Memory Lane Time Lapse - NFS: High Stakes

1999 Need for Speed: High Stakes [PC] Track list: 0:15 - Celtic Ruins (Scotland) 1:15 - Landstrasse (Germany) 2:12 - Dolphin Cove (.) 3:13 - Kindiak Park (Canada) 4:10 - Route Adonf (France) 5:12 - Durham Road (England) 6:06 - Snowy Ridge (.) 7:18 - Raceway (Italy) 8:12 - Raceway 2 (.) 9:07 - Raceway 3 (Spain) Considered by many old school fans to be the pinnacle of NFS during its golden age, 1999 was the year the follow-up to the successful Hot Pursuit title was released. This time, High Stakes was the name of the game; figuratively and literally. High Stakes included 19 tracks to choose from; 9 of which were brought over from NFS 3 and can be unlocked from the “Memory Lane“ event in career mode. The HP tracks of course were only available for PC (a fair tradeoff I think since the PC didn’t get the awesome bonus cars from the PS1 version). Many new features were introduced to the series; the major one being the career mode that implemented a monetary system. So not only did you have to pay for the cars you collected, you also had to pay for any damage received from races; another new feature to the series. And we can’t forget about car modifications, which unfortunately was exclusive to career mode. Yes, contrary to what most fans of the series believe, car modding did not start with Porsche Unleashed or the Underground series. Although it was simply leveling up your ride 3 stages, which in turn enhanced the performance and appearance of your car (different wheels, exhaust, aerodynamics, pinstripes, etc.). So there wasn’t any customizing per se, but the car upgrade feature was definitely a welcome edition. Being the fourth installment to the series, EA brought back many elements from the first 3 games to deliver the most cumulative NFS at the time. Exotics and iconic sports cars? Global themed locations? The thrill of the chase? Yup, it had it all, and as such, was considered in my opinion the best game that perfectly represented the concept of the series during the 90’s. Oh yeah, don’t forget about the kickass soundtrack. Highly recommended if you’ve never experienced any of the early NFS games. Disclaimer: I’m not responsible for any vomit-inducing motion sickness that may ensue from watching this. Enjoy the ride. ;) Featured music: 1. Crispin Hands - Bionic 2. Rom Di Prisco - Liquid Plasma 3. Saki Kaskas - Bulbular Swirl 4. Saki Kaskas - Bulbulous Swirl Other composers that worked on the amazing soundtrack: Dastrix, DJ Icey, Dylan Rhymes, Junkie XL, Lunatic Calm, Surreal Madrid, The Experiment, and The Funk Lab. *nGlide was used to emulate 3dfx*