OutRun 2006 is my favorite racing game, but it's also more than that: it's a love-letter to the joy of driving itself, how it can be an escape from the dreary, humdrum reality that all of us find ourselves in from time-to-time. The arcade OutRun 2 was an instant vacation, and this is even more than that, with double the tracks and smart alternate modes that play with the core of the OutRun experience without abandoning it. The Heart Attack mode alone elevates what was already an excellent game into an absolute must-play. It's a shame that you can't buy it legally, but for those who are lucky enough to play it, this is as good as pure video games can get.

The best racing games, for me, have a vibe. This isn't an arcade vs sim racer thing, it is a VIBE thing. For instance, Forza Motorsport has no vibe, while Gran Turismo has a big vibe. Criterion's Need For Speed: Most Wanted is a total vibe-killer but the original 3DO Need For Speed? A total vibe. Crash Team Racing? No vibe. Konami Wai Wai Racers? Vibes for days. Do you see what I mean?

If you know, you know.

OutRun 2 is one of the most vibe-y racing games ever made. Is it even a racing game? What are you even racing against? Time? Just jump in a Ferrari, stick on Risky Ride and just go. Drift every corner. Slipstream behind a school bus doing 200 MPH. Master the art of gear-sliding. OutRun 2's lesson is a clear one - always move forward, choose whichever path you want and don't let anything stop you reaching the goal. You'll impress a blonde lass in the process.

sega racers are the perfect combination of arcade-style racing with bouncy, momentum-based physics; basically the fun of driving a car without the boredom of really driving a car. outrun 2006 (and by extension, outrun 2) leans towards the arcade side without sacrificing a need for skill or, by extension, insanely tight powersliding. the feeling of hitting a tight turn pushing 300 mph and dropping gears into a perfect powerslide without losing significant speed feels so good, and pulling it off is far more approachable than most in this genre.

this ps2 version is not the best thanks to some frame drops, but I was playing on a tiny crt anyway so it still felt great, and god knows I'm not spending $180 on an xbox copy. thankfully the single-player content is pretty good with plenty of races, drift competitions, and fulfilling random tasks for your girlfriend, though unless you're a god at these kinds of games the final tier of challenges will surely make you want to quit immediately. between both the original and SP layouts you've got a solid ~30 tracks, and more if you have the (much cheaper) xbox copy of outrun 2. I still like to pull this one up while I'm listening to a podcast or sitting in zoom class just to run through arcade mode. cannot recommend enough

Remember the scene of the Simpsons where Milhouse is playing Bonestorm or something like that and the whole room is being blown away by the videogame? Some perceptive viewers will notice that fiction often lies, portraying impossible things like they were real. Obviously, the kid wasn’t playing Bonestorm, he was playing OutRun 2.

This is a game that goes way down when thinking about it coldly. The endings suck, the overall overflown of different cars, modes and variety of junk that no one wants sucks, and it even looks kind of ugly. And this is without comparing with the first OutRun!

So, very skeptical, I played the game again. Since the only version that I played was in the arcade and the ways of playing the game today seem to suck because preservation of videogames is a joke, I expected the game to be much worse than before. And after messing around with a horrible port of OutRun 2006 there it is, uglier and now with more crap because it is now a home release or something.

Then I go to the mode that seems more arcady without thinking too much and… forget about everything. As soon as the engine begins to sound you know that you cannot occupy your mind with the distractions that the game will even actively throw at you constantly, if you think you lose. Now, if in the first OutRun you needed to have a little of care with your speed to avoid ruining your run by crashing into a car or out of the road, the sequel (or whatever it is at this point) goes like “you see those cars in front? Go wreck them if you need to, don’t let anything turn your engine below from 5”.

I could bring up a never ending list of why humans are the most stupid living creatures in the universe. Fortunately, not all reasons are bad. Somehow, when we see that cars lose their direction when they make a hard turn at great speeds, instead of being in absolute terror of the chaotic consequences of these machines we go and find a way to make that cool. Seeing a car at 300 km/h while turned on its side makes us go back to the most idiots of monkeys, enthusiastic for a few minutes to the point that we start sweating while sitting down. A car destroying physics and pushing away its obstacles like they were made of paper. Is it possible for the fakest of the cars to just go drifting and make you shake your body every single time? The reason says no, reality says otherwise.

Outrun 2 is the definitive driving game. Each of its multiple paths lead you through incredibly distinct and interesting environments while also drifting a Ferrari.

The Coast 2 Coast expansion is tasteful and I truly enjoy it immensely....but man I do NOT like racing on these Outrun level segments! Especially with that nasty rubber banding in the tougher races! Why would you ever suggest that as a viable thing to do on these wonderful Outrun segments!

Oy!!!!

"How far are you gonna take me?"

A palate-cleanser after a week of driving a Testarossa and an F50 around the technically impressive but virtually soulless Forza Horizon 5. After Microsoft forced me against my will to play a mission called "#SQUADGOALS", I knew I needed to play a driving game with real romance in its heart.

I'm sure one of the best reviews on this whole site was of this game, and it said something to the effect of "OutRun 2 understands that making your girlfriend happy is the ultimate game", but I can't find it because it's super-hard to sift through Backloggd data. So let me re-iterate that statement and say that more video games should implement mechanics centred around satisfying the whims of a romantic companion. Funny that it's a driving game that best understands romance as a chain of dangerous manoeuvres through risk and reward to keep a ticking timer alive.

The Quick Play mode dropping you in as a white-sheet Ferrari that's hopelessly, perpetually chasing the ghosts of the iconic OutRun F50 feels like the developers saying that they could never hope to catch the original game, but god damn did they come close. A testament to how well-built this thing is under the hood that it feels endlessly replayable without even going into the submenus to find mission modes, time trials or unlocks. Just glad that my long-past self unlocked all the songs, because all I wanna do is handbrake and swing tail to this beat all night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypiaPp3xMPo

A genuine artistic crime that a video game masterpiece like this is trapped in a prison made of licensing - surely Sega and Ferrari can work things out? Sega are rich now! They make movies! Ferrari's big red cars come off better here than they do in Forza, but I guess it would pain a modern-day corporation to admit their products might be inhabited by living souls - the girlfriend in OutRun 2 has more personality in her little 2-polygon pinky than all 132GB of what Horizon 5 is offering us.

You've got a heart, right? Go on, try this game out - you can set up PPSSPP, download the .bin file and complete a race to the finish in the time it takes your PC to download the first gig of Forza! Men with guts play OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast!

NEXT STAGE: GIANT STATUES

Outrun Coast 2 Coast feels like summer. The music, the colours, the carefree attitude and the journey, passing through sunlit jungles, neon cities and peaceful villages. It all just feels uniquely summery and joyful. Its bliss.

As for the actual game fully, its also pretty good. Sumo Digital know their arcade racers and this is no exception thanks to pinpoint drift mechanics, fair but difficult level design and an absolutely addictive heart-mode where you rush to complete a variety of driving based objectives.

The sheer amount of content here as well cannot be understated. From having two distinct set of tracks, multiple things to unlock and two large extra modes based around vs racing and said heart-attack mode, theres just a LOT to do and see and it all feels so fulfilling. Weirdly I feel the best way to play this is on the PSP. Sure theres a slight downgrade in graphics but the pick-up and play nature of Outrun is perfect for short bursts on handheld.

Now. I wanna go far away!

zooms

I remember playing this at Chuck E's a long time go around 2009 or so while I visited the states. Passing Breeze was a song I always remembered and that's about it. Unfortunately "real" racing games have never been my thing and I can't wrap my head around them, so I completely suck. I'm not lowering the score because of it because after recently trying the PC version I can see that it's not at all a bad game and have access to a manual, but the game is still an arcade game at the end of the day and I don't have much interest to play through what the PC edition has to offer.

Nietzche's favorite racing game. Just peep the lyrics to "Life was a Bore":

"My days were dull, nothing new, nowhere to go...I had more than a girl could wish for. But still, something was missing...
And that's when I saw him.
He was so smooth...
So carefree...
He was real, I thought...
He could make me real."

I bring you the Superman: the OutRun 2 player.