menu Home chevron_right
SCIENCE

I Drove My Childhood Favorite Racing Game In Real Life

Tom Scott | December 26, 2025



When I was a kid, I played the demo version of Need for Speed II a lot. Just the demo: it came free on a CD with a monthly computer magazine. Every detail of that one demo track was stored in my head, long-dormant… until I ended up in Vancouver, and memories started surfacing in very odd ways.

🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)

📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: https://www.tomscott.com/newsletter/
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/
➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: https://youtube.com/tomscottplus
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif

Written by Tom Scott

Comments

This post currently has 31 comments.

  1. @Derek_Read

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    I'm from Vancouver and raced this particular track with my best friend hundreds of times, split screen and typing on the same keyboard.
    When we found the cheat code for the school bus we spent dozens of hours trying to perfect landing the jump where this track passes by Spanish Bank. And nothing beats driving a school bus backwards through your own city.
    We're 55 now and we still reminisce about this game every once in a while.

  4. @NotSteveCook

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    Without knowing this, I tended to see the Pacific Spirit course as Vancouver because the final chicanes (under the overpasses) reminded me of the old Molson Indy Vancouver circuit (1990-1997 layout).

  6. @tren-y2m

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    I thought "wow how cool that Tom was able to rekindle with his childhood game" and then I found out that EA Vancouver is 10 minutes away from me

  10. @jalen8r

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    Came straight back here after the goodbye video, I think this is your best one. Thank you for the years you’ve put in here Scott. Glad to see you took your own advice

  15. @unnamedracer9757

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    This is exactly why real tracks and locations are so important to racing games

    This is effectively the primary reason I want to go to places like the Hoonigan garage or Pikes Peak.

  21. @starbase218

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    Vancouver is cool. I've been there. People don't engage too much with strangers out of their own accord, at least in my experience, but I met some very friendly people. And being a Dutchie, I had an "uitsmijter" (bouncer) at De Dutch (it's a breakfast dish).

    Also, I rented a big SUV (because in Canada that's not antisocial, whereas it is in The Netherlands) and drove across that bridge and onto Whistler.

  24. @glennmainmain9880

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    Thanks for making me remember of my childhood. I remembered my father bought me a computer with Windows XP and this NFS II game also installed there. Pacific Spirit (based on Vancouver) is one of my favourite tracks because of its long straight sections, while the least favourite is the Mystic Peaks of Nepal (I don't know but there's something that makes me afraid at my childhood).

  27. @YoSomePerson

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    in 2010 Ubisoft released Assassins Creed 2, I loved the game, played it all the way through. Not long after by sheer coincidence I made class trip to Italy. When we visited Florence you cannot imagine the shock I got from recoginzing so many buildings in real life that I climbed upon in a fictional virtual reality. I will never forget this experience.

  28. @cyrilespejo

    December 26, 2025 at 1:37 am

    im a vancouverite. i always thought that vancouver was that boring city in british columbia thats inferior to a city like new york. i didnt even consider it a city. it looked like a dull strip of buildings in the distance. what i didnt know was that vancouver, is a canvas for anything. big movies and tv shows, a hub full of diversity, and need for speed II. im proud to be a son of such an influential city,

Comments are closed.

Related
How Additive Synthesis Works
Benn Jordan | April 18, 2026
Related
The Most Insane Megaproject You Never Heard About
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell | April 18, 2026
Related
All The Ghosts You Will Be
Vsauce | April 17, 2026

This area can contain widgets, menus, shortcodes and custom content. You can manage it from the Customizer, in the Second layer section.

 

 

 

Go to album
  • play_circle_filled

    92.9 : The Torch

  • play_circle_filled

    AGGRO
    'Til Deaf Do Us Part...

  • play_circle_filled

    SLACK!
    The Music That Made Gen-X

  • play_circle_filled

    KUDZU
    The Northwoods' Alt-Country & Americana

  • play_circle_filled

    BOOZHOO
    Indigenous Radio

  • play_circle_filled

    THE FLOW
    The Northwoods' Hip Hop and R&B

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play