Out Run 09/08/97

Out Run is very close to my heart - for lots of reasons. The first is a self-indulgent one since even the very thought of Out Run brings back memories of childhood seaside holidays. Out Run is best experienced in a noisy seafront arcade with an aroma of nearby Candy Floss and Fish & Chips. The other (reason, that is) is because it was a damned good game. Out Run had it all - the amazing graphics, cleverly designed animation, thrilling speed, realistic juddery gearstick, mood-setting soundtracks and that addictive "one more go" quality that never left you feeling cheated.



So when the home computer versions were announced, a lot of people were understandably very excited. Games magazines fell over themselves to secure Out Run exclusives, more rumours circulated concerning the game`s imminent release than any other, advertisments appeared (as they traditionally tended to) months before the game hit the shops. And then, one day in December 1987, Out Run was released and sold more than any other computer game that had ever gone before it.

Yet it was the most uselessly rank travesty of an abomination that ever existed.



Everything that had made Out Run great was gone. Not only that, but the programmers had taken it upon themselves to include unspeakably bad things that weren`t even present in the arcade version. Take, for example, the cringeingly embarassing, gratuitiously bolted-on intro sequence of the Amiga version. Were we supposed to think that was funny? If you`ve never witnessed this display of sheer amateurism, it`s worth the 300K download just to familiarise yourself with it. An appaling intro screen accompanied by a sample/jingle that an under-funded hospital radio station would be ashamed to have amongst it`s cart rack of doom.

There are so many faults and continuity errors in Out Run that the computer game versions have long since passed into folklore. In fact, yet again, the only thing to distinguish the Amiga version apart from the ST version is that intro sequence, the music performed by the orchestra of the damned and the fact that it`s noticeably slower. I mean, for goodness sake, come on. COME ON.

Starting the damned thing is achieved by means of a cumbersome drop-down menu system, clearly left over from the ST. Once you have decided wether you want just "some cars" or "many cars" to hinder your progress, you`re off. Gone is the thrilling countdown, a device used constantly by arcade game manufacturers to usher you into a sense of adrenalinic urgency. Gone is the throbbing beat of the award winning soundtracks - famously replaced by the tone-deaf David Whittaker (AKA Jas C. Brooke, AKA Satan Himself) interpretation.



The control system used in the game bears no resemblence whatsoever to that used in the arcade original. Nor does the course layout. Even the car (supposedly, a Ferrarri Testerossa) is rubbish. Then there`s the classic attention to detail - upon turning corners, you - the driver, remember - swap seats with the passenger. Gngh.

If this wasn`t bad enough, the game is ridiculously easy to complete. Whilst taking screenshots for this feauture (ie: not concentrating on the game very much), and without cheating, I managed to finish all the stages on my FIRST GO. Hell, I wasn`t even looking at the screen half the time. Yet still I was proclaimed Best Outrunner but not for my skill and competence. No. But through the bumbling buffoonery of the programmers..



Out Run is best forgotten. As we speak, someone is working hard to complete an arcade emulator that will allow you to play the real, proper arcade Out Run in the comfort of your own home. On your PC. This is a Good Thing. Maybe after a few years of that, we will have completely forgotten all about Out Run - The Home Computer Version. Not me though, I`ve been scarred for life. I couldn`t forget Out Run - The Home Computer Version even if my brain were erased with a special mind rubber.

DeeJay99