OutRun (US Gold)
Out Run (PAL Version) for the Commodore 64 developed by Amazing Products and published by US Gold in 1987.
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Player's Review
"You're Cool, the engine's hot, the girl's gorgeous, a tank full of gas and an open road ... the rest is up to you.! The ultimate experience in motor sports simulation, the absolute challenge to nerves and reflexes. Feel the wind in your hair and the pull of the G-forces as you power your way along the highways and byeways, a girl by your side and open country before you. Experience the exhilaration and excitement of driving a high performance sports car in this teasing time trial where your co-ordination and nerve will be tested to unbelievable limits. Out Run the coin op starred as an arcade sensation. Out Run the computer simulation mirrors this exciting all action spectacle."
Outrun is an Original Sega arcade game that was converted to most Home Computers of the time by various developers. None of them turned out that great and you had to wait for the Genesis version before getting a near arcade quality version in the home. While the Amiga and Spectrum version attempt to recreate the look of the original, the C64 just does its own thing so you get a race game with a red car and call it Outrun and see if you can get away with it. About the only thing comparable to the arcade Outrun is the music which is well done. The game would also come with a cassette tape which contained recordings of the Arcade music which you could play along side of the game. This was probably more useful for the Spectrum 48k owner that didn't have any in game music.
The US release for the C64 game on disk and starts with a menu allowing you to choose a set route of five stages through the game. The EU release on disk has a much more basic menu to load a chosen route and is split into five separate loaders. It works the same way on tape. Just move the tape into the correct position of the chosen route and load it as normal. The downside to this method is that you are stuck to this route until you reset the computer. The scores are not saved between routes. The US release is better presented overall.
A notable difference between the two versions is the car. Its a lot less chunky here. The tracks look quite different without coloured bars simulating the road as well as the overall colours used in the scenery. Traffic is also different with no lorries in this version. The game is quite difficult with a very tight overall time limit. If you crash more than once you may as well restart as there just wont be enough time to reach the end. Route B maybe the easiest and is more forgiving with time.
Overall, whist looking barely like the arcade original it is a good C64 racing game with the pumping outrun music. My 11 year old self enjoyed the game with having only played the spectrum version at that time to compare too.
00:00:00 Route A - Vine Yard
00:06:00 Route B - Death Valley
00:11:50 Route C - Desolation Hill
00:17:20 Route D - Autobahn
00:23:20 Route E - Lakeside
Outrun is an Original Sega arcade game that was converted to most Home Computers of the time by various developers. None of them turned out that great and you had to wait for the Genesis version before getting a near arcade quality version in the home. While the Amiga and Spectrum version attempt to recreate the look of the original, the C64 just does its own thing so you get a race game with a red car and call it Outrun and see if you can get away with it. About the only thing comparable to the arcade Outrun is the music which is well done. The game would also come with a cassette tape which contained recordings of the Arcade music which you could play along side of the game. This was probably more useful for the Spectrum 48k owner that didn't have any in game music.
The US release for the C64 game on disk and starts with a menu allowing you to choose a set route of five stages through the game. The EU release on disk has a much more basic menu to load a chosen route and is split into five separate loaders. It works the same way on tape. Just move the tape into the correct position of the chosen route and load it as normal. The downside to this method is that you are stuck to this route until you reset the computer. The scores are not saved between routes. The US release is better presented overall.
A notable difference between the two versions is the car. Its a lot less chunky here. The tracks look quite different without coloured bars simulating the road as well as the overall colours used in the scenery. Traffic is also different with no lorries in this version. The game is quite difficult with a very tight overall time limit. If you crash more than once you may as well restart as there just wont be enough time to reach the end. Route B maybe the easiest and is more forgiving with time.
Overall, whist looking barely like the arcade original it is a good C64 racing game with the pumping outrun music. My 11 year old self enjoyed the game with having only played the spectrum version at that time to compare too.
00:00:00 Route A - Vine Yard
00:06:00 Route B - Death Valley
00:11:50 Route C - Desolation Hill
00:17:20 Route D - Autobahn
00:23:20 Route E - Lakeside
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