Games like Need for Speed: neon, nitro and police

Forza Horizon 5 is the big open-world pick after Need for Speed. CarX Street and Asphalt Legends bring street racing to the phone. Roam street racers and drift games are at the bottom.

What Need for Speed is known for

Need for Speed is Electronic Arts' racing series, started in 1994. Underground, Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit made it the home of night street races, police chases and deep car tuning. Need for Speed Unbound, from 2022, added a street-art look with cartoon effects.

Fans usually want one of three things: neon city races, cop chases, or building and tuning a car. The picks below are tagged by which one they do best.

On PC and console

Forza Horizon 5. Playground Games' 2021 open world set in Mexico. Huge car list and constant events. On Xbox, PC and, since 2025, PS5.
The Crew Motorfest. Ubisoft's 2023 racing festival on a Hawaiian island, with cars, bikes, boats and planes.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered. The 2020 remaster for pure cop chases: race, or be the police.
Burnout Paradise Remastered. Criterion's open city of crashes and takedowns, remastered in 2018.

On phones

CarX Street. CarX Technologies' open-world street racer with tuning and drifting.
Asphalt Legends. Gameloft's free nitro arcade racer, formerly Asphalt 9: Legends.
Need for Speed No Limits. EA's own mobile Need for Speed, with street races and car builds.
UNDERGLOW: Interstate Nights (Roam). Neon street racing and traffic weaving.
Sideways After Dark (Roam). A night drift racer in a neon harbor.
NEON HOLESHOT (Roam). Neon drag racing. Rev, shift in the gold, nitro.
Sunset Mile (Roam). An arcade coastal road racer.
Pixel Drift Rally (Roam). Hold to drift, tap for nitro, pass them all.