OutRun

" Hand-down one of the best racing game to grace any console"

Being a racing enthusiastic, my interest of racing games has come a long way from the recent great racing games like Gran Turismo 3: A Spec to Crash Team Racing. But among all these great games, people tend to forget the early racing games that lay the foundation to these modern racing games and among these games is the superlative Outrun for the Sega Genesis. Outrun epitomizes the phrase ''a fun game”. Outrun had all the ingredients of a great racing game with solid graphics, amazing soundtrack, and a fun gameplay and all these things mix into one really amazing package. Now we indulge ourselves into the details of this amazing game:

Gameplay: 8/10

Outrun started its life as an arcade game. As I used to remember it used to be set in a car booth with a steering wheel and a gearbox. Outrun for the home console was released in 1991 on the then first rate Sega Genesis. Outrun’s main premise is not racing against AI or human opponents but against time, that is within a given time the player has to finish a route. The time extended through check points at the start of any route. But this means that there is no multi-player option but racing against time is not that easy. The controls are almost spot from the arcade version on the game pad. The gameplay is never frustrating, as some of the modern racing tends to be with superb controls, although a bit on the simple side. The use of the gearshift is a bit sporadic, only used once or twice in a race. The game does offer a nice sense of speed, which is more felt when the player can finish a race even without touching the brake button. All in all this port of Outrun is one of the best of its kind.

Graphics: 7/10

The games only disappointing aspect are graphics. Although pretty amazing back then, but the graphics clearly feel a bit sketchy at times, especially if the player stop to observe the scenery. But the graphics compliment the game perfectly. The games track's backgrounds are breathtaking when driving, from the beach to the Desert and the mountainside. The animation of the car and the driver are good as well. The car is defiantly a Ferrari with trademark horse on the back of the red car. The drivers are nicely animated with the woman flying hair and during an accident. But the graphics are pretty solid for its time.

Soundtrack: 10/10

Now this area of the game shines the most. Featuring some of the best music of its time (in my opinion the music can even compete in this day and age). You can select one of the four given tracks, which really makes the gamely more fun. The music regularly consists of the typical 80's guitars and drum to even a Mexican beat in an almost midi format. The sound track of Outrun is in my opinion is one the best of that era, even competing with Final Fantasy 6 of Super Nintendo.

Replay Value: 8/10

The replay value of Outrun is pretty high with 17 different route to drive on and 5 different ending, all with different animation. The replay value pretty much stands out considering that Outrun is a port of an arcade game. Although the game can be easily finished through selected tracks but the fun is in racing in every single route. The gameplay is not easy either so a gamer will be playing this game for some.

In the end Outrun is a fun an arcade experience but the home version of Outrun is as good as any racing game experience. Although the game cannot found on shelves now but people can experience this amazing game through legal (illegal) ROMs. Hand-down one of the best racing game to grace any console.

Total: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/02, Updated 06/05/02