OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast

"Success!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This review is written from the perspective of a player who has not played OutRun2 nor OutRun 2 SP.

WHO?
You are a handsome young man, aged 18 to 25.

WHAT?
Drive across up to 30 stages, slipstreaming behind cars and executing drift turns you could only see in arcade physics.

WHY?
To impress your girlfriend!

HOW?
By racing against rivals and executing stunts and challenges at your girlfriend's request, earning Outrun Miles and unlocking new cars, colors, songs and stages.

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GRAPHICS
That's an essential part to such a fast-paced game, and it works: the environment is presented in a crisp, high-constrast arrangement that makes the road easy to see and navigate. The game loads relatively quickly, and seamlessly changes the environment as the player progresses through the stages. Overall, the scenery is believable, immersive, and runs well.

SOUNDS & MUSIC
OutRun 2006 reintroduces the classic three tracks (Magical Sound Shower, Passing Breeze and Splash Wave) in three different styles, along with the songs of Turbo Outrun. Additionally, there are six completely new tracks. Not counting remixes, this gives the player a selection of thirteen unique melodies. The major weakness lies in sound effects and its settings: the player is allowed to change the volume of music and sound effects only, with no breakdown (i.e.: Engine, collisions, voices etc.) The quality and volume distribution is unequal and there is nothing one can do to fix it: while collisions and wall scraping sound almost epic, the engine noise is a but a symbolic hum, far too quiet and gentle. Why no effort has been made to classify sounds into different sections is a mystery in my opinion, and I believe it would have been easy to tend to that problem.

GAMEPLAY
The controls show the game's true arcade roots: simple, straight and to the point. The game is perfectly playable with a keyboard's four arrow keys. Slipstreaming behind cars becomes second nature after just a few moments (and they run far above the speed limit to make the maneuver worthwhile), and drift turns are remarkably easy to execute and control. There is also an incentive for the player to attempt driving with a manual transmission: by quickly changing gears and back, one can execute a much faster and nimbler drift than by tapping the brake.

The game has been designed as a pick-up-and-play experience, and it tries to favor ease of driving almost too well: I noticed after a while that drifts were somewhat scripted; in turns, it was easy to execute a drift, but on a straight, it was impossible. The first signs of this "helper" show up in poorly scripted turns where the car stops drifting before it's necessary. Fortunately, those places are few, but do pose a problem as some turns (especially using automatic transmission) become impossible to maneuver without slamming into the wall. Furthermore, some chicanes literally maneuver the car through it with minimal input from the player. Despite a whole paragraph about these things, they represent only about 5% of the track at most. Still, they are something the developers should have reasonably looked into and seen during testing phase.

DIFFICULTY
There is no driving game without the infamous "rubber AI", and OutRun 2006 does not escape that fate. In formal races, getting to first place is relatively easy, but the rest of the race will be spent being constantly tailgated by the rival in second place who's suddenly woken up and will easily punish the player's mistakes by slipping back into first. In some rare cases, it's suggested to leave the leader in his place and zip past just before the finish line.

A funny for inexplicable AI quirk lies in the traffic. The nice thing here is that traffic will use turn signals, allowing one to foresee lane changes and avoid a collision. The problems arise when the car signals to the right when he's in the right lane... and then promptly slams into a wall. Quite strange and, to be honest, unacceptable. I don't recall seeing a game with such an AI flaw.

REPLAY VALUE
OutRun 2006 contains the arcade version of OutRun 2 SP, which right away gives eight cars and a full complement of stages to drive the OutRun experience the classic way. Outside of that is the OutRun mode again but this time includes the OR2 track and bases itself off the cars, songs and colors the player has unlocked. There is the Heart Attack mode, which includes a girlfriend who requests various stunts throughout the trip. There is a Time Attack mode that also allows the player to upload his ghost to the Internet server and compare against other people's times. Finally is the Coast 2 Coast mode, which introduces traditional races, knockouts, drift and slipstream challenges, and three specific girlfriends who demand precise stunts at scripted intervals of the game, such as dodging traffic, knocking out cars, staying above a certain speed, drift constantly, do mental calculations and even recognize animal sounds, among others. All modes except the arcade Outrun2 SP allow the player to earn OutRun Miles, which are used as currency to unlock more cars, songs, colors, and the reverse versions of stages. Racing every race and unlocking every element is something that can easily take several dozen hours. Where the game lacks is in customization: players are limited to a single, orange-shirted male portrait, and can only submit a name, nationality and star sign to their profile.

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GOOD
-Fast, beautiful and functional graphics.
-Appeals both to casual and dedicated players - an pure arcade mode coupled with a set of unlockable content.
-Keeps the OutRun philosophy of pleasant and fun driving.

BAD
-The AI needs serious improvement.
-The controls cakewalk the player too often for comfort and create disaster when it doesn't work out well.
-Sound effects lack luster and there is no way to fine-tune the volume.

SO WHY A NINE?
OutRun 2006 is a refreshing and well thought-out update to the franchise, and manages to retain the philosophy of driving that had been seen in its Genesis and Master incarnations. There are still some glitches and errors to fix here and there, but the game remains a solid and well-needed title, and should definitely be given a good look.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/06