OutRun

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Out Run Title.png

OutRun
System(s): Arcade (Sega OutRun Hardware), Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, J2ME, MSX, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, TurboGrafx-16, ZX Spectrum
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Racing

















OutRun (アウトラン) is a successful arcade driving game developed by Sega AM2 in 1986. It was designed by Yu Suzuki, and went on to inspire numerous sequels and re-releases. It is one of Sega's most iconic franchises as it was the first arcade game to deliver a sense of speed while making use of Super Scaler technology to create a psuedo-3D look and feel. It also contains multiple routes and multiple endings. Its music, composed by Hiroshi Miyauchi, was also extremely popular as well, as each of the three in-game music tracks were much longer and more varied than what other arcade games were offering at the time. It was also one of the first games to allow picking a music track to race with.

The goal is to simply drive your sports car to one of the goals without running out of time. 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. There are five possible endings, each with their own closing cinematic. Rather than be classed as a "racing game", Yu Suzuki classifies OutRun as a "driving game".

The player's car looks strikingly similar to a Ferrari Testarossa, so much so that the two companies would later have some court encounters over it. In later games, the car is either generic with no obvious ties to a company, or, in the most recent games, a real Ferrari. 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 truck. The game's scenery is largely inspired by Europe, after a European trip Suzuki travelled on for inspiration. This would be explored in more detail in the sequel OutRun Europa.

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 was also equipped with hydraulics which would move the seat as you turned.

Sequels and Re-releases

As well as appearing in Arcades, OutRun was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, J2ME, MSX, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, TurboGrafx-16 and ZX Spectrum. Most of the computer ports were handled by U.S. Gold, and as the less powerful consoles and computers could not handle scaling, the graphics are choppier than the Arcade game. The Saturn version of the game was only released as a stand alone title in Japan - it was later bundled with Space Harrier and After Burner II to make the western title Sega Ages: Volume 1. It was also released as part of the Sega Ages 2500 PlayStation 2 series in Japan, and the 2004 Sega Arcade Gallery Game Boy Advance compilation. The full game of OutRun has also appeared as an unlockable within the Xbox port of OutRun 2 SP, Shenmue and Shenmue II.

By obtaining a kit from Sega, arcade owners were able to "upgrade" OutRun into Turbo OutRun, released in 1989.

Physical Scans

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OutRun

Arcade Version

  • US flyer

  • OutRun Arcade EU Flyer1.jpg

    EU flyer (front)

  • OutRun Arcade EU Flyer2.jpg

    EU flyer (inside 1)

  • OutRun Arcade EU Flyer3.jpg

    EU flyer (inside 2)

  • OutRun Arcade EU Flyer4.jpg

    EU flyer (back)

  • OutRun Arcade EU Mini Flyer1.jpg

    EU mini flyer (front)

  • OutRun Arcade EU Mini Flyer2.jpg

    EU mini flyer (back)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer1.jpg

    JP flyer (front)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer2.jpg

    JP flyer (inside 1)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer3.jpg

    JP flyer (inside 2)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer4.jpg

    JP flyer (back)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer Alt1.jpg

    JP alternative flyer (front)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer Alt2.jpg

    JP alternative flyer (inside 1)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer Alt3.jpg

    JP alternative flyer (inside 2)

  • OutRun Arcade JP Flyer Alt4.jpg

    JP alternative flyer (back)

Mega Drive Version

  • US cover

  • US cart

  • EU cover

  • JP cover

  • JP cart

Saturn Version

  • JP cover (front)

  • JP cover (back)

  • JP disc

Master System Version

  • US cover

  • US cart

  • EU cover

  • JP front cover

  • JP back cover

  • JP cart

  • BR cover

  • BR newer cover

Game Gear Version

Amiga Version

  • EU Erbe front cover

  • EU Klassix front cover

Amstrad CPC Version

  • EU disk

Atari ST Version

  • EU front cover

  • EU back cover

  • EU disk

Commodore 64 Version

  • US front cover

  • US back cover

  • EU front cover

  • EU back cover

  • OutRun C64 EU Tape.jpg

    EU tape

  • OutRun C64 EU Audio Tape.jpg

    EU audio tape

MSX Version

Due to the video game industry handing out licensing rights for different media types rather than entire systems at the time, OutRun received two ports to the MSX — a cassette tape port by Probe (brought to Europe by US Gold) and a cartridge port by Pony Canyon.

  • OutRun MSX JP Box Front.jpg

    JP front cover - Pony Canyon

  • OutRun MSX JP Box Back.jpg

    JP back cover - Pony Canyon

TurboGrafx-16 Version

  • Outrun pce jp cover.jpg

ZX Spectrum Version

  • EU cover

  • EU disk



CollapseOutRun series of games
Arcade
 OutRun (1986) | Turbo OutRun (1989) | OutRunners (1992) | OutRun 2 (2003) | OutRun 2 SP (2004) | OutRun 2 SP SDX (2006)
Sega Master System
 OutRun (1987) | OutRun 3D (1988) | Battle OutRun (1989) | OutRun Europa (1991)
Windows PC
 OutRun (1987) | Turbo OutRun (1989) | OutRun Europa (1991) | OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006)
MSX
 OutRun (1988)
FM Towns/FM Towns Marty
 Turbo OutRun (1989)
LCD handheld game
 OutRun (1989) | OutRun F-1 (19xx)
Sega Mega Drive
 OutRun (1991) | Turbo OutRun (1992) | OutRun 2019 (1993) | OutRunners (1994) | Arcade Legends OutRun 2019 (200x)
Sega Game Gear
 OutRun (1991) | OutRun Europa (1992)
Sega Saturn
 Sega Ages OutRun (1996)
i-mode 503i
 OutRun (2001)
Sony PlayStation 2
 Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 13: OutRun (2004) | OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006) | OutRun 2 SP (2007)
Xbox
 OutRun 2 (2004) | OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006)
Sony PlayStation Portable
 OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006)
Xbox 360
Sony PlayStation 3
 OutRun Online Arcade (2009)
Nintendo 3DS
 3D OutRun (2014)
Nintendo Switch
 Sega Ages OutRun (2018)
OutRun-related media
Music
 OutRun (1992) | Virtua Racing & OutRunners (1993) | Yu Suzuki Produce OutRun (1997) | Sega Presents OutRun 2: Music Through the Ages (2004) | OutRun 2 Sound Tracks (2004) | OutRun 2 Sound Tracks: Side B (2005) | OutRun Sound Tracks: Complement (2007) | OutRun 20th Anniversary Box (2007) | OutRun (2016) | Sega Ages OutRun: Music Collection (2019) | OutRun (2022)
Film
 OutRun (1987) | OutRun (1988) | Super Monaco GP / Turbo OutRun (1989) | Out Run/Turbo Out Run Strategy Movie ＆ S.S.T. Band Live+1 (2007)
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