Best games
The best EA Black Box games
The 10 best games from EA Black Box, ranked from 5,313 critic and player ratings.
The best EA Black Box game is Need for Speed: Most Wanted, with a critic score of 85/100. Updated September 2026.
- Ranked releases span 2003 to 2012.
- Average critic score across the 10 ranked games: 77/100.
- 5,313 critic and player ratings behind this ranking.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 1970 to 2026.
- 10 games are listed on this page, carrying 5,313 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 29 September 2026.
Top 10
01
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes on the gameplay style of the first Most Wanted title in the Need for Speed franchise. Most Wanted allows players to select one car and compete against other racers in three types of events: Sprint races, which involves traveling from one point of the city to another, Circuit races, each having two or three laps total and Speed runs, which involve traversing through a course in the highest average speed possible. There is also the Ambush races, which start with the player surrounded by cops and tasked to evade their pursuit as quickly as possible.
85
/100
02
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a single-player racing video game and the ninth installment in the Need for Speed series, following Underground 2. The game centers on street-racing gameplay, featuring a variety of events and racing circuits set within the fictional city of Rockport.
85
/100
03
Skate 3
Skate 3 features an all-new co-op mode where teammates can complete challenges together while advancing each other’s careers. From rewarding epic bails and fails with a beefed up Hall of Meat mode to honing your craft with the all-new skate.School, players of all skill levels have multiple ways to “kill it” in the game. The franchise also continues to raise the bar for user created content with the skate.Create feature suite, an innovative toolset that empowers gamers to truly express their skate style by creating their own graphics, videos, and skate parks.
84
/100
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes on the gameplay style of the first Most Wanted title in the Need for Speed franchise. Most Wanted allows players to select one car and compete against other racers in three types of events: Sprint races, which involves traveling from one point of the city to another, Circuit races, each having two or three laps total and Speed runs, which involve traversing through a course in the highest average speed possible. There is also the Ambush races, which start with the player surrounded by cops and tasked to evade their pursuit as quickly as possible.
85
/100
02
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a single-player racing video game and the ninth installment in the Need for Speed series, following Underground 2. The game centers on street-racing gameplay, featuring a variety of events and racing circuits set within the fictional city of Rockport.
85
/100
03
Skate 3
Skate 3 features an all-new co-op mode where teammates can complete challenges together while advancing each other’s careers. From rewarding epic bails and fails with a beefed up Hall of Meat mode to honing your craft with the all-new skate.School, players of all skill levels have multiple ways to “kill it” in the game. The franchise also continues to raise the bar for user created content with the skate.Create feature suite, an innovative toolset that empowers gamers to truly express their skate style by creating their own graphics, videos, and skate parks.
84
/100
04
Skate 2
It's been five long years since your mysterious disappearance from the skate scene, and much has changed in the wake of "the disaster-too-gnarly-to-be-named." The massive devastation left large swaths of San Vanelona completely destroyed. After the mass evacuation, one company, Mongocorp, won the bid to rebuild New San Vanelona and their zealous protection of their private property has put a damper on the once thriving skate population. Your mission is to rebuild your career and revive the New San Van skate scene. To help you get the job done, you'll have double the tricks and the new ability to get off your board to move stuff and create the sickest lines. There's even a crew of locals you can call on to help take care of business. Skate 2--it's time to take back the city ... one spot at a time.
84
/100
05
Need for Speed: Underground 2
Need For Speed Underground 2 takes place in Bayview after the events of Need for Speed: Underground. The prologue begins with the player driving in a Nissan 350Z in Olympic City (though the racing scenes are actually in Bayview), the setting of NFS:UG. He then receives a race challenge from a rather ominous personality who offers him a spot on his crew, but "won't take 'no' for an answer." The player races off — despite Samantha's warnings — only to be ambushed by a mysterious driver in a rage that totals his Skyline. The driver, who has a unique scythe tattoo, makes a call confirming the accident, and the flashback fades out.
78
/100
06
Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: Underground is a 2003 racing video game and the seventh installment in the Need for Speed series. It rebooted the franchise, ignoring previous Need for Speed games that featured sports cars and exotics. Underground is the first game in the series to offer a career mode that features a comprehensive storyline, as well as a garage mode that allows players to fully customize their cars with a large variety of brand-name performance and visual upgrades.
76
/100
07
Need for Speed: ProStreet
Compete at the highest level of street racing with Need for Speed ProStreet. It’s no longer good enough to simply rule your local neighborhood; you need to dominate on a global stage. Build the ultimate battle machine, take it to multi-disciplinary showdowns and pit your skills and reputation against the world’s best street racers.
72
/100
08
Need for Speed: Carbon
Need for Speed: Carbon, also known as NFS Carbon or NFSC, is an Electronic Arts video game in the Need for Speed series. It is the tenth installment and was the first game in the series to gain the PEGI rating of 12+. The game is a sequel to 2005's Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
70
/100
09
Need for Speed: The Run
Need for Speed The Run lures players into an underground world of illicit, high-stakes racing. The heat is on - and it isn't just the fuzz who are after you. Entering the race is just the beginning as you blow across borders, weave through dense urban traffic, rocket down icy mountain passes and navigate narrow canyons at breakneck speeds. Powered by DICE's state-of-the-art Frostbite 2 engine, Need for Speed The Run takes the action racing genre to new heights with stunning visuals and car physics that hug the road even at top speeds all built around a gripping storyline. The cars are hot, the racing is intense and the story will have you at the edge of your seat… all the way from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Empire State building.
66
/100
10
Need For Speed Undercover
The Need for Speed series got another dose of Hollywood magic with the release of Undercover. Take on jobs and compete in races to prove yourself as you infiltrate and take down an international crime syndicate. As you win each race, you’ll go deeper into the underworld web that rules Tri-City… and then tear it apart right under their noses. You make the calls, but don’t break your cover: inside the car or out of it, one mistake here could be your last.
65
/100
Skate 2
It's been five long years since your mysterious disappearance from the skate scene, and much has changed in the wake of "the disaster-too-gnarly-to-be-named." The massive devastation left large swaths of San Vanelona completely destroyed. After the mass evacuation, one company, Mongocorp, won the bid to rebuild New San Vanelona and their zealous protection of their private property has put a damper on the once thriving skate population. Your mission is to rebuild your career and revive the New San Van skate scene. To help you get the job done, you'll have double the tricks and the new ability to get off your board to move stuff and create the sickest lines. There's even a crew of locals you can call on to help take care of business. Skate 2--it's time to take back the city ... one spot at a time.
84
/100
05
Need for Speed: Underground 2
Need For Speed Underground 2 takes place in Bayview after the events of Need for Speed: Underground. The prologue begins with the player driving in a Nissan 350Z in Olympic City (though the racing scenes are actually in Bayview), the setting of NFS:UG. He then receives a race challenge from a rather ominous personality who offers him a spot on his crew, but "won't take 'no' for an answer." The player races off — despite Samantha's warnings — only to be ambushed by a mysterious driver in a rage that totals his Skyline. The driver, who has a unique scythe tattoo, makes a call confirming the accident, and the flashback fades out.
78
/100
06
Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: Underground is a 2003 racing video game and the seventh installment in the Need for Speed series. It rebooted the franchise, ignoring previous Need for Speed games that featured sports cars and exotics. Underground is the first game in the series to offer a career mode that features a comprehensive storyline, as well as a garage mode that allows players to fully customize their cars with a large variety of brand-name performance and visual upgrades.
76
/100
07
Need for Speed: ProStreet
Compete at the highest level of street racing with Need for Speed ProStreet. It’s no longer good enough to simply rule your local neighborhood; you need to dominate on a global stage. Build the ultimate battle machine, take it to multi-disciplinary showdowns and pit your skills and reputation against the world’s best street racers.
72
/100
08
Need for Speed: Carbon
Need for Speed: Carbon, also known as NFS Carbon or NFSC, is an Electronic Arts video game in the Need for Speed series. It is the tenth installment and was the first game in the series to gain the PEGI rating of 12+. The game is a sequel to 2005's Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
70
/100
09
Need for Speed: The Run
Need for Speed The Run lures players into an underground world of illicit, high-stakes racing. The heat is on - and it isn't just the fuzz who are after you. Entering the race is just the beginning as you blow across borders, weave through dense urban traffic, rocket down icy mountain passes and navigate narrow canyons at breakneck speeds. Powered by DICE's state-of-the-art Frostbite 2 engine, Need for Speed The Run takes the action racing genre to new heights with stunning visuals and car physics that hug the road even at top speeds all built around a gripping storyline. The cars are hot, the racing is intense and the story will have you at the edge of your seat… all the way from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Empire State building.
66
/100
10
Need For Speed Undercover
The Need for Speed series got another dose of Hollywood magic with the release of Undercover. Take on jobs and compete in races to prove yourself as you infiltrate and take down an international crime syndicate. As you win each race, you’ll go deeper into the underworld web that rules Tri-City… and then tear it apart right under their noses. You make the calls, but don’t break your cover: inside the car or out of it, one mistake here could be your last.
65
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best EA Black Box game?
Need for Speed: Most Wanted currently tops the ranking with a score of 85/100 across 432 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.