Over the last 30 years, the Need for Speed franchise has reinvented itself with a wide range of titles, mixing new genres, gameplay, and visuals to keep the series feeling fresh.

But rewind to 1994, and the first Need for Speed was a fairly typical point-to-point arcade racer. You had some real licensed cars – including the Lamborghini Diablo and Honda NSX – a selection of routes and the option to race with (or without) opponents.

By the time Underground was released in 2003, the racing environment followed an ‘open world’ theme with the addition of a proper career mode and integrated storyline. The more you honed your skills and progressed, the more cars and parts you’d unlock. All while seeking out racers and challenges while driving around Olympic City.

What about Shift and ProStreet? Often overshadowed in Need for Speed’s history, both titles adopted a more sim-racing approach to their gameplay, with the career mode very much staying on the ‘right’ side of the law rather than any illegal racing.

Was it right for the series? At the time, probably so, and in hindsight, these titles still stand up as being brilliant fun without taking themselves too seriously. Don’t forget the world has changed immensely in the last three decades, so it’s only natural the gaming world do the same.

But there’s one particular theme which has recurred more in Need for Speed history than any other. A theme which has actually been present since day one and still remains active in the very latest. We’re talking about Hot Pursuit – a series which is now responsible for no fewer than four standalone games, as well as appearing in multiple others, including the latest volume update for Unbound nicknamed Cops vs. Racers.

So, what is it about this particular format which we just can’t get enough of? And why is it still such a prolific addition, even in modern Need for Speed titles?

It’s easy to forget that cops have featured in NFS ever since the first game back in 1994. Granted, they’d pop up randomly and only briefly try and obstruct you (as opposed to being caught or arrested), but when your game’s premise revolves around fast cars driving fast on the road, it’s only natural to have some kind of police presence…

But it wouldn’t be until the third instalment of Need for Speed launched in 1998 that the very first Hot Pursuit format was born.

Genesis – Need for Speed: III Hot Pursuit

Need for Speed wasn’t the first racing game to incorporate police – you can trace that back to the likes of Road Rash and Turbo Outrun from the late 1980s and early ’90s. But what Hot Pursuit did was spin this format on its head and turn the police element into its very own gameplay mode rather than a feature within the ‘standard’ racing.

Within Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit lurked two game modes – the first a standard, head-to-head utilising circuits and routes with a tournament function. The second? A new ‘Hot Pursuit’ function where dedicated police pursuits then became the main factor in each race. Not only are you battling another racer, but the environment becomes a pitfall littered with cops trying to stop you at all costs.

Factor in the ability to ‘role reverse’, and suddenly the speed-hunted becomes the speed-hunter… get it? Terrible puns aside, the ability to join the dark side was a unique feature implemented by Hot Pursuit and the first of its kind to do so. Not only could you assume the role of the police, but you also had some properly special cars at your disposal – including the Chevrolet Corvette – to help apprehend and arrest the other racers.

On a separate note, Hot Pursuit also introduced the Need for Speed world to in-game car tuning, something which is now a given in just about every racing game regardless of genre. Granted, tuning in Hot Pursuit was a tad basic with the likes of brake balance, gear ratios and other mechanical elements, but this still paved the way for tuning to appear in all NFS games from that moment onwards.

New Platforms, Same Format – Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit II

Four years later would see the second instalment drop, handily known as Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit II. But it wasn’t the next NFS game to be launched after the original – during those four years, both High Stakes and Porsche Unleashed had subsequently been released.

However, what made Hot Pursuit II different was the fact it’d be the first Need for Speed title to launch on the next-gen gaming consoles of the early 2000s, including the Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube… remember that?

Given the new capabilities of these next-gen consoles, it made perfect sense to rekindle an old title like Hot Pursuit to allow somewhat of a direct comparison between the two – especially as the original had been received so positively. But Hot Pursuit II would be much more than a jazzed-up version of the original…

Once again, Hot Pursuit was split into two modes – ‘World Racing’ for more traditional head-to-head races, and ‘Hot Pursuit,’ which now features multiple different modes, including the ‘Ultimate Racer’ which then adds police into races who don’t just try and slow you down, but actively capture you too.

Aside from the improved graphics and gameplay, one of the best new elements for Hot Pursuit II was the various toys added while playing as the police. Typically, you’d need to ram speeding vehicles multiple times to disable them. But Hot Pursuit II now introduces spike strips, barricades and even helicopter assistance.

Then there’s the car selection. Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar, McLaren, Porsche and many others. Sure, there were games out there boasting more models, but Hot Pursuit II features those ‘halo’ supercars of the time – many of which had only just been released while introducing Need for Speed Edition models that came fully upgraded compared to the stock cars. Something that is still implemented in Need for Speed games today.

But with Underground and Most Wanted just around the corner – two titles which would truly define the Need for Speed brand and its focus on car tuning and customisation, it wouldn’t be until 2010 that the Hot Pursuit name would make another appearance.

Retro Revival – Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) & Hot Pursuit Remastered

When the official game trailer (launched back in 2010) features a police Bugatti Veyron chasing down a Koenigsegg CCX, you know from the get-go that Hot Pursuit (2010) would be taking that initial concept from 1998 and dialling it up to 11.

Its format once again harked back to the original Hot Pursuit, with gamers able to play either as the cops or racers, but unlike previous versions, the 2010 edition introduced an entire career mode for both sides of the law.

Now, you’d think with playable cars like the Koenigsegg CCX, Pagani Zonda and McLaren MP4-12C that evading police would be pretty straightforward. But Hot Pursuit (2010) went to town on the police AI and strategy. Not only were pursuit vehicles equally as fast but the tools at their disposal were beefed up to include radar jammers, EMPs and even the ability to call for a helicopter to drop spike strips ahead of racers.

Almost all the cars featured in Hot Pursuit (2010) could be used by either side, too. Custom soundtracks were added to accompany the badass in-game track list (which included artists like M.I.A, Deadmau5 and Pendulum) while key elements like the open-world format – once again set in Seacrest County – were retained to give gamers the option to freely drive around looking for challenges at their own pace before embarking on head-to-head carnage.

Consider Hot Pursuit (2010) as a fully refined version of the original concept. Yes, the graphics seem otherworldly compared to the original, and the overall pace of racing feels massively faster and more intense, but the concept remained the same.

Hunt or be hunted. And with so many racing games focused on the quest for perfecting your driving skills to an almost sim level, the Hot Pursuit concept remains a breath of fresh air for those wanting fast, arcade fun without the frustration of missing your apex.

If you’re a regular to Speedhunters or the Need for Speed series, you’ll know the Hot Pursuit mode is back as an online addition for Unbound: Volume 8, which continues to show just how adaptable this format has been some 26 years since its original launch.

Whether you’re an adult who remembers those first few titles and loves the nostalgia, or a younger gamer enjoying the fast-paced action from the more clinical sim racing, Hot Pursuit still feels as entertaining now as it did all of those years ago.

The real question is, given the choice to play only one variant for the rest of time, which game are you firing up? Let us know in the comments below.

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