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Out Run

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Out Run
Out Run's title screen
Developer(s)Sega-AM2
Publisher(s)Sega
Designer(s)Yu Suzuki
ReleaseSeptember, 1986
Genre(s)Racing game
Mode(s)Single player
Arcade systemSega OutRun

Out Run (also spelled OutRun and Outrun) is a 1986 racing game designed by Yu Suzuki and Sega-AM2 for the video arcade market.

Description

The player controls a man behind the wheel of a Ferrari Testarossa convertible who is driving with his girlfriend in the passenger's seat. Starting at a coastal area entitled Coconut Beach, he must pass through four checkpoints between five laps within a set time limit.

At the time of its release, the game was unique in that it was possible to choose the stages in which the race took place, save for the initial one. Before every checkpoint, there was a fork in the road, allowing the player to enter one of two different environments. (A similar branching system was also used in the 1983 Atari/Tatsumi racer TX-1, though in that game the choice of fourth stage determined the fifth stage as well.)

There were four arcade cabinet designs -- the usual upright machine, only with a steering wheel and stick shift (instead of a joystick and buttons) plus gas and brake pedals, and a sit-down version which looked roughly like a Testarossa. The sit-down cabinet used a drive motor to move the main cabinet. The sit-down version turned and shook according to the action onscreen, much like Sega's After Burner II. There were two versions of the sit down, the Deluxe featured a 26 inch color monitor and a custom molded seat. The Standard featured a 20 inch color monitor with a more simplified design to the cab than the Deluxe. The upright also came in two versions: normal and mini. Not to be outdone by the sitdowns, the standup also featured a DC motor that would shake the steering wheel violently when the player hit a car or drove off road.

The game was a major hit with arcade-goers, and is often considered one of the best racing games released for the arcade. Its popularity can be attributed to the innovative moving cabinet, to the choice in both soundtrack and route, and to the graphics, whose behind-the-back perspective gave players a better sense of speed than other games in the genre. Many previous racing games had an overhead perspective, as if watching the player-controlled car from a helicopter. Like other Sega games of the time, such as After Burner, Space Harrier, and Power Drift, it made use of sprite-scaling techniques, called 'Super-Scaler Technology', to achieve its stunning 3D effects. Along with Space Harrier, and After Burner, Out Run was famed for its ability to give player's the sensation of forward motion in a video-game, long before true polygonal 3D was possible. The price arcade operators charged for a credit highlights the significance of the advancements in technology at the time, Out Run was one of the first games to cost more per play than other arcade games (3 to 5 times more in some cases).

Route names

Out Run sit-down cabinet
Stage Number Goal name
1 2 3 4 5
Vineyard A
Wilderness
Desert Death Valley B
Gateway Old Capital
Coconut Beach Alps Desolation Hill C
Devil's Canyon Wheat Field
Cloudy Mountain Autobahn D
Seaside Town
Lakeside E

A total of sixteen route variations are possible. The most time efficient route was via Coconut Beach, Devil's Canyon, Alps, Wheat Field, Autobahn completing the game at goal D. The five goals had different finishing animations to encourage players to attempt different routes.

Goal Animation
A Driver is thrown in the air by the crowd
B Car falls to pieces
C Driver wins a magic lantern
D Driver wins a gold cup
E Passenger gets the cup instead

Music

The gameplay was backed up by a very popular soundtrack of laid-back beach music (very similar in style and tone to Chris Rea's 'On The Beach' single), and featured three selectable tracks in all that were broadcast through imaginary frequency modulation radio channels received by the radio receiver in the Testarossa. The music was composed by Hiroshi "Hiro" Miyauchi, who also did the soundtracks for other Sega arcade games. The tracks were called:

  • Splash Wave
  • Magical Sound Shower
  • Passing Breeze
  • Last Wave (high-score music)

Additionally, the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis port featured an extra track entitled Step On Beat and the Sega Master System Out Run 3D contained the additional Shining Wind and Midnight Highway.

The Home computer versions of Out Run (for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC)came bundled with a bonus cassette tape featuring the original arcade versions of these tunes, the idea being that the player could listen to the true versions whilst playing rather than the limited home computer renditions.

Releases

As part of other titles

Sequels

In the arcades, Out Run was followed up in 1989 by Turbo Outrun. Turbo Outrun was a checkpoint racer in which you drove from New York City to Los Angeles in 16 stages. It also featured a rock-infused soundtrack and while superior in audio and visuals, it lacked some of the charm of the original. As with all Out Run games aside from OutRun 2, this is named by Yu Suzuki as an un-official sequel.

Another unofficial sequel came in 1992 with OutRunners, returning the game to its roots by bringing back the forks in the road. Head-to-head support appeared in the game for the first time, and if arcade cabinets were linked, up to eight drivers could race against each other. The game also featured eight different cars for people to drive in. It was the most successful game released for Sega's System Multi 32 hardware, and one of the last successful 2D games released by Sega.

Out Run benefited from 3D graphics in the game's first official sequel in 2003, when OutRun 2 (featuring actual licensed vehicles from Ferrari, including a Testarossa) was released to the arcades. Yu Suzuki, the creator of the original game, was on-hand to bring his vision up-to-date, and to great critical acclaim. The game was later ported to the Xbox with added features such as new cars, new audio tracks and even a fully playable version of the original OutRun.

An updated version of OutRun 2 was released in arcades in 2004 entitled "OutRun 2 SP". This expanded upon the original by offering a plethora of tracks to drive through, featuring the original map and a new one. It also improved on graphics and added more tunes to listen to while you drove. It also featured the 512 BB and 250 GTO which also featured in the Xbox version of the original OutRun 2.

In turn, OutRun 2 was succeeded by OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, developed for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. The game combines all the courses from OutRun 2 and OutRun 2 SP while adding additional features of its own such as special car models, new game modes and even more audio tracks. It also contains an OutRun 2 SP mode which offers an exact arcade port of OutRun 2 SP.

There are three other un-official Out Run sequels that were only released for home systems: OutRun Europa, Battle Out Run, and Out Run 2019. On the Sega Master System, there is also a special version of Out Run which makes use of the 3D glasses add-on.

Trivia

  • In the 2001 film Donnie Darko, Donnie is playing Out Run at an arcade with his girlfriend. The scene shows him crashing his car during their discussion.
  • In the videogame Shenmue II you can discover an Out Run arcade machine which is faithfully reproduced bar minor changes to the sound samples and the car graphics (the original game didn't possess an official Ferrari licence).
  • The original Out Run is hidden inside the Xbox game Out Run 2 and can be accessed by using the code NINETEEN86 and also by completing all routes in arcade mode. However, the original arcade had sprites with one translucent color, used for shadows, which is not replicated in this emulation. The emulated version renders this color opaque.
  • In the PC-DOS version, the route that scores the most possible points (about 76½ million) is Coconut Beach-Gateway-Desert-Old Capital-Desolation Hill.
  • It is still debatable if a portion of the song, "Put it in the Air" by Talib Kweli featuring DJ Quik, uses a sample of one of the music tracks of OutRun. The sample is quite short but strikes similar resemblance.
  • A MTV public announcement against drunk driving shown in the mid '90s shows a gamer in their viewpoint playing Out Run whilst under the influence of alcohol and cuts to each point where the gamer crashes until the end of game.
  • The original arcade game contains in-game billboards advertising KTM motorcycles.
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