Need for Speed II, released in Japan as Over Drivin' II, is a 1997 racing video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It is a part of the Need for Speed series and follows Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed, significantly deviating from the emphasis of realism in The Need for Speed to arcade-like gameplay, though it introduces car tuning. As does its predecessor, Need for Speed II features several exotic cars, and includes tracks set in various parts of the world. The game also opted to remove police pursuits introduced in The Need for Speed.

There are three main game types. The first two are single race and tournament and the last is a knockout race. Single races allow players to become familiar with the circuits and increase their skill of any one of the six tracks. The six tracks are called Mediterranean, Mystic Peaks, Proving Grounds, Outback, North Country, and Pacific Spirit. Cars that are playable from the start include the McLaren F1, Ferrari F50, Ford GT90, Jaguar XJ220, Lotus GT1 and Lotus Espirit V8, Italdesign Cala, and the Isdera Commendatore 112i. A bonus car, the Ford Indigo concept, can be unlocked as well. The game features extensive multi-player options including two to eight players over a LAN, by modem or serial connection and with split-screen racing.

Need for Speed (NFS) is a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts (EA) and developed by several studios including Canadian-based company EA Black Box and British-based Criterion Games. It was originally developed by the Canadian-based company Distinctive Software, which became known as EA Canada.

The series released its first title, The Need for Speed in 1994. Initially, Need for Speed was exclusive to the fifth generation video game consoles, eventually featuring in all seventh generation consoles by 2008. The titles consist of racing with different cars on various tracks, with some titles including police pursuits in races. Since Need for Speed: Underground, the series has integrated car body customization into gameplay.

Need for Speed is the most successful racing video game series in the world, and one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. As of October 2009, over 100 million copies of games in the Need for Speed series have been sold.

The Need for Speed (NFS) series are racing games, all of which employ the same fundamental rules and have similar mechanics. In each game, the player controls a race car in a variety of races, the goal being to win the race. In the tournament/career mode, the player must win a series of races in order to unlock vehicles, tracks, etc. Before playing each race, the player chooses a vehicle to race in and has the option of choosing the transmission of the vehicle, which includes automatic and manual transmission. All games in the series have some form of multiplayer mode allowing players to race one another via split screen, LAN or the Internet.