Lost In Translation/Out Run
From ExoticA
| Out Run | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
 | |
| Manufacturer | Sega |
| Released | 1986 |
| Control Method | Paddle Pedal 1 Button(s) |
| Main CPU | (2x) 68000 (@ 12.500 MHz) Z80 (@ 4.000 MHz) |
| Sound CPU | Stereo YM2151 (@ 4.000 MHz) Sega PCM (@ 4.000 MHz) |
| Video Details | Raster (Horizontal) 320 x 224 pixels 59.64 Hz 12,288 Palette colours |
| Screens | 1 |
| ROM Info | 31 ROMs 2,064,384 bytes (1.97 MiB) |
| MAME ID | outrun · outrun1 · outrun2 · outrunb |
Contents |
About The Game
Out Run puts the player behind the wheel of a red Ferrari Testarossa in this ground-breaking and hugely popular racing game. As with most games of the genre, players must reach the end-of-stage 'goal' before the tight time limit expires. Out Run's lush, colourful levels are all packed with civilian traffic that, in addition to the tracks themselves, must be carefully negotiated. Upon crashing, the player's car doesn't explode or come to a sudden halt as with other games of the time; it flips into the air before crashing to the ground and eventually rolling to a stop; throwing the driver and his female passenger from the car in the process.
As well as being able to choose which route to take through the game, players can also choose from one of three different catchy songs to listen to while driving. The three songs are; 'Magical Sound Shower', 'Passing Breeze' and 'Splash Wave'.
Trivia
At the end of each stage, before the end-of-stage goal is reached, players are presented with a fork in the road; a unique innovation that, for the first time in the history of racing games, gave players a choice of which route they wished to take through the game. Out Run's game-play was both tight and instinctive and, together with the superb stage design and wonderfully realized sprite-scaled graphics, would completely revolutionize not just racing games, but arcade games in general.
Out Run is still regarded as perhaps the finest arcade racer (and certainly the finest sprite-driven racer) of all time. This was especially true of the deluxe cabinet version, which featured a fully hydraulic tilting cabinet (resembling a red Ferrari Testorosa) and a powerful speaker system situated directly behind the player's head. The sublime music still captivates many fans today, although the sublime 'Magical Sound Shower' is generally regarded as the finest of the three in-game tunes on offer (the others being 'Passing Breeze' and 'Splash Wave'). The final tune, 'Last Wave', is only played when the high-score table is displayed.
At least part of Out Run's huge success was down to it capturing the fun-yet-superficial spirit of the 1980s. Previous racing games had concentrated on the more serious side of racing, with the action usually taking place in a Formula One racing car, over a series of competent but uninspiring racing tracks. Out Run was different; in a decade that celebrated style over content, the game offered players the ultimate boy racer experience by putting them behind the wheel of that eighties icon of cool, a red Ferrari Testarossa; replete with a 'blonde bimbo' in the passenger seat.
Sega didn't actually have (nor indeed ask for) permission from Ferrari to use one of their cars for the game. This inevitably led to a degree of bad feeling and threats of litigation between the two companies. They have since settled their differences, however, as Sega acquired an official license to use the Ferrari range in its 2003 sequel, "Out Run 2".
Ports
- Consoles
- Sega Master System (1987)
- NEC PC-Engine (1990)
- Sega Mega Drive (1991)
- Sega Game Gear (1991)
- Sega Saturn (1996)
- Sega Dreamcast (2001, "Yu Suzuki Game Works Vol. 1")
- Sega Dreamcast (2001, "Shenmue II")
- Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2003, "Sega Arcade Gallery")
- Microsoft XBOX ("Shenmue II")
- Microsoft XBOX (2004, "Out Run 2") (Hidden Content)
- Sony PlayStation 2 (2004, "Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 13 : Out Run")
- Computers
- MSX1 (1986, U.S. Gold)
- Commodore C64 (1987)
- Amstrad CPC (1987)
- Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1987)
- MSX2 (1988)
- Commodore Amiga ("Out Run", 1988, U.S. Gold)
- Atari ST (1989)
- PC [MS-DOS, 5.25"] (1989)
- PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1999, "Sega Smash Pack")
- Others
- LCD tabletop (large) game (1989, Tiger Electronics) (5 different races)
- Mobile phones (2002)
Screen Shot Comparison
Title Screen
 Amiga title screen |
 Atari ST title screen. |
 PC title screen. |
 Spectrum title screen. |
 C64 title screen. |
 CPC title screen. |
 MegaDrive title screen. |
 PC-Engine title screen. |
 Master System title screen. |
 MSX title screen. |
 MSX2 title screen. |
 Game Gear title screen. |
 Game Boy Advance title screen. |
 PlayStation 2 title screen. |
 Saturn title screen. |
 Missing the Dreamcast version. |
Music Select Screen
 Amiga version didn't have a music select screen. |
 Atari ST version didn't have a music select screen. |
 PC music select screen. |
 Spectrum version didn't have a music select screen. |
 C64 music select screen. |
 CPC version didn't have a music select screen. |
 MegaDrive music select screen. |
 PC-Engine music select screen. |
 Master System music select screen. |
 MSX version didn't have a music select screen. |
 MSX2 music select screen. |
 Game Gear music select screen. |
 Game Boy Advance music select screen. |
 PlayStation 2 music select screen. |
 Saturn music select screen. |
Missing the Dreamcast version. |
Stage 1 Screen
 Amiga stage 1 screen. |
 Atari ST stage 1 screen. |
 PC stage 1 screen. |
 Spectrum stage 1 screen. |
 C64 stage 1 screen. |
 CPC stage 1 screen. |
 MegaDrive stage 1 screen. |
 PC-Engine stage 1 screen. |
 Master System stage 1 screen. |
 MSX stage 1 screen. |
 MSX2 stage 1 screen. |
 Game Gear stage 1 screen. |
 Game Boy Advance stage 1 screen. |
 PlayStation 2 stage 1 screen. |
 Saturn stage 1 screen. |
Missing the Dreamcast version. |
Gateway Stage Screen
 Amiga Gateway stage screen. |
 Atari ST Gateway stage screen. |
 PC Gateway stage screen. |
 Spectrum Gateway stage screen. |
 C64 Gateway stage screen. |
 CPC Gateway stage screen. |
 MegaDrive Gateway stage screen. |
 PC-Engine Gateway stage screen. |
 Master System Gateway stage screen. |
Does the MSX version have this stage? |
 MSX2 Gateway stage screen. |
 Does the Game Gear version have this stage? |
 Game Boy Advance Gateway stage screen. |
 PlayStation 2 Gateway stage screen. |
 Saturn Gateway stage screen. |
Missing the Dreamcast version. |
Course Map Screen
 Amiga Course Map screen. |
 Atari ST Course Map screen. |
 PC version didn't have a Course Map screen. |
Spectrum version didn't have a Course Map screen. |
 C64 Course Map screen. |
CPC version didn't have a Course Map screen. |
 MegaDrive Course Map screen. |
 PC-Engine Course Map screen. |
 Master System Course Map screen. |
MSX version didn't have a Course Map screen. |
 MSX2 Course Map screen. |
 Game Gear Course Map screen. |
 Game Boy Advance Course Map screen. |
 PlayStation 2 Course Map screen. |
 Saturn Course Map screen. |
Missing the Dreamcast version. |
Hi Score Screen
 Amiga Hi Score screen. |
 Atari ST Hi Score screen. |
 PC Hi Score screen. |
 Spectrum Hi Score screen. |
 C64 Hi Score screen. |
 CPC Hi Score screen. |
 MegaDrive Hi Score screen. |
 PC-Engine Hi Score screen. |
 Master System Hi Score screen. |
 MSX Hi Score screen. |
 MSX2 version didn't have an Hi Score screen. |
Game Gear version didn't have an Hi Score screen. |
 Game Boy Advance Hi Score screen. |
 PlayStation 2 Hi Score screen. |
 Saturn Hi Score screen. |
Missing the Dreamcast version. |
Sound Comparison
| Platform | Song Titles | Sound Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcade | "Magical Sound Shower" (ftp) | "Passing Breeze" (ftp) | "Splash Wave" (ftp) | "Last Wave" (ftp) | M1 v0.7.7u4 |
| Commodore Amiga | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | No | DeliPlayer 2.50 with 'Jason C. Brooke' plug-in by Wanted Team |
| Atari ST/STE | Yes (ftp) | No | Yes (ftp) | No | DeliPlayer 2.50 with 'The YM2149 Player v1.52c' plug-in by Mr.Styckx |
| IBM PC | Yes (ftp) | No | Yes (ftp) | No | DOSBox 0.70 |
| Sinclair ZX Spectrum (BEEP) | Yes (ftp) | No | No | No | Spectaculator 6.25 |
| Sinclair ZX Spectrum (AY) | Yes (ftp) | No | Yes (ftp) | No | DeliPlayer 2.50 with 'Lib_AY' plug-in by Patrik Rak - Raxoft |
| Commodore 64 / 128 | Yes (ftp) | No | Yes (ftp) | No | XMPlay v3.4.2.1 (SID plugin rev.25b Feb 19 2007) |
| Amstrad CPC 464 | No | No | Yes (ftp) | No | CPCE 1.40 |
| MSX | Yes (ftp) | No | Yes (ftp) | No | blueMSX v2.7 |
| MSX2 | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | No | blueMSX v2.7 |
| Sega Game Gear | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | DeliPlayer 2.50 with 'SEGA®' plug-in by Hans Guijt, Juan Antonio Gómez Gálvez, adapted by Gaelan Griffin |
| Sega Master System | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | DeliPlayer 2.50 with 'SEGA®' plug-in by Hans Guijt, Juan Antonio Gómez Gálvez, adapted by Gaelan Griffin |
| NEC PC-Engine | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | XMPlay v3.4.2.1 with NEZplug v0.9.4.8 |
| Sega Mega Drive / Genesis | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Kega Fusion 3.51 |
| Sega Saturn (Arcade Versions) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | CDDA |
| Sega Saturn (Arranged Versions) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | CDDA |
| Nintendo Game Boy Advance | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Visual Boy Advance 1.8.0 beta-3 |
| Microsoft XBOX (Arranged Versions) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | WMA9 files on DVD |
| Microsoft XBOX (Euromix Versions) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | Yes (ftp) | No | WMA9 files on DVD |
External Links
- Outrun.org - a site for Out Run enthusiasts!
- YouTube - Video review of the appalling LCD tabletop game by Tiger Electronics.
- Sinclair ZX Spectrum version of Out Run at the World of Spectrum
