I always used a joystick with arcade racers because I have had one since MS Flight Simulator 3. I played NFS 3, 4 & 5 with a joystick. NFS 5 Porsche was my favorite, the online component was a lot of fun and the cars where really fast if you 'railed' (e-brake into a turn & ride the guard rail through the turn).
I got my Act Labs Force RS wheel & played NFS Porsche again & it was completely different. I was a lot slower than I had been because it was more more like driving. Couldn't get the hang of railing using the wheel either. All the different model cars had different handling too. Still fun, just a different feel & I played both joystick & wheel in that game for a long time.
Most all the demos I tried after that were so buggy for me that I never bought the full game (which usually wasn't ready when released anyway) & then those who did buy it had to wait for the (required for decent game play) patch.
I got my Act Labs Force RS wheel & played NFS Porsche again & it was completely different. I was a lot slower than I had been because it was more more like driving. Couldn't get the hang of railing using the wheel either. All the different model cars had different handling too. Still fun, just a different feel & I played both joystick & wheel in that game for a long time.
Most all the demos I tried after that were so buggy for me that I never bought the full game (which usually wasn't ready when released anyway) & then those who did buy it had to wait for the (required for decent game play) patch.
It was best with W2K, but works well with XP too. I've read it sort of works in Vista but requires some work-arounds. I don't know about any newer OSs.
