OutRun2

" Passing Breeze"

There's just something about racing games from the 80s' that will always make them fun to play. I'm positive that most gamers of this day and age would take up Grand Turismo over an Arcade port any day. Which leads us to the first problem with OutRun 2. Are gamers becoming fed up with endless ports of the yesteryears being marked full priced, and placed on their next-gen consoles? Sales point to no, but how long can these golden oldies' last in a flood of “Halo-Killers”, and random Vietnam games?

If you're memory still serves you correctly, you should have a vivid image of lush backgrounds, a hot Ferrari car, and an even hotter chick placed in the seat next to our driver. For the remainder of the road-trip you'll still have a luscious babe, nice backdrops, and blazing fast cars. Unfortunately AM2 hasn't realized that magic doesn't always convert from Arcade to Xbox. OutRun 2 cannot capture the magic that was once alive in the Arcades, but it does it better than any other Xbox game I've played. While it's essentially just a port of the Arcade version albeit the extensive list of unlockable which includes multiple tracks, and the original OutRun.

Sega's “track-record” has incidentally gone downhill since it's prime Dreamcast era. With OR2 we are brought back to a much simpler time in which games got away with terrible glitches, and speed demons could prosper. With two buttons to switch between (L and R triggers) OutRun 2 makes for an incredibly simplistic experience. This is somewhat nice after hours of destruction in Burnout 3's intuitive crash mode, but certainly doesn't deliver anything worthy of writing home about. Even if the control is loose, and the game is an easy-play It doesn't mean there's not challenge. In the later courses you'll be completing 30 minute circuits which nearly force you not to crash if you want any chance at winning.

I really don't like the lack of split-screen multiplayer. Instead you take turns completing missions which is tiresome, and downright boring. Not including split-screen is a common theme in today's games which is a new pet peeve of mine. Whether or not you have any friends, I'm sure you could pay somebody on Xbox LIVE to play you for a few laps, which is nearly a remedy for the lack of split-screen, except no one you know probably plays this game.

Throughout the game's 15 stages there will be 101 missions which have to be completed in order to unlock items. These items vary from pictures of worthless stuff, to nice remixes of the game's well coordinated sound track. While the only real incentive in unlocking all of these is the fact that you've beaten OutRun 2 100%. If you're extremely excited about all these unlockables, then I'd recommend buying this game soon. The replay doesn't end at merciless collection processes, you'll also have a slew of opponents waiting for you on Xbox LIVE. Once on Xbox LIVE you can race anybody's ghost who has done time attack, challenge friends to races (8 people in a game), and you'll be ranked among all of the current players.

Intending on sticking to the Arcade game, AM2 hasn't exactly done anything with the game. The two cockpit views are nice. The Xbox really lends itself to the widened tracks, and the amazing lighting effects. Everything looks just how it's supposed to which might not be good for the average casual gamer, but trusting fans are in luck. From bleak castle walls, predictable icy snow levels, mountain ranges, and 12 other exotic locations there's a lot to see here, and you'll have a good time seeing it all.

Whether or not OutRun 2 warrants a purchase is completely up to your taste. I'd suggest a rental because many people will be angry with its lack of realism, some will be trigger-happy due to the Ferrari's and others will just be glad that Sega is still making quality products. If this is any indication of things to come, I think we have a lot to look forward to from AM2, a company that has yet to produce a poor title under Sega.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/04