OutRun Game Sample - Sega Master System
0Original Air Date: December 27th, 2009
The original SMS OutRun... it was more or less the start (as Yu Suzuki's amazing Arcade game obviously came before it) of an overall great series. While the arcade game is excellent, I'm sorta indifferent towards this game. On one hand, Sega managed to cram most of the stuff from the Arcade game, but on the other hand, they could have squeezed a little more overall detail into the game. The game uses a wide range of colors and has decent backdrops and three good tunes, but it didn't edge out the competition in the way I think it should have. NES' Rad Racer, made in the same year as the SMS port (by an at-the-time rookie known as Square or Squaresoft), had two different cars (a cosmetic preference), just as nice music, and a greater sense of speed plus the gimmicky 3D option. OutRun excels in other areas such as the variety of levels and replayability, but this game should have easily dominated, though I am proud to at least consider this game RR's equal.
In OutRun, you drive what is presumably a Ferrari with your girlfriend across the country, passing checkpoints before time runs out. You will come across several branching paths in the game that can lead to different stages with varying difficulty. Some of the roads really blind-side you and making out signs that say to turn or that you have multiple turns at 290Km/h can prove surprisingly difficult for a guy like myself with pretty good eyesight. The game handles wonderfully and never feels like a chore, though the slightest collision with an object will forcibly stop you and take away precious seconds. This is a game that I would say belongs in every SMS collection. Enjoy.