Outrun quite successfully missed the fifth generation of consoles. Of course, I previously said that the series could well live during the early video game 3D, but partly I am even glad that the series decided to wait out such a turbulent period. Three -dimensional graphics could then re -inate the cult series and give it a new popularity, and completely destroy it. Of course, it is easier to cope with racing games, and Sega has more than once or twice plunged into the format of three -dimensional races with their Virtua Racing. But Outrun returned to arcade machines at a time when it was already impossible to surprise the players with a three -dimensional picture, and most developers already understood how to work with three dimensions.
Outrun 2 (2003)
And during this time a lot has happened. Sega managed to release two consoles – one of which could well become successful, and the second was Sega Saturn. DreamCast support was stopped in 2001, and at that moment the Sega finally left the console market and became a manufacturer of games for other consoles. And arcade machines, yes. And here it is important to understand that even before Dreamcast Sega, friendly relations with Microsoft were associated. A software giant has developed a special version of Windows CE for DreamCAST, with which it would be easier to endure and develop games for the console from Sega. So it makes no sense to be surprised that the friendship of companies continued after the death of Dreamcast. And this is not only about SEGA support for the first console from Microsoft.
In 2002, a year after the release of Xbox, the Sega introduced an arcade machine with The House of the Dead III . The game worked on a new platform called Sega Chihiro, which was essentially nothing more than Xbox iron adapted to the needs of arcade games. This is not the only Arcade SEGA car, made in a similar way-together with Namco and Nintendo Sega, has developed the Arcadian SEGA TRIFORCE system, which came out the original parts of the F-Zero and Mario Kart and which was based on the Nintendo Gamecube iron. But for us, the Sega Chihiro plays a more important role.
Internal device of the SEGA Chihiro machine gun. Pay attention to the video chip from Nvidia and the motherboard from Microsoft.
Because it was there that Outrun returned. Outrun 2 was developed within the framework of the Sega AM2 studio – the very one, whose work for a long time overseas Yu Suzuki. Suzuki actually acted as the producer of the game, while the head of the development was Makoto Osaka, a veteran of the development of racing games, which had already worked on Daytona USA, 18 Wheeler, Skud Race and F355 Challenge .
And the last game clearly played an important role in what exactly out of Outrun 2. F355 Challenge was supervised by Yu Suzuki, which, as we know perfectly, always glowed with a special love for Ferrari cars. F355 at the time of the release of the game in 1999 was one of the last models of the company, and Ferrari Challenge is a real racing series supported by the automaker. That is, Sega, and, to be precise with AM2, at that time there was already positive relations with Ferrari. Which clearly positively influenced a new game in a series in which Ferrari cars played an integral role.
Yes, we will start by the fact that licensed Ferrari finally appeared in Outrun. The first thing the player sees by throwing a coin into the machine is a car selection screen. Outrun 2 offers a choice of eight cult brand cars – even Testarossa and F40 in place. Cars here are from different eras and, accordingly, with different characteristics. The game, however, will not tell you this, but Dino and 365 Daytona, created in the sixties, will not be equal in speed with Enzo and F50. But it’s easier to cope with them in corners. In total, cars are divided into four classes, which are no better and no worse than each other, but differ in maximum speed, controllability and acceleration speed. It is difficult to notice the difference in the first, but if you play for a long time, then you start to notice some little things. The only thing I want to scold in a local sample – the sound of the engine for all cars is the same and the knowledgeable people say, from the Daytona USA series. But it is very hardly V8 Ferrari 360 Spider sounded the same as V12 of the same Enzo.
But okay, but the sense of cars, if they are unpleasant to control. And here Outrun 2 surprises as strongly as possible. Because the general mechanics of management here for the first time in the years of existence of the series was completely redone, changing accents from maintaining high speed and neat passage of turns to … in general, also maintaining high speed and accurate turns, but with a small tweet.
At the heart of the angle in Outrun 2, a drift got up. But the drift is not complicated and realistic, but such, closer to some Initial D . On which Sega also made several arcade races, but this is perhaps the topic for another time. See the turn – slip the brake, sharply turn the steering wheel in the right direction and begin to gamble. Result-your expensive Ferrari begins to bring down sideways, creaking with tires and emitting smoke from under the wheels. And what is important, the drift is maximum controlled. In the process of drift, your leg is almost always on gas, but if you are a little late with timings, then you can slow down the speed. And also the car in the drift obviously obeys the steering wheel, which allows you not only to go through the turn, but it is also easy to change your position on the road, taking into account the specific situation.
“But why do you need a drift at all?", You ask. “What prevents us from taking turns like in old Outrun, gently slowing down and pushing in the process?". And the answer to these questions, of course, is. Quite logical, but the first is somewhat unobvious.
Let’s start with what – Outrun 2 is a high -speed game. Let the numbers on the local speedometer do not deceive you – local 270 kilometers per hour feel easily given a 320 head from Outrunns and even more than the speeds of the first Out Run . This is important because literally the whole game is built around maintaining the highest speed. And the drift just works in favor of this.
Because in the process of drift your car practically does not lose speed. Yes, you lose something from the initial pressing of the brake, and you can slow down a little if you actively change your position on the track. And this is relatively important because the drift does not allow you to gain speed, so that the lost kilometers will have to be recruited by a new. But otherwise, drifting, you will go through a turn and, importantly, you will come out of it at a much higher speed than if you tried to play Outrun 2 according to realistic rules.
And even so drift is not a panacea – you should not bring down in every Malomal turn sideways. Because here and there there will be places where you can easily go through the turn at full speed, losing a couple of km/h from the speedometer maximum. And the speed, as we perfectly understand, is time. And the time in Outrun 2 is still the most valuable resource.
Then the question is how to understand where it is worth drifting and where not? The easiest answer of course is to study. Observe the bends of the track, understand what is easier for you and what is more difficult. It is also important to observe the behavior of different machines – because if a brisk, but not too powerful Dino fits into a certain turn, this does not mean that Ferrari Enzo in the same place does not go to gravel, greatly reducing your speed.
But in general, the game also gives his tips. Before turning, which is worth passing into a drift, the corresponding signs are almost always hanging. There is a sign – prepare the brake; there is no sign – also cook, but far from the fact that it will have to be used. Moreover, again, signs do not always give one hundred percent unambiguous information on how to go. . Plus, it is worth understanding that these signs are useful primarily to those who drive the game at full speed-and if you suddenly crashed somewhere right before the turn, you may, in the next turn, pick up speeds, and not go into the drift, which your speedometer is not able to crank by default.
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. . . Depending on whether you can beat the set time, the game will show you one of two videos at the finish. Nothing, in general, special, but the goal here is quite tough, so it can be difficult to achieve a cherished positive ending.
And in Outrun 2 it was possible to play together. The principle is approximately close to what was in Outrunns – you choose a car and go a ride on a trip to the finish line. But you both will go only where the player will decide to go in the first place. And here all the means of overtaking will be good – you can push the opponent on the grass or to the fence, you can block his path if you feel that he accelerates too quickly. Funny mode, especially if you both play not perfectly. It is only a pity that the two can be played only in the standard out -mode – it would be nice to compete even in the ability to conquer the hearts of girls through their abilities. But, alas.
I’m not sure that we https://geroplaycasino.co.uk/login/ have especially powerful Outrun 2 connoisseurs, but some readers may notice that local screenshots are not filmed with the arcade version of the game. And this is the moment of real life, which still causes genuine interest and, at the same time, somewhat prevents the game in the form in which it was originally created.
Of all the sixth generation consoles, progress in the emulation of the original Xbox was clearly the slow. Even taking into account the fact that he worked on the components modified by the PC, even taking into account the use of DirectX as a software graphics processor, a closed OS and the documentation of the console, as well as the lack of interest on the side of the emulatory scene enthusiasts led to the fact that progress in the development of the emulator began to manifest in the last five years. . .
Now let’s get back to the very beginning of the history of Outrun 2 and remember which Platform the game worked on. That’s right – Sega Chihiro, which was nothing more than a slightly improved Xbox in the shell of an arcade machine. And if the progress with the emulation of the console was not particularly impressive, then the game machine was lucky and even less. And, perhaps, the absence of an emulator of this particular arcade machine is due to the fact that most of the games released on it in one form or another hit home consoles.
Outrun 2. The only console port came – make a surprised face on the console from Microsoft. Moreover, the most interesting thing, the port was not developed by the purely forces of Sega AM2. Most of the work fell on the shoulders of the British studio Sumo Digital. And an interesting story is also connected with this cooperation.
The producer of Sega Europe Ben Hanstone was responsible for attracting Sumo Digital. . . It got to the point that Hanstone had to develop a version of the game, which he then had to present to the Sega AM2 and personally Yu Suzuke, with Sumo’s employees. . .
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. . . . Fortunately, Sumo was considered absolutely the same.
. . One relatively modern model was added to the game, and three classic ones, determining them in more complex classes. But the most interesting here is not even this – but the fact that for starters only four cars are available to you. All Classes of the Intermediate class and higher, those that are focused on high speed or acceleration are closed. The question arises accordingly – how to open them?
Here the Outrun Challenge item enters the game. . . It all starts within the Heart Attack mode – to dive up the level, bypass as many cars as possible, to trim the cones scattered along the road. Then, full -fledged races with computer opponents or racing are included in the equation, close to the Time Attack format. But sometimes completely strange arise, but from that no less funny things. ? ? . And this is not even the strangest that Holly will require you in this mode.
Which in terms of structure is nothing more than a standard single campaign. . . . . .
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. . . . Who best managed is well -done, we proceed to the next task. I am sure that the company can go in the company like that, especially if everyone plays equally bad. .
. . . But I will assume that they differed little from a joint game on the Arcadian Outrun 2.
Honestly, if you exclude a small number of levels from the format, then it is difficult to complain about Outrun 2. . . ! . . . And if Night Flight reveals the adrenaline and joyful side of trips to Outrun, then Life Was a Bore using the vocal parties of Donna Burk, known, by the way, in the Metal Gear Solid series, perfectly builds the character of your seemingly frivolous fellow travelers. Who needed to feel at least some change in their boring lives.
The composition of the Life Was a Bore from the Outrun 2 soundtrack, the composer Fumio results
And so to see – the best heir to the classical trilogy Out Run was simply impossible to release. In theory, in any case, I will understand such a point of view. But I do not agree with her.
Because it happens even better.
Outrun 2 SP (2004)
About a year after the release of the original Outrun 2 and a couple of months after its release on Xbox in the arcade halls of Japan, Outrun 2 SP was launched. SP in this case means Special Tours, oddly enough. By the logic of things, it sounds like a kind of update relative to the original game. And yes – the game still works for the same Sega Chihiro, and the most gameplay ideas have moved from the original. But there are plenty of changes to SP.
The most important of them is a completely new set of 15 levels, built based on locations from North and South America. Here I already want to laugh at the way of thinking of Outrun developers-they are more often from Europe to America than Formula 1 in the framework of a modern racing calendar. And it seems that Outrunners solved the problem of choosing, but no, in Outrun 2 we again had purely Europe.
Fortunately, the new set of tracks in Outrun 2 SP did not exclude the old! At the start of the arcade mode, you can simply choose which level of levels you want to drive. And if you are seduced by new levels, then you will be a fascinating adventure from San Diego’s sunny beaches through the Josemite Park, Niagara waterfalls, the jungle of South America, Las Vegas and Machu Picchu. And where your new adventure will end-on the island of Easter, in New York, or in general on the island of Prince Edward in Canada, it depends, of course, only on you, your elections and your driving skills.
Which for SP will have to rethink a little. The update of the game brought not only a new set of tracks, but also some changes in the mechanics of car drive. The first and most important is related to drift. It was quite difficult to cope with the car in the original Outrun 2 – yes, the cars easily flew into the skid, but not everyone could straighten their Ferrari after leaving the turn. Especially when the case concerned high -speed F40 or Enzo. And as we know, any mistakes in Outrun are time. There is nothing more valuable in the game.
In SP, purely, it feels like this is many times easier. The car practically does not dangle after leaving the turn, but more or less calmly straightens and begins to accelerate forward. Naturally, you should not relax even in SP – capricious cars, like the same Enzo, or adopted from the Xbox version 512 BB, can still give an inexperienced player to light.
The second important change in driving mechanics is a slipstream. All in the classics – driving after another car, respectively, get a small plus to speed. Due to this seemingly small change, the speed of the game becomes even higher. Accordingly, some already familiar levels have to be approached in a new way. So, on the bridge at the second level of the original Outrun 2, a lot of cars are always driving, and if earlier it is only necessary to click to the need to avoid a collision, now it would be desirable to pick up more speeds, and not to fly into the wall at the nearest bend due to the fact that when braking did not take into account, how much it was possible to disperse.
Other changes, in principle, are not very large. For collisions with cars during drift, they are now not particularly punished, rivals on other Ferrari appear on the tracks, overtaking which you can get such a good bonus to points. The set of glasses, by the way, has become more visual – now in the corner you are shown how and for what exactly the glasses are dripping on you. The modes are all in place – Heart Attack, Time Attack, everything is as it should. There is a difficult test for hardcore fans – the 15 Stages Continuous mode, building a game in the Turbo Outrun format, having all levels in one single straight line. First you will pass all the second levels, then all the third and so on. Mode, I will be honest, difficult, time I personally did not have enough time. But if you feel that you are ready, then get a dare why not. Fortunately, in this format, you can drive both on the original levels and on new ones added to SP.
In 2006 and SP was updated. True, in this case, most changes did not concern the game content directly. All changes concerned the technical part of the game, and in many ways they went to the benefit.
To begin with, the game changed the platform. Sega Chihiro was replaced by a system with a complex name Lindbergh. These machines were as close as possible to the standard PC architecture, even closer than Chihiro or the same Xbox. The processor was Pentium 4, and the graphics were processed by nvidia chips. Initially, however, it was planned to use the Xbox 360 automaton as a base for architecture, but collecting on the basis of a PC of components was cheaper. It is all the more interesting that later the game with Lindbergh was easier to port on PS3, and not to the console from Microsoft-all due to the similarity of the PlayStation and Lindberg graphic processors.
Using a new platform allowed to slightly improve the picture in the game and translate it into a wide format. Outrun 2 and SP worked in a resolution of 640×480, the new version, called Outrun 2 SP DX, switched to a wide image format. The resolution did not rise much, but the field of view became a little wider that the picture went only to plus. The machine also had new cockpits – they were supplied in the design similar to four of the Outrun 2 cars, and could shake and bend in accordance with what was happening on the screen.
True, the subtitle dx could only be seen on machine guns with two gaming places. There were also options for four places, and there the game already flaunted SDX as a subtitle. Otherwise, this is the same game as Outrun 2 SP, only with a theoretical opportunity to play four. And, yes, due to the new platform, DX and SDX are easier to emulate. Google Teknoparrot, and discover the huge world of arcade games Sega mid -zero. Only Ferrari don’t say.
Although emulate the arcade version, in some way, there is little sense. In 2006, the home version of Outrun 2 SP was published in Japan on PS2. But here the thing is that the rest of the world knows it under a slightly different name. And you can’t call it a simple port either.
Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006)
Sumo digital again was responsible for the home version of Outrun 2 SP. The choice was logical – they were familiar with the structure and game process of the original game, and skillfully expanded it for a console release. And Sega had powerful plans for the home release SP – because they ordered Sumo not only Xbox version, but also ports on PS2, PSP and PC. Accordingly, the question is how successfully the game was transferred to the platforms, that the developers from Sumo added in order to diversify the arcade gameplay, and how the versions generally differ from each other.
And you know, let’s start with the last, because everything is as simple as possible there. In terms of content, the games are practically no different from each other, but each version, in one form or another, uses the chips of the platforms on which the game came out. On PS2, only in the USA and Europe, it is possible to connect Outrun 2006 with the version for PSP, which will allow you to open some cars, and storage can be transmitted from one console to another, thus synchronizing progress. In the Japanese version, which was just called Outrun 2 SP, the connection with the PSP was removed, but the appearance of the clarissa was regarded and a couple of pleasant fixes were added to the game process. The Xbox game was a little more beautiful, and could use Xbox Live for online game. And on the PC there was good support for rudders and gamepads, wide settings of graphics and support for high resolutions “out of the box”. Even now the game can be launched in 4K without any third-party devices. And Bloom was broken in it, but this issue is solved literally by transferring a file from one game folder to another.
Frame from the Outrun 2006 version for PC, 2006
Frame from the Outrun 2006 version for Xbox, 2006
Frame from the Outrun 2 SP version for PS2, 2006
Frame from the Outrun 2006 version for PSP, 2006
Clarissa design in PC version of Outrun 2006
Clarissa design in PS2 versions of Outrun 2 SP
Actually, let’s take the version as the basis of the PC and see what new has appeared in the game. To begin with – relative to the Outrun 2 option for Xbox, the game acquired three more new cars, including completely new F430 and Superamerica, a set of tracks from Outrun 2 SP, and a completely new singleplay campaign. Although no, lying, not three cars. Each of the fifteen machines presented in the game also has an improved version of the Outrun class, with changed housing details and improved characteristics. These are the most difficult in mastering, but at the same time the fastest cars in the game. But with some things, alas, I had to say goodbye – like a gallery and routes based on Daytona Usa and Skud Race.
Most of the Outrun 2 SP modes are in place – the standard Outrun Mode, Heart Attack, Time Attack, everything is there. But 15 Stages Continous are no longer available to simple players. Along with the most part of the local fleet. That is, yes, the players will again have to go through a single campaign to open additional tracks, cars and music. And, honestly, here with the locking of content they overdid a little. Because even most flowers for cars are closed by default. And what can it be for Ferrari if it cannot be painted red?
All this is bought in a local store. Colors and music are quite cheap, but cars and modes are already more expensive. And the best way to earn outun miles, and this is the name of the local currency, lies within the framework of the Coast 2 Coast mode. Which, in turn, continues the ideas of Outrun Challenge from the console port of the original second part. Continues, often, logical. But not always.
If Outrun 2 distributed tasks by levels, combining at the same level both standard racing formats, and assignments by the type of “make arithmetic”, then in 2006 the distribution is somewhat more clear. The campaign is divided into two categories – into racing disciplines, and into a special regime made in Heart Attack format. And you should talk about each of them separately.
Let’s start with a simpler – with racing. There are four levels of complexity, the subsequent ones open only if the previous general rating of tasks is or above. Everything is logical, but on every difficulty, the tasks are also distributed by levels. And at each level you are invited to perform from one to four tasks in a row. For example – come in the race first, then participate in the drift competition, and then drive the race for a while. The level of the level is compiled from the results of all the tasks included in it, and the rating of the level of complexity, respectively, from the average rating of all levels. Over time, the game will also give the opportunity to choose the next level – in case the next task that falls on the way is too complicated.
The tracks are also built on the principle of Outrun Challenge – levels from Outrun 2 and SP are taken, and are located in the order in which it needed a gamed -designer. They can alternate, detailed versions of levels may appear, everything is as before. Only, of course, with a much greater variety – here are 30 levels already, and not 15.
And this mode will serve as excellent training for the game in Outrun 2. Through local missions, the game will skillfully introduce you to local levels and teach you to use the advantages of drift and plopstim. And it will be useful both for playing in arcade mode, and for the second part of the campaign.
Here we are waiting for Clarissa, Jennifer and Holly familiar to us. They personify themselves, what else, the levels of the complexity of this regime. And, honestly, it is definitely quite difficult to treat the local format. The situation is similar to racing levels – to open the next girl, you must first dial the average rating and on the tests of the previous one. Only now, if the races were densely distributed in levels and routes, then in the case of the Heart Attack mode, you need to type on a full -fledged game map. That is, at 15 levels. Distributed in wood, yes.
At first, you think – nothing complicated, you just need to drive the track several times to open all levels, and gain the desired rating on all tasks. And with this approach of difficulties there really will be. Moreover, if you drove a certain point on the map, but you could not gain the right rating, then you can always re -harden the level without starting the trip from the very beginning. Cool?
Now let’s remember the small hidden mechanics of the Heart Attack mode from Outrun 2 – special tasks. They opened by receiving the AA rating at previous levels, and at the fifth level you could get one of four sets of tasks, depending on how well you drove the path to it. So – in the level of the level rating in Coast 2 Coast mode, special tasks also fall. And if you could not find it, then by default it will spoil your rating as a level passed on the rank. Below which is not in the game.
What does it give us? . . But in order to close the tests with at least one girl, you will have to go through levels at first more than once or twice. And not ten. And then, this is only with Clarissa, whose tasks are still quite restrained. Drive here, beat other people’s cars there. There are new missions – to be at the scribble of flying saucers soaring over the route, pushing a huge ball in a straight line, or knocking down ghosts that come across on the highway. After all, Jennifer is also ahead, whose requests will include collecting coins and riding along the pre -designated part of the highway, and Holly, with which you will have to decide arithmetic examples and literally choose how to feed the poor girl. One thing is pleasing – if you have discovered one of the special tasks of a high level, then all the lower level will open automatically. But you still have to go through them.
But even so, I can’t say that playing is not fun in this mode. Because this is still based on Outrun 2 SP, a game with a completely magnificent control, an excellent picture and music. . .
The rest of the Outrun 2006 can be called an ultimatum version of Outrun 2 – which makes it one of the best arcade races in principle. Yes, there are no pleasant buns from the first port for Xbox like a gallery or bonus tracks. . Yes, even outside the PC, you can play with great pleasure in Outrun 2006 – on Xbox it looks better than Outrun 2, on PS2 it supports some rudders, and even on PSP, with a picture of a picture and a 30 frame per second, Outrun 2006 is felt perfectly. .
But I can sing praises Outrun 2006 as much as I like. . . Which we will consider literally a little later later.
Outrun 2 SP in a certain form got out of the sixth generation consoles and. In general, initially, when developing Outrun 2006, it made sense to pay attention to the Xbox 360 and PS3. On the consoles of a new generation, one could realize a higher resolution of the picture, without sacrificing a frame of. But due to this, the development could drag out that the game would not have benefited.
. From such a name it was possible to expect both the port of the original Arcade Game of 1986 and a slightly cut version of Outrun 2006. . Although the truth is much worse.
Outrun Online Arcade is not a cut version of Outrun 2006. This is the cut version of Outrun 2 SP. Arcadic original, yes. ? .
. . . The most important thing in the game is an online mode using Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Of course, at Xbox it was even at the time of the out of Outrun 2, but on the PlayStation Outrun 2006 I used SEGA services. That is, the transfer of multiplayer to the services of platform holders and improvement of graphics – it seems to be a worthy reason to overpower the game, no?
. . And this very sharply reduces the attractiveness of Online Arcade in my eyes. ? ?
. . Additional cars and several musical remixes went under the knife at the same time. .
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