Turbo OutRun

For non-FM Towns home computer versions, see Turbo OutRun (home computers).

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OutRun hardware Mega Drive FM Towns
Turbo OutRun
System(s): Sega OutRun hardware, Sega Mega Drive, FM Towns
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. CRI
Developer: Sega R&D 8 Tiertex CRI
Distributor: Unidesa (ES) Ecofilmes (PT)
Licensor: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Genre: Racing
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1989-02-11 ¥? ? US 1989-04 $? ? UK 199x £? ? JP 1992-03-27 ¥6,0006,000 G-4053 EU 1992-06 1123 PT 199x UK 1992-05 £34.9934.99 1123 AU 199x AU (Gold) 199x FTUR06SMC JP 1989-11-15 ¥98009800

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Turbo OutRun (ターボアウトラン) is an arcade sequel to OutRun released in 1989. Though not the first sequel to OutRun, Turbo OutRun is considered to be the first "true" sequel, having been built by a similar team at Sega AM2 with the arcades in mind.

Gameplay

Turbo OutRun has the player make a journey across the United States of America, from New York to Los Angeles. It is a more linear game than its predecessor, offering no forks in the road and therefore less of an incentive to play the game again after completion.

For the most part, the game is very similar to its predecessor, save for new graphics and music. Turbo OutRun offers several new features however, such as weather effects and obstacles which can slow your journey down. Like its predecessor, the player drives a car which looks suspiciously like Ferrari, however rather than being based on a Ferrari Testarossa, it is a Ferrari F40 (although like its predecessor, Turbo OutRun's car is fictional convertible version of the car, which Ferrari did not manufacture). You are also set against a rival opponent, driving what appears to be a white Porsche 959 (a nod towards the rivalry between Ferrari and Porsche at that time).

The game is divided into four "sub-goals". Upon reaching a goal, the player is able to upgrade their car. If the opponent gets to the goal first, the player's girlfriend will sit in the opponent car in the next race, however if the player gets there first, a 1,000,000 point bonus is given.

The other major addition to Turbo OutRun is the inclusion of a "Turbo" feature: the back of the car has a rocket-type exhaust on the back and the player is given a "boost" button, which allows the car to travel faster. If the boost is left on for too long however, the car will overheat, and will be punished with slowdown. It is also the first OutRun game to offer an automatic transmission option.

After each goal, the player is taken to a shop where they can apply one of three upgrades to their car: a better engine, high-grip tires, or a better turbo. Each upgrade may be applied only once, and since there are four sections, the player will eventually have a maxed-out car.

The arcade version also allows you to continue from the beginning of the stage if you lose, a feature that did not survive into later OutRun games.

There are four stage songs: "Rush a Difficulty", "Keep Your Heart", "Shake the Street", and "Who Are You". Unlike in other OutRun games, the player cannot choose the song currently playing — they are tied to each section. Additionally, every version of the game appears to use a different song order, and the Sega Mega Drive port changes the song titles ("Insanity", "Highway", "Main Theme", and "Funky run", respectively, in addition to having its own songs).

Stages

	New York
	Washington D.C
	Pittsburgh
	Indianapolis
	Chicago
	St Louis
	Memphis
	Atlanta
	Miami
	New Orleans
	San Antonio
	Dallas
	Oklahoma City
	Denver
	Grand Canyon
	Los Angeles

History

Development

Though very different to the rest of the series, Turbo OutRun is arguably closer to Yu Suzuki's vision for the original OutRun, being set in the United States of America and featuring various scrapped ideas such as a checkpoint system.

Like OutRun Ferrari were not consulted during the development of this game, although the Ferrari brand is used on Turbo OutRun arcade cabinets.

Release

Turbo OutRun was released as both a stand-alone arcade cabinet and as an upgrade kit to the original OutRun. The upgrade kits offer very minor aesthetic changes - a different marquee and extra "Turbo" stickers. Some Turbo OutRun cabinets were converted back into regular OutRun machines as the prior game proved more popular - Turbo OutRun cabinets can be identified by the use of Ferrari branding.

Legacy

The game was ported to the Sega Mega Drive in 1992 exclusively in Japan and Europe, and was brought to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS computers and ZX Spectrum too. Each of these ports suffer from cutbacks as sprite scaling is not supported by these systems.

Production credits

Main article: Turbo OutRun/Production credits.

OutRun hardware version

• Game Design: Bin
• Program: Bin, Coma, Okape
• Design: Mr.Jee, Papa, Gudon
• Sound: Kerotan, Hiro
• Sp. Thanks: Sada, Yu.

• Presented by: ©Sega

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• Design: Akihito Hiroyoshi

Source:

Developer mentions

The game also contains high scores that reference the developers.

• Satoshi Mifune (BIN)
• KEN
• Keiji Okayasu (OKA)
• Yasuhiro Takagi (TKG)
• Hiroshi Miyauchi (HIR)
• TAM
• Coma (COM)

Mega Drive version

• Cover artist: Akira Watanabe

Source:

Sega TV Game Genga Gallery

File:Sega TV Game Genga Gallery.pdf

Magazine articles

Main article: Turbo OutRun/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Arcade version

PDF

US flyer

flyer (conversion kit)

PDF

JP flyer

ES flyer

Print advert in Gamest (JP) #32: "May 1989" (1989-03-30)
also published in:

• Gamest (JP) #33: "June 1989" (1989-04-28)

Mega Drive version

JP print advert

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-04: "April 1992" (1992-03-07)

Print advert in Computer Games (GR) #2: "Máios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Merchandise

• 

  Sega Game Card

Photo gallery

• 

  Upright cabinet

• 

  Sit-down cabinet

• 

  Upright cabinet (converted from OutRun)

• 

  Standard cabinet (converted from OutRun)

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) 80

	80
Based on 1 review

Turbo OutRun

Arcade, US

Arcade, JP

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 55 Consoles + (FR) 72 Cool Gamer (RU) 60 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 42 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 40 Hobby Consolas (ES) 68 Joypad (FR) NTSC-J 74 Joystick (FR) NTSC-J 75 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 12 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 60 Mega (UK) PAL 53 Mega (UK) 53 Mega Force (FR) 65 MegaTech (UK) PAL 41 Mean Machines (UK) 42 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 42 Play Time (DE) 70 Sega Power (UK) PAL 31 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 77 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 52 Sega Opisaniy i sekretov (RU) 72 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 51 Supergame (BR) NTSC-U 89 Supersonic (FR) 72 Video Games (DE) 47

	57
Based on 25 reviews

Turbo OutRun

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart Manual EU Manual

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, AU (Sega Gold Collection)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,

FM Towns version

FM Towns, JP
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Turbo OutRun/Technical information.