version from the mid-1990s and want a quick race without setting up an emulator.
It also works as a starting point for a tour of the series. Need for Speed: Underground 2 from 2004 and the 2005 Need for Speed: Most Wanted both run in a browser through fan ports, and both offer online races. For an older racer built around jumps and loops, Stunts comes from Distinctive Software, the studio that later became EA Canada, and it runs on DOS.Zone too.
Is The Need for Speed Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play the original Need for Speed online for free?
Yes. DOS.Zone runs the 1995 MS-DOS version in your browser for free, with no account and nothing to install. It’s a single-player listing, so there are no online races.
Is this the 3DO version or the PC version?
It’s the PC version: the MS-DOS release from September 1995, which added tracks that the 1994 3DO original didn’t have.
Does The Need for Speed work on a phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls on phones, but the game was made for a keyboard. A desktop or laptop is the better choice.
