OutRun

n/a

OutRun hardware Mega Drive Master System Game Gear MSX2 PC Engine
OutRun
System(s): Sega OutRun hardware, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, MSX2, PC Engine
Publisher: Sega Pony Canyon NEC Avenue
Developer: Sega R&D 1 Sega R&D 2 Sega CS Hertz Pony Canyon NEC Avenue
Supporting companies: T's Music (audio)
Distributor: Unidesa (ES) Hent Gruppen (SE rental) Tec Toy (BR) Samsung (KR)
Licensor: Sega
Sound driver: SMPS Z80
Peripherals supported: Gear-to-Gear Cable, FM Sound Unit, Paddle Control
Genre: Racing, Driving, Action
Number of players: 1 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1986-09-20 ¥? ? US 1986-09-20 $? ? JP 1990-12-21 ¥¥7,200 NAPH-1016 {{#ifeq: 0 | 0 | JP 19xx ¥? ? UK 19xx £? ? JP 1991-08-09 ¥7,0007,000 G-4052 US 1991 $49.9549.95 1125 EU 1991-11 1125 BX 199x UK 1991-12-12 £39.9939.99 1125 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x BR 199x JP 1987-06-30 ¥5,5005,500 G-1326 US 1987-10 7003 EU 1987-10 MK-7003-50 FR 198x 250F250 MK-7003-50 UK 1987-10 £24.9524.95 MK-7003-50 SE 19xx AU 19xx BR 19xx 024240 KR 19xx GB-2326 JP 1991-08-09 ¥3,5003,500 G-3213 JP (Meisaku) 1993-07-23 ¥3,5003,500 G-3222 EU 1991-11 2310 PT 1991 GGJ2310 UK 1991-11-07 £24.9924.99 2310 BR 199x 013460 KR 199x GH1006JG JP 1988-10 ¥6,8006,800 R68Y5814

For non-MSX2 home computer versions, see OutRun (home computers).

OutRun (アウトラン) is an arcade game developed by Studio 128 in 1986 for specially designed hardware. It was designed by Yu Suzuki, and is often considered a milestone in the driving/racing genre, being ported to numerous home platforms and inspiring several sequels. Rather than be classed as a "racing game", Yu Suzuki classifies OutRun as a "driving game".

Gameplay

The goal of OutRun is to simply drive your sports car to one of the five goals, labelled "a" to "e", without running out of time. A pedal accelerates the car, and a steering wheel moves it left and right on the road. Due to limitations in the technology, it is impossible to fully turn the car around, nor is it possible to reverse.

Crashing into either other cars or scenery does not cause the player to lose lives, just time. After an area is cleared, checkpoints will allow the player to increase their time, and there will also be the option to select the next area through the form of a fork in the road. From a technical standpoint, every area is exactly the same length, though twists and turns can alter the amount of time needed to complete them. There are five possible endings, each with their own closing cinematic.

The car has two gears, high and low. When in the high gear, the car becomes harder to control, however the top speed of the vehicle is increased. To be successful in OutRun the player needs to switch between gears at the appropriate moments, e.g. switching to the lower gear while negotiating tricky roads, or if the player has just crashed.

The number of lanes of traffic also differs between stages. Although there is never a situation in OutRun where the cars travel in the opposite direction to yourself, the introductory level for example has six lanes of traffic.

Course Layout

Some stages appear in a different order between the Japanese and overseas releases of the game:

Japanese version

Stage Number					Goal name
1	2	3	4	5
				Vineyard	A
			Wilderness
		Desert		Death Valley	B
	Wheat Field		Old Capital
Coconut Beach		Alps		Desolation Hill	C
	Cloudy Mountain		Gateway
		Devil's Canyon		Autobahn	D
			Seaside Town
				Lakeside	E

Overseas version

Stage Number					Goal name
1	2	3	4	5
				Vineyard	A
			Wilderness
		Desert		Death Valley	B
	Gateway		Old Capital
Coconut Beach		Alps		Desolation Hill	C
	Devil's Canyon		Wheat Field
		Cloudy Mountain		Autobahn	D
			Seaside Town
				Lakeside	E

Coconut beach was later used as a stage in Sega Superstars Tennis.

Easter Eggs

• The arcade version of OutRun contains one known Easter egg. It is accessed in different ways depending on which revision of the hardware is used. With revision A, holding down  START  just before a checkpoint will display the message "PROGRAM YU SUZUKI 1986 SEP" will appear on screen. In revision B, the user is required to obtain a high score under the name "YU." first, then perform this code during the stage 2-3 transition. In revision B, the code can only be activated once, and if two instances of "YU." are recorded in the high score screen, the code will fail.

• The Mega Drive version adds a fourth BGM track to choose during gameplay called Step on Beat, which shares the same frequency as Splash Wave (80.3). This is notably more concealed than the additional tracks made for the previously released OutRun 3D, wherein one is given an entirely new frequency between two preexisting ones.

History

Development

OutRun was designed by Yu Suzuki, and for the most part stands as the logical progression from the earlier Hang-On (and to a lesser extent, Space Harrier). All three make use of Super Scaler technology in an attempt to deliver a sense of speed and deliver a 3D look and feel. It is said Suzuki got the idea for producing OutRun from the 1981 film The Cannonball Run.

Initially the plan had been to follow the course of The Cannonball Run, however Suzuki noted that the course lacked the variation in scenery he had hoped for. Instead, the attention turned to Europe, but in order to get a clearer vision of its scenery, Suzuki decided to travel and collect data first hand.

“	I started out from Frankfurt, where I hired a rent a car, and I installed a video camera on the car. I drove around Monaco and Monte Carlo, along the mountain roads of Switzerland, stopping in hotels in Milan, Venice, and Rome, collecting data for a fortnight.	„
— Yu Suzuki

Interestingly the first sequel to OutRun, Turbo OutRun would span North America, though Europe would be explored in more detail in another sequel OutRun Europa.

Yu Suzuki is noted for being a fan of Ferrari supercars, and although OutRun is not officially licensed by Ferrari, the player's car looks strikingly similar to a Ferrari Testarossa, right down to the rear badge. Suzuki first encountered this car in Monaco, and decided it was the perfect choice for the game. Unfortunately at the time the car was not common in Japan, which presented difficulties when it came to road testing. Allegedly five members of Sega AM2 squeezed into a privately owned model for a three hour road test during development. They also took photos and recorded the sound of the car's engine.

The specific Testarossa in OutRun is a work of fiction, as Ferrari did not produce convertible models (save for a special silver "spider" model for Gianni Agnelli, which has an entirely different rear grill). Third-parties would sell modified convertible Testarossas later in the decade with a similar appearance, but this was after OutRun's launch.

The Ferrari Testarossa in game attempts to simulate the real-life features of the car, e.g. horsepower, torque, tires, gears etc. Suzuki designed OutRun in a very different way to previous racing games - in OutRun, good real-life drivers are rewarded for their skills in game, and bumping into other vehicles does not cause the car to explode (unlike many other older racers).

Sega did not consult Ferrari over the inclusion of the Testarossa in game, and would later meet in court several times over the matter. It is assumed a deal was reached as the car has never been modified for any future releases, and in fact, Ferrari have gone as far officially sponsor several racing games, starting with F355 Challenge (also designed by Yu Suzuki) and OutRun 2 and its derivatives. Other cars on the road appear to be a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle, a 1971 Chevrolet Corvette, a 1985 Porsche 911, a 1985 BMW 325i Cabriolet E30 and a generic truck.

The music of OutRun was composed by famed Sega musician, Hiroshi Miyauchi, and was extremely popular. Each of the three in-game music tracks were much longer and more varied than what other arcade games were offering at the time, and unlike every other racing game on the market, OutRun allowed the user to pick a music track to race with. Originally the soundtrack was to consist of eight different rock tracks running at 150 beats per minute, though hardware restrictions forced this idea to be scrapped.

Suzuki claims he was only able to achieve half of his original goal in OutRun. Originally eight different sports cars were planned with differing stats, and cutscenes were due to occur at checkpoints, giving the player a story. Some of these features would be added in later OutRun games.

OutRun came in four distinct styles of arcade cabinet, two upright and two sit-down. Each comes with a steering wheel and stick shift plus acceleration and brake pedals. Though steering wheels had appeared in countless Arcade games previous to Sega's game, OutRun was the first to have force feedback in order to simulate the road surface. The deluxe sit-down cabinet is also equipped with hydraulics which move the seat as the player turns.

The game has been decompiled, with the process revealing several interesting facts about the game. Unused code allows traffic to move towards the camera, and an unused "You're Doing Great" sample from Space Harrier exists. The game is also capable of showing "lap times" (the time taken to complete an area - OutRun has no concept of "real" laps). Much of the code from the game would be recycled for games such as Super Hang-On.

Two revisions of the game are known to exist - the latter adding some extra text to the music selection screen and adjusting the first area slightly. Depending on version or region, the track layout can also differ.

Sales

Upon release, individual Out Run machines were each earning ¥65,000 per day at test locations, surpassing the ¥56,000/day average earned by Hang-On machines. Sega initially projected OutRun to sell 3,000 arcade units in Japan and 10,000 units overseas.

OutRun went on to the best-selling arcade game of 1986, with over 20,000 cabinets sold worldwide within a year. It eventually sold 30,000 arcade cabinets worldwide by 1993.

Legacy

OutRun was a pioneer in video game graphics, audio and arcade cabinet design, picking up multiple awards during the late 1980s.

OutRun was a big success in arcades, so it was inevitable that ports would be made to home platforms. At the time, these systems were seen to be vastly inferior to the hardware powering OutRun, and numerous cuts were made.

Pony Canyon handled an MSX2 conversion which only saw release in Japan. There is also a PC Engine port, published by NEC Avenue. An X68000 port by Hertz was planned, but cancelled, according to an interview with a former staff member. Reportedly a Sega 32X version was also in development at one stage.

Sega were also quick to port the game to their own systems. Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear ports were handled in-house by Sega, as was a Sega Mega Drive version, seen for a while to be the best home port of OutRun with faithful stages design and which even includes an exclusive music track called Step on Beat.

A Sega Saturn version of the game was only released as a stand alone title in Japan as part of their Sega Ages series. It was later bundled with Space Harrier and After Burner II to make the western title Sega Ages: Volume 1. Since then, the majority of home ports of the game have been almost identical to their original arcade counterpart, with the exception of mobile phone versions and the version included in the 2004 Sega Arcade Gallery Game Boy Advance compilation (whose resolution was changed to fit the console's smaller screen).

OutRun was also released as part of the Sega Ages 2500 PlayStation 2 series in Japan, and is fully playable within Shenmue and Shenmue II. The Shenmue versions alter the player's car so that it looks less like a Testarossa, as does the one version included in Yu Suzuki Game Works Vol. 1. OutRun is also unlockable within the Xbox port of OutRun 2 SP.

The game saw many sequels, however the "true" sequel comes in the form of Turbo OutRun, a 1989 arcade release also by Sega AM2. By obtaining a kit from Sega, arcade owners were able to "upgrade" OutRun into Turbo OutRun, as the two games run on identical hardware. Turbo OutRun offers several new graphical features and a turbo button.

In late 1987 footage from OutRun was used in a 30-second television advert in the United States to warn against drink driving (the idea being to convey that crashing in a video game as a result of alcohol has no real life consequences). A joint project between the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA), Sega agreed to remove its name and logos for what it perceived was the greater good.

OutRun has also left a lasting legacy in music. An entire genre of music is named after OutRun, called outrun music, also known as synthwave. The genre name "outrun" is due to how Hiroshi Kawaguchi's OutRun soundtrack has the kind of 80s synth vibe that characterizes synthwave.

Outrun was one of the most popular arcade machines of the 90s in Poland and one machine cost around 3,500 PLN in 1997.

The MSX2 version of OutRun received ROM patches made by ToughkidCST in September 2024 that makes use of the MSX-MUSIC standard (YM2413), featuring arranged soundtracks from the Arcade version, alongside a patch that features soundtrack from OutRun 3D in their FM Sound Unit versions.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	OutRun	OutRun
English (US)	OutRun	OutRun
Japanese	アウトラン	OutRun
Portuguese (Brazil)	OutRun
Korean	아웃런	OutRun

Production credits

Main article: OutRun/Production credits.

Hints

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  Master System US hints

Digital manuals

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 US manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 EU manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 JP manual

Magazine articles

Main article: OutRun/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: OutRun/Promotional material.

Artwork

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• 

Photo gallery

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  Standard cabinet

• 

  Deluxe cabinet

• 

  Upright cabinet

• 

  Arcade CPU PCB (top)

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  Arcade CPU PCB (bottom)

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  Arcade Video PCB (top)

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  Arcade Video PCB (bottom)

Physical scans

Arcade version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Commodore User (UK) 90

	90
Based on 1 review

OutRun

Arcade, US (standard)

Arcade, US (upright)
Manual

Arcade, US (deluxe)
Manual

Arcade, US (mini)

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,
Cart

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Svenska Hemdator Nytt (SE) 85 №10, p33/72

	85
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 60 Ação Games (BR) 88 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 72 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 83 Consoles + (FR) 76 Console XS (UK) PAL 80 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 55 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 75 Game Power (IT) 55 Gamers (DE) 47 Games-X (UK) 70 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 80 Game Players Sega Guide! (US) NTSC-U 60 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 60 Hobby Consolas (ES) 92 Joypad (FR) NTSC-J 90 Joystick (FR) NTSC-J 90 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 24 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 76 Mega (UK) PAL 57 Mega (UK) 45 Mega Force (FR) PAL 90 MegaTech (UK) 58 MegaTech (UK) PAL 69 Mean Machines (UK) 69 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 69 Player One (FR) 75 Play Time (DE) 74 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J 49 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 80 Sega Force (UK) 83 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 80 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 63 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) NTSC-U 70 Video Games (DE) 62

	69
Based on 35 reviews

OutRun

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, FR (Blister pack)
Cover

Mega Drive, BX†
Cover

Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; black)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score ACE (UK) 85 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 80 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 80 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL 80 Computer Action (DK) 100 Console XS (UK) PAL 63 Computer & Video Games (UK) 90 Dragon (US) 90 The Games Machine (IT) 85 The Games Machine (UK) 72 Games Preview (DK) 80 Génération 4 (FR) 82 Happy Computer (DE) 73 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 80 Sega Power (UK) PAL 50 Sega Pro (UK) 64 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 73 Soft (DK) 100 Tilt (FR) 85

	80
Based on 19 reviews

OutRun

Master System, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US (newer)
Cover
Cart

Master System, EU
Cover

Master System, EU (Sega®)
Cover

Master System, EU ("No Limits")
Cover

Master System, SE

Master System, BX†
Manual

Master System, AU
Cart

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, BR (re-release)
Cover
Cart File:OutRunAlt-SMS-BR-Manual.pdf Manual

Master System, KR
Cover
Cart

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score ACE (UK) 25 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 73 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 63 Consoles + (FR) 86 Consoles + (FR) 88 Console XS (UK) PAL 77 Computer & Video Games (UK) 75 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 70 Game Power (IT) 69 Games-X (UK) 60 Game Zone (UK) PAL 30 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 40 Hobby Consolas (ES) 86 Joystick (FR) 79 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 70 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 64 Power Play (DE) 64 Sega Power (UK) PAL 79 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 77 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 77 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 65

	67
Based on 21 reviews

OutRun

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, JP (Meisaku Collection)
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, PT

Game Gear, BR
Cover

Game Gear, KR
Cart

MSX2 version

MSX, JP (cartridge)
Cover
Cart

PC Engine version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 70 Computer & Video Games (UK) 70 The Games Machine (IT) 91 Génération 4 (FR) 88 Joystick (FR) 89 Player One (FR) 85 Power Play (DE) 63 Video Games (DE) 62

	77
Based on 8 reviews

OutRun

PC Engine, JP
Cover
Card File:OutRun PCE HuCard JP Manual.pdf Manual

Technical information

Main article: OutRun/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to OutRun