TWENTY YEARS AGO AN ARCADE RACING LEGEND WAS BORN AND GAMERS WERE TAKEN ON A BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY. JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE THE ANNIVERSARY BY SITTING DOWN WITH SUMO DIGITAL TO CHART THE ENDURING HISTORY OF OUTRUN 2
Sega hasn’t always had a perfect record when it comes to updating its popular franchises. We may praise Sonic Generations, After Burner: Climax and Streets Of Rage 4, but then we remember Shinobi X, Golden Axe: Beast Rider and Sonic Boom: Rise Of Lyric.
Such potential for disaster is surely why Sega waited 17 years before it dared to release OutRun 2. It wasn’t the first followup to the revered 1986 original, but it was the first in which original creator Yu Suzuki and his AM2 team could update the game for a new generation – both in terms of hardware and audience.
Their trick was to look at the original and consider what worked – the sense of freedom offered by the branching route, the amazing multi-tune soundtrack, the whole breezy blue sky vibe – and ensure that was all replicated in the sequel. But crucially they also looked at what didn’t work.
For many Out Run is a true pedestal game. We remember the first time we played it in the arcades and it was so far in front of everything else that it left an indelible mark. We tend to forget that it could be a frustrating, overly difficult experience where a couple of crashes were enough to end your game. We overlook the fact you had to actually use the brakes on the more torturous stages. Pleasant nostalgia hides all of this from us, but thankfully AM2 was not similarly affected when developing OutRun 2. The key was the introduction of drifting. The twists and turns were all still there, but now you could take them sideways, effortlessly sliding around the corners without losing speed. And if you did crash out, you’d be up and running much more quickly. But even though it was easier it was not dumbed down. By learning each stage and working out the best racing lines you could shave seconds off your time. The game even included a Time Attack mode that provided players with trafficfree routes on which to secure their best times.
Alternatively, if you wanted something more frivolous there was the Heart Attack mode where your somewhat bossy female passenger gave you a series of challenges to complete. The pure nostalgia stuff was all in there too. The fifteen-stage, five-goal branching structure was reinstated, with Europe’s scenic routes once again the backdrop. The Testarossa returned, along with seven other licensed Ferrari models. And Radio Sega was also back, playing the three classic
