Need for Speed: Nitro

Did You Know?

• The soundtrack includes 26 songs with artists such as k-os, Dizzee Rascal, Danko Jones, LMFAO, Lady Sovereign, and the Crystal Method.
• An enhanced edition called Need for Speed: Nitro-X was released for DSiWare on November 15, 2010 in North America and November 26 in Europe.
• Nitro-X features six new cars, 16 updated tracks, and a new mode called 'Super Pursuit' where the player takes the role of police.

Gameplay

Need for Speed: Nitro is an arcade-style racing game that prioritizes speed and excitement over realism and vehicle tuning. The Wii version supports up to four players in races with a maximum of eight racers, and also allows up to four players in drag races. Event modes include circuits, elimination races, drift challenges, speed trap challenges, drag races, and time attack challenges. Career mode lets players compete in cups and build a vehicle roster, while Arcade Mode offers immediate races with adjustable difficulty and conditions. Police appear during most races, blocking and ramming racers to cause damage that reduces top speed and nitro capacity; police are absent from drag races. Power-up icons can repair damage or increase opponents' police heat. Players earn style points for powerslides and drafting, and nitro recharges over time; both small and powerful nitro are available, similar to the Wii version of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The 'Own It' feature textures the landscape and buildings with the leading player's car colors, graffiti, and tags, with road lines matching the car's color; staying in first place grants additional style points. The five cities are Rio de Janeiro, Cairo, Madrid, Singapore, and Dubai (with San Diego in the DS version). Each city has two full circuits and one drag track; parts of circuits are used for time trial, speed trap, and drift events. Dubai's circuits are the Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina, with the Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, and Jumeirah Beach Hotel visible. Singapore races occur at sunset; other cities race during the day. Christ the Redeemer appears in Rio de Janeiro.

Development and marketing

Under EA's new franchising model, Nitro targeted casual gamers rather than hardcore fans and was made a Nintendo exclusive. It features a large catalog of customizable licensed vehicles and police. The game is distinguished by fast, arcade racing with a cartoon/anime-like visual style similar to Blur. It is the first Need for Speed game to include traffic cars that can be bought in career mode, except for the Volkswagen Golf traffic car. A trailer on the Need for Speed website showed four cartoon-like but real-life vehicles: a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, a Nissan Skyline, an Audi R8, and a Lamborghini Reventón, along with disproportionate police vehicles like the Shelby GT500.

Reception

Need for Speed: Nitro received mixed reviews from critics. Mark Bozon of IGN stated that 'Nitro is a blast despite its faults.' 1Up.com enjoyed the title but criticized its shallow campaign, awarding a B−. Eurogamer gave a score of 5 out of 10, saying the game's 'initially endearing zest quickly degenerates into repetitive strain,' though it praised the innovative use of changing level appearance based on the player's car. Official Nintendo Magazine rated it 80%, commenting that 'Nitro doesn't do anything remarkable. It's simply fun to play.'