OutRun

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Description

OutRun is a racing game that allows the player to race across varied terrain in a readily available Ferrari, complete with a female passenger, over a series of short tracks.

Gameplay is viewed from just above and behind the car. The roads are full of sharp bends and hazards, contact with which can cause the car to roll and lose the player's time. On each section of track there is a fork in the road, allowing the player to choose which direction he or she wishes to go in. The player has to to complete five track sections in total, out of the fifteen in the game.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Sega Ages: OutRun" -- Saturn title
• "Out Run" -- Common title
• "3D Out Run" -- Nintendo 3DS title
• "アウトラン" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• OutRun series
• Theme: Street racing

User Reviews

A Catastrophe	Atari ST	Stephen N (12)
In my book, it's among the top 5 racing games.	SEGA Master System	J. David Taylor (28)
A faithful conversion of the popular arcade racing game.	DOS	Trixter (8777)
I'd steer clear of this version if I were you	Amiga	*Katakis* (38325)
Better than the Arcade Coin Op!!!	SEGA Master System	Kevin Huang (9)
Help! I'm in racing game hell.	Amstrad CPC	Neville (2713)
All the criticisms you've heard are true	Atari ST	Martin Smith (62808)
Another opportunity missed	DOS	Stephen N (12)
Yet another game that was rushed out in time for christmas	Amstrad CPC	makky (11)

Critic Reviews

Sega-16.com	SEGA Master System	Nov 03, 2016	8 out of 10	80
The Games Machine (UK)	Atari ST	Jun, 1988	79 out of 100	79
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Game Gear	Oct, 1991	9 out of 12	75
Portable Review	Game Gear	Oct 05, 2006	28 out of 40	70
Computer and Video Games (CVG)	TurboGrafx-16	Mar, 1991	70 out of 100	70
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Genesis	Oct, 1991	8 out of 12	67
Power Play	Game Gear	Nov, 1991	64 out of 100	64
Video Games	TurboGrafx-16	Mar, 1991	62 out of 100	62
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	Commodore 64	Feb, 1988	610 out of 1000	61
Games-X	Game Gear	Aug, 1991		60

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Outrun on Amstrad GX4000	1	Robert Francis Jul 17, 2011

Trivia

Car

The classic red racer you use in the game is quite obviously a convertible Ferrari Testarossa (right down to the "Cavallino Rampante" logo featured in the back of the car), however SEGA had not licensed the likeness of Ferrari products and got into a series of legal issues with Ferrari. The eventually settled but it wouldn't be until OutRun 2 that the car would become an "official" Ferrari.

Copyright infringement

There was a patent case over the DOS port by Unlimited Software, the porting division of Distinctive Software. Accolade, for whom Distinctive had written The Duel: Test Drive II sought a preliminary injunction against Distinctive Software. It did not deal with the general look of the game, but rather the underlying source code.

Distinctive used some of the underlying "computer code" from The Duel for the OutRun DOS port, which Accolade challenged as an infringement of their copyright. Distinctive argued that these were standard libraries and routines, re-used in different games only for the sake of not having to reprogram them. Also, they claimed Accolade never contemplated the transfer of copyright in the library codes and, even if it did, the codes were not subject to copyright protection in the first place.

Ultimately, Accolade lost the case because the licensing agreement only referred to the concept and design of the game, but not the underlying codes.

The full case can be read through a link in the related links section.

Extras

A special edition of Outrun on cassette for Commodore 64 was bundled with a cassette containing the music from the original arcade game. The intention being to be listened to while playing the game!

Tandy

The PC version has undocumented support for the Tandy TL/RL/SL series; there are a few digitized sound samples that can be heard if the joystick is not chosen to play the game (since the TL/RL/SL couldn't play digitized sound and access the joystick at the same time, due to a rediculous design flaw).

Technology

Second game Sega made in the 80's that used "Super Scaler" technology.

Awards

• Retro Gamer
  • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #44 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Garcia, Robbb, Sciere and Zovni

Related Web Sites

• Patent Case: Accolade v. Distinctive (A description of the patent case between Accolade and Distinctive over the DOS port)
• The Sega Out Run FAQ (Lots of information can be found in this guide by Chris White.)