Outworld 2375 AD

From Sega Retro

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Outworld2375AD MD US title.png

Outworld 2375 AD
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: HeartBeat Corporation[1][2]
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Peripherals supported: HeartBeat Catalyst[1][2]
Genre: Driving

















Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages:
  • English
    • Release Date RRP Code
    Sega Mega Drive
    US

    Outworld 2375 AD is a Sega Mega Drive fitness science fiction driving game developed by Western Technologies[3] and published by HeartBeat Corporation. Specifically designed to utilize the fitness sensor-integrated Mega Drive peripheral HeartBeat Catalyst[2], it was released exclusively in the United States in 1994 in an extremely limited run, and is one of the single-rarest commercially released Mega Drive games in existence.

    Currently known to have been reached store shelves in some capacity, the obscurity of Outworld 2375 AD had left its official release status shrouded in mystery for decades. While Western Technologies developers claim the game was completed but left unshipped, multiple collectors own boxed copies of the final game, with HeartBeat having given it a last-minute, barebones physical release locally distributed to three Target stores in Michigan in late 1994.

    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.[4]


    Gameplay

    Set on a planet wracked by natural disasters, players begin the game by choosing from one of five different courses.[5] 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.[6] 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.

    History

    Development

    Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Development.

    Prerelease

    One of the game's only known appearances, published in Sega Visions, issue 15.[2]

    Outworld 2375 AD was advertised alongside NHLPA Hockey as "the second wave of HeartBeat games".[2] 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.[6]

    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.[3]

    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[7][8][9] and CartridgeCulture[10][11]) eventually uncovered evidence of an official, if limited, release. Isaiah Mays-Vinson[3][12] 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"[3] and that "we completed development"[3], 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.[13] Eventually, a photograph of the game's cartridge was taken, revealing a finalized label identical to that of the released PGA Tour Golf II.[14]

    Produced in an extremely limited run numbering no more than a few hundred copies, it appears to have been available for purchase in late 1994 from three select Target stores in the state of Michigan (specifically, those located in the cities of Lansing, Okemos, 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.[13][9]

    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[3], 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.[15] While sold in a box and with a manual[13][9] 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[12], Axis Zeta.[16]

    Production credits

    Source:
    In-game credits
    Outworld2375AD MD US credits.pdf
    [17]

    Magazine articles

    Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Magazine articles.

    Promotional material

    Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Promotional material.

    Physical scans

    Mega Drive, US

    Outworld2375AD MD US cart front.png
    Cart
    Outworld2375AD MD US pcb front.png
    PCB

    Technical information

    Main article: Outworld 2375 AD/Technical information.

    External links

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://videogamekraken.com/heartbeat-personal-trainer-catalyst (Wayback Machine: 2021-04-14 05:43)
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Sega Visions, "October/November 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 110
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 @IsaiahVinson1 on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2023-03-11 09:04)
    4. ↑ File:HeartBeatPersonalTrainer US brochure.pdf, page 4
    5. ↑ https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-02-24-9402240306-story.html (archive.today)
    6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mega, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 12
    7. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/i3j51c/sega_genesis_outworld_2375_ad_possibly_the_rarest/ (archive.today)
    8. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/i43hwz/outworld_2375_ad_sega_genesis_newspaper_ad_update/ (archive.today)
    9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/i7sm8p/outworld_sega_genesis_game_barcode_and_more_info/ (archive.today)
    10. ↑ https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=Outworld_2375_AD&action=history
    11. ↑ https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=HeartBeat_Corporation&action=history
    12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 @IsaiahVinson1 on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2023-06-23 03:32)
    13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 https://gamesniped.com/2008/10/05/sega-genesis-outworld-2375-ad/ (Wayback Machine: 2013-11-21 14:40)
    14. ↑ File:Outworld2375AD MD US cart front.png
    15. ↑ Hidden Palace: Outworld 2375 AD (Catalyst prototype)
    16. ↑ http://people.we.mediaone.net/akira3d/private/axiszeta.htm (Wayback Machine: 1999-10-13 01:41)
    17. ↑ File:Outworld2375AD MD US credits.pdf


    Outworld 2375 AD

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