THE SPORTING AND THE BLONDE
The game was designed by Yu Suzuki. According to its author it is not a racing game, but a free driving simulator. OutRun was created for players to enjoy the driving experience. The goal is to avoid traffic and reach one of the five destinations.
It was transferred to numerous video game consoles and home computers and generated several sequels. Also many imitations. It is one of the most influential video games in history.
How to drive it without crashing
OutRun was a 3D driving video game in which the player controls a Ferrari Testarossa Spider from a third person rear perspective.
The camera is placed close to the ground, limiting the view of the player from a distance. The curves of the road, the ridges and the slopes, which increase the challenge by hiding the next obstacles, such as traffic, that the player must avoid.
The objective of the game is to reach the goal before time runs out. The game world is divided into multiple stages that end at a checkpoint and reaching the end of a stage provides more time.
Near the end of each stage, the track forks to give the player a selection of routes leading to five final destinations. The destinations represent different levels of difficulty and each concludes with its own final scene, including the Ferrari that is torn apart or receiving a trophy.
In the mid-1980s, Sega experienced success in arcades with games developed by Yu Suzuki. Hang-On and Enduro Racer had been successful enough for Sega to consider a second production. Both are motorcycle racing games, and OutRun was Suzuki's opportunity to develop a car racing game.
His original concept was to base the game on the American film The Cannonball Run, of which he was a fan. He didn't like racing games where cars exploded on impact, and he wanted players to enjoy the driving experience.
Success among the public
OutRun received positive reviews and became one of the most popular arcade games of the year. In 1988, he won the Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year, beating Renegade and The Last Ninja. OutRun received the Arcade Game of the Year award, beating Renegade and Bubble Bobble. In 1994, 30,000 booths had been sold worldwide, making it Sega's best-selling arcade game in the 1980s.
In addition OutRun was adapted to numerous consoles and home computers. It has about 15 different adaptations. In 1987 OutRun became the best-selling computer game in the UK. The 8-bit versions of computers were very disparate.
The worst version of all is that of Amstrad CPC rated even parody by some means, as a curiosity included the soundtrack on a cassette tape. The MSX2 version is somewhat more decent and the other versions more or less save the furniture, although at least they convey something of the arcade experience.
The Master System version was praised as the best 8bit version. It was the version that is closest to the original arcade. It also made good use of the console's FM chip
