Seventeen years since its first appearance in the World’s arcades the legendary racer returns and it’s lost none of the games original appeal. With blistering graphics, remixes of the original sound tracks and game play that demands one more play OutRun 2 brings back the fun of racing.

With Xbox Live and Mission modes coming to the Microsoft Xbox exclusive conversion of this classic arcade racing machine, OutRun2 delivers a unique console experience. Take the wheel of your chosen Ferrari and take to the open road to race against the clock from Palm Beach to one of five final destinations Tulip Garden, Metropolis, Ancient Ruins, Imperial Avenue and Cape Way.

Fully licensed and approved by Ferrari, players can choose from one of eight different Ferrari cars including Enzo Ferrari, Dino 246 GTS, 365 GTS/4 Daytona, Testarossa, 360 Spider, 288 GTO, F40 and F50

We all remember the first time, that moment in the arcade as a teenager when a gleaming red Ferraris cabinet caught our eye, the wonder, the awe, what was this?? Outrun was what it was, every school boys dream come true, driving a Ferrari with a stunning girlfriend next to you. In the smoke filled arcades, with the lights, chimes, bings and bongs of the other games, OutRun heralded the next generation of driving games, an arcade classic was born that kick started an entire genre. Now fast forward to 2004, Outrun 2 released in the arcades, nostalgia rules, a fully upto date arcade racer with jaw dropping graphics and thumping soundtrack. People loved it and the pound coins flew from people’s pockets into the arcades again, after all you were not playing JUST another driving game, this was outrun 2, the successor to OutRun, your youth was back. So can a modern arcade classic be ported with any success, after all the thrill of the game was being able to get from the start to the finish in about 5 mins, so how well does the conversion work? After all the arcade machine was based on Xbox hardware.

Gameplay:

Simple, drive and drive fast. It really is as simple and clear cut as that. SEGA have included a couple of extra game modes to justify the £40 price tag, so to entice you to part with your cash there are now several additions to the game.

‘101 Mission Mode’ is a mode, which non-surprisingly has 101 challenges to complete. Challenges range from having to drive through cone gates on the track (which adds a second to your timer every time), drifting for as long as possible to build up your heart gauge (how impressed your girlfriend passenger is with your driving), and more bizarre things like doing maths and remembering fruit sequences whilst driving along! (Why?????) You get ranked in typical SEGA fashion, with E to B being ‘bad’ to ‘not quite good enough, have another go’, and A, AA, and AAA being the ‘pass’ rankings you’ll be wanting to get. These all serve as a way of unlocking extra cars, music, tracks and secrets in the game. You also unlock cards, which normally show Ferrari car history on them or merchandise available from the official shop. Other extras include Xbox Live ghost time trials, Xbox Live multiplayer racing for up to eight players, and system link.

As we have agreed that this game is an out and out Arcade game real World physics have no place in this game, insane slides that even the Essex boy racers amongst us would be too scared to try are accomplished at the merest touch of a button. The controls are a joy to use, thumb stick to turn, left and right triggers act as accelerator and brake, simple but effective.

Graphics:

The graphics on Outrun 2 are simply jaw dropping, no photorealism here, just plain fast moving Japanese style graphics which are filled with color and very pleasing on the eye. While the levels are very detailed, the looping intro is pretty much of what you're going to see throughout the rest of the game over and over. You'll just find yourself doing and seeing the same things over and over with a few variations, which can wear you down after a while.

Everything does move along at a very fast pace, and at no time is there ever any slowdown evidenced, even with many players on screen at once. This is probably helped by the very simple rendering of other vehicles, taking the load of the system to concentrate on the environs and your own car which remains close on screen at all times. There are some nice touches with your car reflecting the passing scenery and the glow of lights in the distance adding to the depth of perspective of the game.

Sound:

Sound wise OutRun2 isn’t trying to be different and stand out from the crowd – it’s just a classic SEGA arcade racer with lots of style and history. You can’t even add your own custom soundtracks to the game, and all the better for it. SEGA want you to listen to their music, because it fits the style of the game, and it would be wrong any other way. The music, which SEGA are so famous for, was always such an important choice in Outrun. Do I go for the classic Musical Sound Shower, or the arguably better Splash Wave? The original tracks are there, just brought upto date with a high degree of style. Every time you play you have to setup your car colour, your transmission choice, and of course what song you want to listen to. And when you finish you enter your name and you get the famous SEGA “Game Over!” spoken by the female voice of the game.

Longevity:

Now this is where the wheels fall off the Ferrari. Even though SEGA have tried to increase the replay value with the addition of several sub games and an online mode, the game essentially feels as though you are still in the arcade game. Sometimes not a bad thing. There are however only so many times you can drive the same section trying to shave a second off your best time.

Round up:

So OutRun2, a one trick pony it most certainly is, but what a thoroughbred of a pony! Outrun 2 is an arcade game, does not bother with the pretence of being anything else, in the case of OutRun 2 this game literally is the arcade game. SEGA have done a fantastic job of bringing their classic racer bang upto date, this is how the original developers would have loved outrun to look like.

Despite the best efforts of SEGA the game does suffer from being a one trick pony. If you liked the original then you will love this, if just for nostalgic reasons, but it's worth remembering that OutRun2 falls short in terms of longevity, not play mechanics. When it comes to speed and immediacy it's easily comparable to any of the arcade racers on offer at the moment, in technical terms there's only one truly beautiful journey between the two games, and it's taken in every school boy’s dream of a Ferrari. If you are not convinced and you feel too old to go to the arcade, rent this for a couple of days and enjoy!

Pros:

• Smooth and Sharp Graphics
  
• Arcade quality, quite literally in this case
  
• Multi Player options
  
• Pick up and play fun
  

  Cons:
  

  • Too simple for an arcade conversion
    
  • Not much to keep you coming back
    
  • Younger gamers might not get it