"Not really OutRun - but it almost doesn't matter."

Arcade racers lost a certain something when 3D became the norm as far as I'm concerned. This may well just be nostalgia talking, but the Ridge Racers of this world do absolutely nothing for me. Contrariwise, OutRun has always been a favourite of mine, and I played and enjoyed the original game on most home systems it was available on, as well as in the arcades. Some conversions were more faithful than others but OutRun 2019, a Mega Drive exclusive, stands out as the obvious intruder, having practically nothing in common with the OutRun franchise. It's not a bad game - Turbo OutRun and OutRunners don't even begin to compare - but unfortunately, it possesses very little of the charm associated with the name it bears.

OutRun 2019 paints a rather conservative picture of the year it supposedly takes place in. A futuristic racer without flying cars borders on the unthinkable anyway, but apart from the Batmobile-inspired (complete with a jet exhaust and tail fins) road-going vehicles, everything in the game is decidedly contemporary, with some stages even featuring history-themed backgrounds. Technically, the graphics are excellent: the game feels noticeably faster than the original OutRun and the framerate remains stable at all times, even when the engine has to deal with several enemies at once on a transparent double-decked track - surely no mean feat for the Mega Drive. Aesthetically, however, the game falls flat on its face - in other words, it's just plain ugly. The cars are ugly, the tracks are ugly, and the backgrounds - those that aren't just digitised pictures of pretty things, that is - are, you guessed it, also ugly. Furthermore, the majority of cars are painted in black and shades of grey and thus don't stand out nearly enough from the mostly black and grey tarmac, while the red and blue cars resemble the jump ramps so much that you can never be really sure whether you're about to take off or just rear end an opponent.

I'm similarly divided on the subject of sound. On the one hand, the music is really good with several genuinely catchy and carefully-arranged tunes, and most sound effects are just fine, but the way they come together in the game is less than ideal. Granted, the game allows music and sound effects to be played together but the trade-off, i.e. only a single channel being reserved for sound effects, really isn't worth it. With the sound of the engine cutting off every time you brake, squeal your tyres or pass a checkpoint, you're much better off with leaving the music on - especially since turning it off (and thus free several channels of audio) doesn't improve the matters one bit. Finally, I wasn't too happy about the fact that you don't get to choose your music - specific songs are tied to specific stages, which also means that the iconic car stereo music selection screen from the original OutRun is also missing from this game.

Unlike the original OutRun, which featured a single continuous journey, OutRun 2019 is divided into races, each with unlimited continues should you run out of time - which is rather generously allotted anyway. Needless to say, this essentially kills all tension associated with OutRun since finding the quickest route through the stage is now a matter of minutes. For track design, the developers took several cues from the Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge series, most notably by including jump ramps to take advantage of and roadworks to avoid. The road still branches a few times on each stage, but it also merges back before the finish line, which takes away much of the feeling of adventure present in the original OutRun's.

This is most unfortunate, considering that OutRun 2019 features very sharp controls and flawless collision detection. I was generally taken aback just how much depends on honing one's driving skills in this game, especially since old arcade racers often come in two flavours only, namely "trivial" and "impossible", regardless of how much effort you put into them. Crashing is also handled extremely well; both cars' speed is taken into account when computing the severity of the crash, several consecutive minor crashes result in a major one, and I quite like the fact that you occasionally land on your wheels after a spin through the air. After a while, you develop a great sense of just how close of a shave will get you through safely and even overtaking through the corners becomes child's play...by which, of course, I'm referring to those corners that you can actually see. With the constantly rising and falling terrain, you're unable to see very far ahead when you're driving up a slope and a sharp corner with no direction signs can easily catch you unprepared. I was not amused, especially falling off overpasses, which costs you a prohibitive amount of time. Still, with a bit of memorising, it's possible to get past the tricky bits unscathed, and it's not enough of a flaw for it to cause you to hate the game.

It just wasn't right of Sega to brand and sell this game as OutRun - it makes people expect the wrong things. I had a hard time getting over the fact that this time around, I'm not behind the wheel of a Ferrari Testarossa with a temperamental backseat driver sitting next to me, and it took me much longer to come to appreciate the game's finer points. If nothing else, I think it's laudable that OutRun 2019 isn't more of the same in pseudo-futuristic clothing, which would certainly be a viable easy way out for the developers. I also think it's quite an enjoyable racer, but I want to be absolutely clear about one thing: it's got nothing on OutRun.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/26/07