Racing tracks range from desert canyons to countryside villages, as well as snow-capped mountain ranges. It also allowed spawn installations of itself to be installed on other machines. The game supports network play through a serial port, modem, or IPX, and online gaming through TCP/IP protocol. The standard 'Tournament' mode consists of eight opponents in a four-lap race on randomly selected tracks and choices made by the player as in the knockout mode take effect when the tournament is started. All other drivers advance to the next round and carry on with the battle until there is only one player left, who technically wins the knockout competition. Each race consists of two laps where the driver who finishes last will be eliminated from the race lineup. The 'Knockout' mode consists of seven races with eight racers on randomly chosen tracks, in which conditions such as selected difficulty, weather, and so on that the player has chosen before starting the race-series will apply. The two-player split-screen mode allows two players to race using the same computer.

Completing the Hot Pursuit challenges in both roles in the PC version on every track of the game unlocks additional police sports cars. The PC version also contains a role reversal variation in which players select a police version of a sports car to pursue and stop all six racers before they complete the race. The second category is dubbed 'Hot Pursuit', where police pursuits are included in races the mode allows the player to select a standard sports car to race against a single opponent in a police-scattered track. The first encompasses standard racing, as it has been in its predecessors, The Need for Speed and Need for Speed II, in which the player is allowed to race against one (including split-screen races) or seven other racers in normal circuit racers, knockouts, or tournaments (which allow the player to unlock bonus vehicles and a bonus track). With police pursuits reintegrated into the game, Hot Pursuit 's gameplay now consists of two categories.

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