| | Nostalgic Racing I had just graduated from high school when SEGA® introducedOutRun™ to the arcade scene. I spent my entire summer vacation addicted to the game and went through quarters as fast as my begrudging toil in a lousy part-time job could earn them. And, when I ran out of money, I’d just hang around the machine, watching friends play and scheming to obtain more funds. (Mom, if you’re reading this, I lied. The 10 bucks I borrowed that summer wasn’t for a new bicycle tire.)
Few games have as distinguished a pedigree as the original OutRun, and I, for one, am absolutely ecstatic that SEGA is, at long last, reintroducing the world to this terrific game on the Xbox® with OutRun™ 2. 
Oh, the glory of the powerslide.
Racing games at the time were predominantly aerial-view simulations. Most of OutRun’s rivals strove for realism, attempting to mimic the raceway atmosphere. OutRundistanced itself from the pack by presenting a completely different experience. It has a number of innovations that seem standard now, but were, back in the day, wondrous to behold.
OutRun was one of the first to introduce the chase-car view. It was the original “boy-meets-girl” racing experience, and its core thematic elements reflected the pop-culture symbology of the self-absorbed “Me Decade” (1980s) perfectly: a bright red convertible Ferrari® Testarossa, breezy-cool tunes, lots of spectacular crashes, and a beautiful blonde girl in the passenger seat (who berated you every time you made a mistake or lost a race).
Even the crashes were infused with sleek eighties style—no colorful explosions or shuddering halts, like in many other games. Instead, crashes featured an almost hypnotically scary rollover that sent the car all over the track and threw its occupants flying out and to the ground. Sometimes I’d crash the car just to marvel at the coolness of it all.
Created by Yu-Suzuki in 1986, OutRun became an instant arcade classic, one of many in a line of coin-op creations that relied on a pair of 68000 processors. Unlike many of the driving games of the day, it used parallax scrolling to create a unique sensation of speed, as detailed sprites rushed past on the screen.
There were two versions of the arcade game: upright and cockpit. The latter allowed the player to sit in a physical driver’s seat. It was absolutely gigantic, taking up an absurd amount of floor space by today’s standards, but at the time, it was a novelty. The game had to be large, though, to house its top-notch hydraulic system, which shifted the player sharply from side to side in the turns and shook him furiously during collisions.
Gameplay was deceptively simple and completely addictive. The player’s goal was to pass designated checkpoints before running out of time. (This “beat-the-clock” objective should be very familiar to racing game aficionados today.) The steering mechanism was very sensitive—“twitch gaming” was a SEGA hallmark back then—and even minimal movements of the wheel could affect a race’s outcome. 
Vivid scenery, just like the arcade.
Another innovation that gamers now take for granted is the ability to choose different driving routes during gameplay.OutRun wasn’t the first game to utilize this feature, but it definitely had the most advanced interlocking road system of its time. Out of 15 total forking-road stages, five had to be completed, and the player chose the exact route. Run off the track, and the steering wheel bumped and thumped to simulate off-road driving. (I vividly recall coming home from the arcade with both forearms as aching and sore as if I’d gone 10 rounds in the ring with Ali.)
SEGA produced a number of sequels, including more cockpit versions and Turbo OutRun. While all were enjoyable and featured progressively better graphics, none offered the groundbreaking thrill-ride experience of the original. If you’re lucky, you can still find an OutRun machine at your local arcade. But, if you can’t, don’t worry: Xbox has you covered with OutRun 2! By Stephen North |
