Need for Speed: Nitro is a 2009 racing video game and the fourteenth title in the Need for Speed series. It was published by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo Wii and DS platforms. The Wii version was developed by EA Montreal, who have previous experience with Nintendo consoles, while the DS version was developed separately by Firebrand Games' Florida studio.

Nitro is the only game in the series to be released exclusively for Nintendo platforms, and one of only two games in the franchise to date (the other being the mobile No Limits) to not be released for PCs. It was one of three games announced in January, including Need for Speed: Shift and 2010's Need for Speed: World.

An enhanced edition of the DS version, Need for Speed: Nitro-X, was released for DSiWare on November 26, 2010.

Need for Speed: Nitro is an arcade style racing game that emphasizes speed and excitement over realism and vehicle tuning. The Wii version allows up to four players to race, with a maximum of eight racers at once. The Wii version lets up to four racers compete in drag races, too.

Events feature different modes, namely circuits, elimination races, drift challenges, speed trap challenges, drag races, and time attack challenges. Career mode allows players to compete in several cups and build up a roster of vehicles, while Arcade Mode lets players immediately jump into a race with customized difficulty and race conditions. During races, police will attempt to block and ram racers, causing damage that will reduce the players' top speed and amount of nitro available. Police are not in drag races. The game features power-up icons in the race that immediately repair vehicle damage or increase your opponents' police heat level. During a race, players are awarded "style points" based on performing powerslides and drafting, and nitro is recharged over time. There is small nitro and powerful nitro similar to the Wii version of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

The game has an aesthetic feature called "Own It"; while a player is in the lead, the surrounding landscape and buildings are textured with their car's colors, graffiti, and tags, all of which can be created with the game's new car customization system. Lines on the road will also have the color of the car colors. The "Own it" feature is a convenient way to indicate the race leader, and players get additional style points for staying in first place.

The five cities that in which are in the game are Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Cairo, Egypt Madrid, Spain, Singapore, and Dubai, UAE (and San Diego in the DS version). Each city has two full race circuits, one track for drag racing, and the game takes certain parts of a circuit for time trial, speed trap, and drift events. The two circuits in Dubai are the Palm Jumeirah (artificial islands) and the Dubai Marina. The tracks for drag racing are almost in straight lines. In Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, the Burj Al Arab, and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel are seen in the video game while racing. In Singapore, races take place during sunset. In all the other cities, races take place during the day. In Rio de Janeiro, Christ the Redeemer can be seen.

There are 35 opponents with names in the Wii version of the game, although five of them are "leaders", one for each city, and receive cinematic treatment in the form of a quick intro full motion video when the player first accesses a city in each cup.