Outworld 2375 AD

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Outworld 2375 AD
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: HeartBeat Corporation
Developer: Western Technologies Inc.
Peripherals supported: HeartBeat Catalyst
Genre: Driving
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US 1994

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Outworld 2375 AD is a Sega Mega Drive fitness science fiction driving game developed by Western Technologies and published by HeartBeat Corporation. Specifically designed to utilize the fitness sensor-integrated Mega Drive peripheral HeartBeat Catalyst, it appears to have been released exclusively in the United States in late 1994 in an extremely limited run, and is one of the single-rarest commercially released Mega Drive games in existence.

Currently presumed to have been reached store shelves in some capacity, the obscurity of Outworld 2375 AD has left its official release status shrouded in mystery. While Western Technologies developers claim the game was completed but left unshipped, multiple collectors reportedly own boxed copies of the game, with HeartBeat appearing to have given it a last-minute, barebones physical release locally distributed to three stores in Lansing, Michigan.

Blurb

“	Kidnapped by intergalactic criminals, you have been pitted in the race for the ultimate prize - your freedom. Race through a planet which began as an experiment in artificial development. Using your heavily armed space hovercraft, you must outmaneuver environmental mutations as well as the deadly inhabitants in a fight for your survival. Go too slow and your aircraft will crash...too fast and it will burn up. Close the hatch, buckle up and hit the turbos.	„
— Promotional blurb from the Heartbeat Personal Trainer's brochure.

Gameplay

Set on a planet wracked by natural disasters, players begin the game by choosing from one of five different courses. Like contemporary racing games of the time, sprites and roadside objects are scaled towards the camera in real time. The faster players exercise, the faster their hovercraft will travel. Exercise too fast and the ship will overheat and explode, but exercise too slowly and it will lose momentum and crash. Additionally, the player is timed during races, and being too careful on the throttle will result in players unable to reach the goal in time.

Production credits

• Producer: George deGolian
• Programmer: John Bojorquez
• Art Director: Eric Iwasaki
• Artist: Eric Iwasaki
• HUD Artist: Tate Mosesian
• Animator: Erik Alwill

Source:

Developer statements

History

Development

Artist Eric Iwasaki recalls that ‘’Outworld’’’s graphics were were hand-drawn in Deluxe Paint Enhanced and animated in Deluxe Paint Animation, and that the game's reliance on a dark-blue color scheme was a result of the Mega Drive's hardware limitation, stating "the Genesis displayed shades of blue better than any other hue (especially in the darkest values), making blues the only choice for creating the illusion of moody dimensional lighting." Iwasaki also focused on creating artwork with smooth color gradients to minimize unwanted "sparkly noise" when scaled down to smaller sizes.

The game itself was playtested on a stationary bicycle located in the offices of Western Technologies, with development beginning around June 1993 and reaching completion later that September.

Prerelease

One of the game's only known appearances, published in Sega Visions, issue 15.

Outworld 2375 AD was advertised alongside NHLPA Hockey as "the second wave of HeartBeat games". Early copies of the game were sent to video game magazines for review purposes, with most articles highlighting its unique fitness capabilities; namely, the relation of the player's heart rate to the speed of actual gameplay was easily Outworld's most well-received feature.

Iwasaki remembers the game's artwork was largely redrawn after Outworld's promotional appearances in the gaming magazines Sega Visions and Mega, with the HUD in particular being revamped later in development.

Release

As one of the least-known Mega Drive games, Outworld 2375 AD 's release status remained unclear for decades. However, modern research (particularly the efforts of BadUsername25 and CartridgeCulture) eventually uncovered evidence of what seems to be an official, if limited, release. Isaiah Mays-Vinson also spoke with former Western Technologies developers, who seem to be divided on whether the game was actually released.

Outworld's producer, George deGolian, recalls that the game was either left unfinished or unshipped. Artist Eric Iwasaki specifies that "production had wrapped" and that "we completed development", but that the game never made it to stores. Despite this, multiple collectors in Lansing, Michigan (where Catalyst games were locally distributed post-1994) reportedly own copies of the game - with one collector even confirming Outworld 2375 AD received a standard boxed release with a manual and cartridge. Another collector from the same city claims to own a prototype.

Regardless, evidence strongly suggests that Outworld 2375 AD was officially released sometime in late 1994. Produced in an extremely limited run numbering no more than a few hundred copies, it appears to have been available for purchase from three select Target stores in the state of Michigan (specifically, those located in the cities of Lansing, Okemon, and Jackson), or by mail-ordering the game directly from HeartBeat Corporation. Additionally, fitness retailers like NordicTrack who had previously stocked HeartBeat products were also likely to have access to the company's limited-run games, if they so chose.

Legacy

Owing to confusion over Outworld's release status, extremely little of the title has been preserved. The game went entirely undumped until November 2022, when a private collector donated a copy to the Video Game History Foundation for preservation; the ROM was uploaded to Hidden Palace the following June. While reportedly sold in a box and with a manual like contemporary HeartBeat games, no images of either the box art or manual are believed to publicly exist.

About half a decade after Outworld's completion, artist Eric Iwasaki would host artwork and animated sprites from the game in his official online portfolio, Axis Zeta.

Magazine articles

Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Mega Drive, US
Cart PCB

Technical information

Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1			Cartridge (US)

External links

• Technology adds new thrills to boring exercise equipment article by Bob Condor at The Chicago Tribune
• Investigatory thread 1, 2, 3 by BadUsername25 at Reddit