Out Run

Copyright : Sega | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Out Run was and probably still is a highly popular, regularly played arcade machine developed by the mighty Sega. I personally never saw much of an attraction to the arcades they had here in the UK because Out Run was limited to a cocktail standard machine instead of the Hard Drivin? style machine that came later.

There of course isn?t really a story to this game except that a large street race is taking place in the summer time on the highways of America, it promises to be a nice clear day and there will be plenty of scenery to take a look at - plus the promise of winning some extra cash if you can finish the race in first possition. You and your girlfriend hop into your brightly cleaned Ferrari and head off into the sunset at high speed in the hopes of winning the race.

It may sound a little silly and could even be completely wrong but that is the basic idea behind this classic racing game - on with the review of the CPC version I say.

Graphics

Sega bring to your home computer...one of the worst conversions you could ever ask for, it?s just a good job that the arcade has been emulated for todays retro-gamers otherwise we may never get to play the game properly again.

Graphics are at best basic and at times your Ferrari looks more like a Lada (box with wheels) than a top class racing car. The roads are repetitve, the colours are awful, the on road traffic is just plain annoying and the twists and turns are designed to get on your nerves. Oh and if you get the chance take a look at the off road buildings (bottom right screen shot) - . If you were the proud owner of a GX-4000 console then perhaps you would have seen the better, enhanced version of this game which was absolutely nowere near as bad as the 6128 and 464 versions.

Sound

As for sound, well Sega might as well just not have bothered. The only sounds you will get to hear are those when you hit an oncoming car or object off-road - that is all, nothing else, not even your own engine sound. To make things worse Sega thought it would be a smart idea to throw in the actual music from the arcade machine, on a SEPARATE tape! so you would be sitting at your computer with your stereo on and the sound turned down on the CPC...nice on Sega, way to save money.

Gameplay

And the last nail in the coffin is the gameplay, you would have to be a complete head case to sit at your computer and give this one a go. Within just a few minutes of trying to come to grips with the controls and steering you should be reaching for the power switch and bin to throw the game into. Only the die hard Out Run fans would have sat through this game and the thought of you bopping along to the "extra arcade music" tape just makes be chuckle.