Snow White: Happily Ever After

Did you like those stories your heard at your bedside? Thanks to Sofel Corp, you can now live out the adventures of Snow White in her battle with the forces of evil.

Everyone knows Snow White lived happily ever after, but now you have the chance to bring her out of retirement for yet another enchanted adventure.

After blowing a flat with its disappointing outing last year, the Need for Speed series seems to be back on track with the kind of fast, fun action that Need II sorely lacked.

Under the Hood

Half the fun of Need for Speed has always been the slick rides, and Need Ill's got'em, offering eight exotic cars like the Ferrari 550, the Lamborghini Countach, the Jaguar XJR-15, and the like. The 10 circuit courses include shortcuts and branching paths (like SF Rush), but there are still none of the awesome point-to-point tracks of the original game. However, a new Pursuit mode should jack up the adrenaline as you dodge relentless cops who set up roadblocks and lay out chains of tire spikes.

Game speed was one of the big problems in Need II, but EA's guaranteeing a performance of at least 30 frames per second, which is pretty quick. Also, opponents should put up a better fight as CPU cars will retaliate for being cut off, rammed, or otherwise offended.

On the Track

While the unfinished version we played had only one functioning car and track, it was already clear that the speed has returned to Need for Speed. The action moved at a quick pace, and the responsive handling made the racing raucous. But the arresting night lighting, which produces the eerie glare of cops' sirens and the stark contrast between high and low beams, stood out as one of the game's coolest touches. If everything comes together as planned (and last year, it didn't with Need II), Need III could finish as one of the top racing games of 1998.