Now I'm sure a lot of people are familar with this arcade classic
Oh yes, Outrun, the classic arcade driving game where you're driving across various routes as fast as you can and avoiding traffic with your GF
on a Ferrari Testarossa
But do you know that there's a sequel that's just as good as the original IMO
But isn't as well known?
Now Outrun as we all know, was a massive arcade sucess
And like any successful IP, Outrun has gotten mutiple sequels (Despite the most recent game being called "Outrun
2")
Some are generally pretty good like Turbo Outrun
Whereas others are.......
Yeah....not so good.
However, there's one sequel amoung them that not only captures what made the original Outrun game fun
But improves on it
That game is
Outrunners
This to me is how a sequel to Outrun should be done as it not only captures what made the original game so great (Unlike previous attempts)
But builds on it in several ways
Let's start with the one of the things that makes Outrunners unique
Mutliplayer
Yes, unlike the original Outrun, this one is more focused on Mutliplayer (Hence the Outrun
ners title)
And in this case, you're racing your rivals to the goals at the end of the various routes and to get the best overall time.
And the winner will be the one who makes it to the end first (Oh yeah and it's eight players on top of that.)
Now of course, you can't have a Mutliplayer racer without various characters
Which Outrunners certainly has
From a couple that's merely traveling to a pair of criminals to a pair that belongs in the fifites
Outrunners has 8 pairs to choose from, all with a unique car that has different stats that will drastically change how you play
from handling to speed to acceration, each car feels very different from each other and allows for a ton of replayablity (And yes, there is a red car that acts just like the one from Outrun)
Now of course, you don't have to play it in Muliplayer as Outrunners can be played Single Player as well
And the overall gameplay is practically the same idea as the original Outrun, get to the various goals in time and avoid the traffic and the obstacles on the way.
However, there's some things that Outrunners builds upon
For example, the Radio
Now one of the defining features that made Outrun stand out at the time
was the ability to change your track before a game, from the peaceful Passing Breeze to the rocking Splash Wave
The 3 tracks in Outrun are definitely gaming classics, and Outrunners takes this feature a step further.
By allowing you to change your track during the gameplay
And that little aspect changes everything, no longer are you stuck with one tune throughout
Now you're free to choose whatever track you want, from the
3 classic tunes all remixed to all new tracks
like
Adventure to
Blow your Cool, Outrunners is filled with a lot of amazing tracks with very few eh ones
And alongside the tracks is also a realistic radio feature where the track can change depending on your location
And speaking of location
Another defining aspect of Outrun is the ablitiy to choose your path to wherever you want to go
And this gave Outrun a ton of replayabity as always a bit different each time you play it depending on the routes you choose.
Now the last Outrun sequel before Outrunners, Turbo Outrun had it where your trekking through America and the various states
So it makes sense that Outrunners builds from that by making it a worldwide race
Yes, you're not traveling across beaches or US states, but the world
From sunny San Francisco
To Japan
to Spain
And various other countries around Europe and Asia
Outrunner is a worldwide trek that like the original Outrun
has different pathways, so it's always a bit different every time
Not only that but it's been expanded upon as unlike the original Outrun where you start from one and it branches off from there
Outrunners has you start at 2 pathways before branching off
East and West
And depending on the path you chosen, you will be taken to various different countries on different routes
With some being only available on certain routes, this along with the different cars and the ability to change the station during the drive as opposed to before, gives Outrunners a shit ton of replayablity that's not seen in the original Outrun
And obivously from the above, this game looks amazing
Using the power of the Sega System 32 board, this game is a amazing piece of work, using a mixture of sprites and early 3D Graphics
With every country having a distinct look and feel to it.
Even today, this game still looks incredible to look at and it plays beautifully
And as far as overall presentation goes, unlike the darker tone of Turbo Outrun
This game goes back to the more lighthearted feel of the original Outrun, from the return of the various silly ending's
to the laugh track that plays when you crash to the silly animations that play during it, this game not only goes back to the roots of the original game
But embraces it fully.
Now if this game built upon so much from Outrun
Why is it less known then Outrun
I think a lot of it's obscurity comes from the fact that Sega hasn't released it on anything like they have with Outrun
Seriously, if you want to play Outrunners, the only way you could do it is either via Emulation, playing the actual arcade cabinet or by playing the Genesis version
Yes there was a Genesis version, and while it's not the worst thing ever and it's admittedly a pretty faithful port all around, It just pales by comparsion.
Just watch the original arcade version
And compare the above to the Genesis version
Now if you have a Genesis or if you're curious or whatever, then I would certainly check it out as it is a faithful port of the arcade version
even if the overall expereince is inferior in my opinion
It does suck though that the above three are the only ways you can play Outrunners
as I would love to buy a proper port of this game on my 3DS via the 3D Classics line or something like that, but *sigh* that's just how it goes sometimes.
But really if you ever see an arcade cabient around your area or you don't mind emulation and if you're a fan of the original Outrun.
Then definitely check it out as it's IMO one of Sega's underrated gems
And if you have played it at one point, then what do you think of this game?
