Need for Speed
Shares rank 7 of 10 racing games by recommenders
Recommended for its arcade-style handling, nostalgia for the early titles, and Payback as a fan favorite. Critics flag a UI color-coding problem.
Recommended for its arcade-style handling, nostalgia for the early titles, and Payback as a fan favorite. Critics flag a UI color-coding problem.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
UI color coding flagged as a problem
“color coding in video games where I myself was part of the UI team and flagged the issue”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “elect.horse”
Other racing games people recommend
The four most recommended other racing games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road Rash | 11 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Snowboard Kids 2 | 11 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Mario Kart World | 9 | 9 | 50% | 5 | — | — |
| Assetto Corsa | 8 | 2 | 80% | 6 | — | — |
| Need for SpeedThis page | 6 | 2 | 75% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“color coding in video games where I myself was part of the UI team and flagged the issue”
“That shit was better than 99% of human interactions I have.”
“The arcade-style racing handling is more satisfying to me than "realistic" racing”
“Need For Speed worked just fine for me, FWIW.”
“she's awful at it, but she likes it”
“take NFS1 or NFS3 any time over NFS2”
“Payback was my favorite in the series.”
“I grew up with NFS underground 2 and it largely inspired my love of modified cars”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.