Line #3 VideoGame/OutRun


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/38022_outrun.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Hope tire smoke doesn't make you cough.]]
3
4	->''"Experience the utmost in road racing realism."''
5	-->--'''{{Tagline}}'''
6
7	A driving game first to hit the arcades in 1986, ''[=OutRun=]'' amounts to a time-attack SpeedRun. You, a manly man in his [[CoolCar Ferrari]][[note]]specifically a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa convertible; later ports change it to something [[{{Fauxrrari}} similar but legally distinct]][[/note]], start at the start line, and RaceAgainstTheClock to a CheckPoint at the end of the stage. You are accompanied by a token female passenger, who presumably was attracted solely by the horsepower. Along the way, you must avoid other motorists and assorted roadside obstacles, lest you [[TheManyDeathsOfYou crash in a variety of entertaining ways]]. Just before that checkpoint, the road forks into two, and each fork will allow you to access a differently-themed area; generally, the right-facing path is more difficult than the left-facing one. Get through five stages, and you reach the finish line. Depending on the route you take (and the final stage you reach), you'll get MultipleEndings.
8
9	The game was successful enough to get itself ported to the Platform/SegaGenesis (and pretty much everything else of the same generation as the Genesis), and spawned lots of sequels. They all follow the same formula, though several of them add an opponent to race against in addition to the clock and standard traffic.
10
11	To date, the series goes as follows:
12	* ''[=OutRun=]'' (Arcade [=/=] Platform/SegaMasterSystem [=/=] Platform/SegaGenesis [=/=] Platform/GameGear [=/=] Platform/SegaSaturn [=/=] Platform/Nintendo3DS [=/=] Platform/NintendoSwitch)
13	* ''3D [=OutRun=]'' (Sega Master System)
14	* ''Turbo [=OutRun=]'' (Arcade [=/=] Sega Genesis)
15	* ''Battle [=OutRun=]'' (Sega Master System) - A deviation from the standard formula which is more a ram 'em up than a racing game.
16	* ''[=OutRun=] Europa'' (Sega Master System [=/=] Game Gear)
17	* ''[=OutRunners=]'' (Arcade [=/=] Sega Genesis)
18	* ''[[RecycledPremise OutRun 2019]]'' (Sega Genesis)
19	* ''[=OutRun=] 2'' (Arcade [=/=] Platform/{{Xbox}})
20	** ''[[UpdatedRerelease OutRun 2 SP]]''
21	** ''[[UpdatedRerelease OutRun 2 SP SDX]]''
22	** ''[[UpdatedRerelease OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast]]'' (Xbox [=/=] Platform/PlayStation2 [=/=] Platform/PlayStationPortable [=/=] Windows)
23	** ''[=OutRun=] 2 SP'' (Japanese [=PlayStation 2=] version of ''[=OutRun=] 2006''; unrelated to the arcade ''2 SP'')
24	** ''[=OutRun=] Online Arcade'' (Platform/XboxLiveArcade and Platform/PlayStationNetwork version of ''[=OutRun=] 2006'')
25
26	Aside from the games themselves, ''[=OutRun=]'' also happens to be the namesake for a particular genre of electronic music (otherwise known as UsefulNotes/{{synthwave}}), due to how its {{chiptune}} soundtrack has the kind of 80s synth vibe being invoked by these artists. Somewhat ironically, composer Hiroshi Kawaguchi was aiming for a more organic Latin fusion sound, akin to bands like T-Square. Regardless, the Switch version of the game plays on this by including an ''actual'' synthwave song: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Td1QMq-8s Driver's Megamix Vol. 1]]".
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29	!!This series contains examples of:
30	* AllThereInTheManual: The lady in the passenger seat gets her backstory explained in the ''[=OutRun=] 2'' song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyJhK97EfDk "Life was a Bore."]]
31	* AmbidextrousSprite: In the original game, the prancing horse on the car always matches the direction you're driving.
32	* AnnualTitle: ''[=OutRun 2006=]'', which was indeed released in 2006. It may have been named as such to mark it being the 20th anniversary of the arcade title.
33	* ArcadePerfectPort: Technically, only two are ''exactly'' perfect: the Platform/SEGASaturn version in the "SEGA Ages" line, and the version [[EmbeddedPrecursor included with]] the Platform/{{Xbox}} release of ''[=OutRun=] 2''. Consoles released prior to the Saturn weren't powerful enough to perfectly emulate the game, while later ports, like the otherwise faithful 3DS and Switch versions, modify the car to look less like a Testarossa.
34	* ArrangeMode:
35	** The ''SEGA Ages 2600'' version of the original ''[=OutRun=]'' features an mode where the stage map is shaped like a diamond rather than a pyramid: For the first half of the game, each stage end has a 2-way fork, but at the halfway stage the stage branching starts to collapse until you reach the same final stage no matter which set of stages you took up to that point.
36	** ''[=OutRun=] 2'''s derivatives include a "15-stage Continuous Mode", where instead of playing five stages of a course and selecting the next one via a fork in the road, [[MarathonLevel the player instead drives through all 15 stages of the chosen course in a pre-determined order]]. The aforementioned forks in the road still exist, [[ButThouMust but now both lead to the same location]].
37	** ''[=OutRun=] 2'' also has Heart Attack Mode, where your passenger gives you missions to complete like passing cars, drifting through turns, keeping the car within a highlighted zone, and the like. Performing these missions well will earn you hearts that act as the mode's [[ScoringPoints points]] and letter grades. Doing well will result in Special Request missions that are worth lots of hearts.
38	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The totally absurd ability to powerslide from ''[=OutRun=] 2'' onwards. It makes ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer'' and ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUnderground'' look like totally SeriousBusiness driving simulators.
39	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: The "Milky Way" stage has a background of a night sky dotted all over with stars, even though the light pollution from the city should make most of them invisible.
40	* AWinnerIsYou: One of the first prominent example of averting this, consistently since the first game due to it have multiple finish paths, however played straight in the DolledUpInstallment [=OutRun=] 2019.
41	* {{Bowdlerise}}: Clarissa from ''[=OutRun 2006=]'' had her outfit censored in certain regions, covering up her [[NavelDeepNeckline plunging cleavage]] with a tube top underneath her Hawaiian shirt.
42	* TheBusCameBack: In ''[=OutRun 2=]'', aside from the Testarossa debuted in the original, the Ferrari F40 returns from ''Turbo [=OutRun=]''. And both were also fully-licensed along with other Ferraris.
43	* TheCameo: [[VideoGame/PanzerDragoon Orta and her dragon]] make an unexpected one in ''2 SP'' and following versions if players can get through two courses without colliding with anything.
44	* CanonDiscontinuity: Inasmuch as "canon" can get with a driving game. ''Battle [=OutRun=]'', ''[=OutRun Europa=]'', and ''[=OutRun 2019=]'' are excluded from the official 20th anniversary music collection, meaning they aren't considered proper installments in the series.
45	* CapcomSequelStagnation: Played straight with ''[=OutRun=] 2''. The game was followed by ''2 SP'', ''2 SP SDX'', ''2006: Coast 2 Coast'', ''2 SP'' again, and finally ''Online Arcade''.
46	* ContinueYourMissionDammit: If you don't move at all in the original, the flag man starts gesturing at the driver to move on. [[EasterEgg After a while]], he turns his back to the driver in exasperation. In ''[=OutRun=] 2'' he also alternates between stretching his limbs and dancing the Moonwalk.
47	* CoolCar: The first game had you drive a Ferrari Testarossa convertible. Later games had you drive any of a variety of cars - primarily Ferraris, and dodging out of the way of slower [[BoringButPractical regular everyday cars]] like VW Beetles, etc.
48	* CustomUniformOfSexy: The track ladies from ''[=OutRun=] 2006'' to varying degrees off showing their midriff.
49	* DeathIsCheap: Crashes are cheap. If you crash, the game resets you after a few seconds. Even if your car ''barrel-rolled several times and you were thrown out of it onto the asphalt and an obstacle car ran over your head''. Just keep in mind that a couple of crashes [[TimedMission is all you need to lose the game]].
50	* DistractedByTheSexy: In the route A ending, a group of men lift up the player character as a response to his accomplishment, but then a woman in a bikini shows up and they move to her, dropping him in the process.
51	* DolledUpInstallment: ''[=OutRun=] 2019'' was meant to be named something else (''Junker's High''), but renamed to fit the ''[=OutRun=]'' series as it has similar gameplay. As such, it lacks the series' most prominent features such as the Ferrari or the couple as protagonist.
52	* DrivesLikeCrazy: A series trademark. Your passenger doesn't care unless you crash.
53	* DrivingStick: ''Massively'' simplified gearbox with two options: Low gear and High gear. ''[=OutRunners=]'' also had cars with 3 or more speed, but the way you shift pretty much amounts to pushing the up/down lever until you reach the gear you want. ''[=OutRun=] 2'' has 5 or 6-speed manual gearboxes depending on the car, but all share the same up/down functionality (similar to ''VideoGame/InitialDArcadeStage'' games before ''Zero''); to make things simple, it also includes an option for automatic transmission.
54	* EmbeddedPrecursor: The Platform/{{Xbox}} version of ''[=OutRun=] 2'' includes the original arcade game as an unlockable.
55	* {{Fauxrrari}}: The first game didn't have official licensing from Ferrari (that would happen beginning with ''Scud Race''), despite using everything about the Testarossa's styling, up to and including the prancing horse logo on the back; re-releases of the game usually replace the Testarossa with a similar yet generic Ferrari expy. The cars [[AvertedTrope were fully licensed]] in ''[=OutRun=] 2'' and its derivatives.
56	* GameWithinAGame: The original ''[=OutRun=]'' appears in ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' as a fully playable game. Prior to that it was also available as an arcade game in ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}} II''.
57	* GuestFighter: The open-wheel car from ''VideoGame/VirtuaRacing'' appears as a secret vehicle in the home console version of ''[=OutRunners=]'' as the "Virtua Formula". However it this isn't included in every release of the game.
58	* IWantMyJetpack: ''[=OutRun=] 2019''. Real-world 2019 came and went and we still don't have near-supersonic rocket cars that you can take onto public roads.
59	* LogoJoke: The Genesis version of ''[=OutRunners=]'' has [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic and Tails]], each in their own version of the Tornado, skywriting the Sega logo, which then splits into two copies to accommodate the game's split-screen presentation.
60	* LongSongShortScene: The high score music, "Last Wave", only plays for about half its duration in the arcade games, as there's a time limit. The full song plays on the console versions.
61	* MarathonLevel:
62	** ''Turbo [=OutRun=]'' has you race against a rival throughout 16 courses continuously. But a saving grace happens after every four stages in which you get a "pit stop" with upgrades being applied to your car before proceeding.
63	** The "15-stage Continuous" mode in ''[=OutRun 2=]'''s derivatives. Running [[ArrangeMode 15 stages in rearranged order]] doesn't take 15 minutes to finish if you're skilled however. But even for a Ferrari road car, this is tedious. And unlike ''[=Turbo OutRun=]'', no pit stops were given.
64	* {{Mayincatec}}: The Legend stage in ''[=OutRun=] 2006'' combines in one single place the Olmec heads in the state of Tabasco, the atlantes of Tula, Hidalgo, the Temple of Kukulcan in Chichén-Itzá, Yucatán, the Major Temple in the heart of downtown Mexico City, and the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán just north from Mexico City; all these ruins are no less than 300 km apart from each other, and yet they appear mashed together in the same stage.
65	* MultipleEndings: One of the first to implement this, in defiance of AWinnerIsYou prevalent in arcade games back then:
66	** Depending on the route you pick. Results can range from the driver (or the passenger) being given a trophy to the car just falling to bits.
67	** ''[=OutRunners=]'' has one ending for each tag team you pick, independent of the route.
68	** ''[=OutRun=] 2'' returns to form with new endings rendered in 3D. And, true to form, they can be ''hilarious'' (especially routes A and E).
69	** Averted with ''[=OutRun=] 2019'', which has only one ending, [[spoiler: which is your car speeding under the backdrop of outer space instead of cities]].
70	* NintendoHard: Since most games' single-player modes don't have any opponent cars, your true opponent is the harsh [[TimedMission time limit]]. If you crash ''even once'', [[TimeDelayedDeath you've already lost]].
71	* PinballScoring: The score counter goes up very quickly in the original game, about 30,000 points per second at top speed. Completing the game awards 1,000,000 points per second remaining on the clock.
72	* ProductPlacement: In addition to the official Ferrari license (which came with a boatload of other Ferrari stuff beyond the selectable vehicles such as unlockable fact cards documenting all sorts of Ferrari things from other Ferrari cars to Ferrari parts, all of which include a URL to Ferrari's website), ''[=OutRun 2=]'' also features billboards for AMD, Vodafone, Bridgestone tires, Olympus cameras, and Shell gasoline. These were the sponsors for Ferrari's UsefulNotes/FormulaOne team at that time.
73	* RaceAgainstTheClock: The gameplay style. If time runs out, you lose. You win simply by making it to the end without running out of time.
74	* RealityIsUnrealistic: Inverted. The Enzo Ferrari in ''[=OutRun 2=]'' suffered from PowerCreepPowerSeep, maxing out at 182 MPH (295 [[superscript:km]]∕[[subscript:h]]), but in real life it's been clocked to ''over 220 MPH (354 [[superscript:km]]∕[[subscript:h]])''.
75	* RecycledPremise: ''[=OutRun=] 2019'' is ''[=OutRun=]'' IN THE FUTURE!
76	* RespawnOnTheSpot: Whenever your car crashes and rolls out of the road, it comes back fixed at the cost of a few seconds.
77	* {{Retraux}}: The 3DS and Switch ports of the first game have new music composed with the same soundchip as the original arcade board. Notably, one of the songs in the Switch port is a 16-bit version of "Radiation", a song from ''[=OutRun 2006=]''.
78	* RubberBandAI: In later games. ''[=OutRun 2=]'' has a Slipstreaming mechanic that can reinforce this.
79	* SceneryPorn:
80	** The original game had lots of varied scenery, which looked pretty spiffy for the 16-bit era.
81	** ''[=OutRunners=]'' is no slouch either, building on the style of the first game with some great spritework.
82	** Come ''[=OutRun=] 2'' and its updated re-releases, the stages look lifelike and absolutely gorgeous.
83	* ScoringPoints:
84	** Like many driving games, you continuously gain points as you drive, and get a big bonus based on time left if you reach the goal.
85	** In ''[=OutRun=] 2'', you gain points for passing traffic cars, and even more for passing rivals, but hitting a car will reduce the bonus you get from passing it. There's also Heart Attack mode, a special mode where your passenger gives you various missions (such as passing cars, passing through gates, and drifting along a path) and completing these missions rewards you with hearts and letter grades.
86	* SequelGoesForeign: While the original ''[=OutRun=]'' isn't set in a specific place (though implied to be a condensed Europe), ''Turbo'' is set in {{Eagleland}} and ''[=OutRunners=]'' is a world rally.
87	* ShoutOut:
88	** In the original ''[=OutRun=]'s'' "B" ending, when the car reaches the finish line and the couple steps out, it instantly falls apart in the same manner as the car in ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.
89	** One of the roadside advertisements in the original game features an image of the biker from ''VideoGame/HangOn'', with the tagline "World Champion KTM" -- referring to the motorcycle company who had won multiple motocross championships by that point. In the 3DS and Switch ports, "KTM" is replaced with "M2", a CreatorCameo for the porting team.
90	** After every fourth stage in ''Turbo [=OutRun=]'' is completed, a remixed version of ''VideoGame/FantasyZone'''s shopping music plays as the player chooses a new part for their car.
91	** One of the new songs in the Switch version is "Driver's Megamix Vol. 1," which is a simultaneous reference to "Awesome Mix Vol. 1" from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' and Sega's crossover fighter ''VideoGame/FightersMegamix''.
92	* ThrillSeeker: According to the song "Life Was a Bore", this is why the woman next to the driver is in the car -- he was the first thing in her life that was genuinely ''exciting'', and now she lives to see what wild road he drives down next.
93	* TimedMission: In the original game, your only real enemy is the clock. You start with fifty seconds and gain more at each checkpoint. If you run out, you're done. Once you reach the end of your route, you gain an extra million points for each second you have left.
94	* TitleByYear: ''[=OutRun=] 2019'' takes place in the magnificent far-off year of... 2019.
95	* UnitConfusion: In ''[=OutRun=] 2019'', the units are messed up. In the North American version, the HUD displays "MPH" next to your speed, and in other versions it's “[[superscript:km]]∕[[subscript:h]]” instead; par for the course. But the only version that gets the units correct is the European version, in which your car has a max speed of 692 [[superscript:km]]∕[[subscript:h]]; the North American version shows 692 ''MPH'', and the Japanese version shows 341 [[superscript:km]]∕[[subscript:h]].
96	* V8EngineNoises: Every single Ferrari in ''[=OutRun=] 2'' and its subsequent releases emit a [=NASCAR=]-like V8 engine note, not unlike the stock cars from ''VideoGame/DaytonaUSA''. The problem? Not all of the cars in-game are powered by a V8 (There's the V6-powered Dino, and the V12-powered 365/4 Daytona and Enzo), and those that are V8 powered would not emit the same sound as an American V8 due to differences in the type of crankshaft used (Ferrari uses flat-plane crankshafts for their V8 engines. The typical American V8 engine, including those used in NASCAR, use a cross-plane crankshaft).
97	* VanityLicensePlate: The box-art above shows ''[=OutRun=]'' as the license plate. You'd think that number plate would catch the attention of the local police. ''[=OutRun=] 2'' onwards followed a formula of MO (Modena, the Italian city where Ferrari is headquartered) followed by some letters and numbers referring to the car and/or its engine (MO 512 TR for the 5-liter, 12-cylinder powered Testarossa).
98	* WhatTheHellPlayer: Crashing often results in your passenger flipping out at you. In ''[=OutRun=] 2'', this is accompanied by a scathing comment about your driving abilities.
99	* WritingAroundTrademarks: The 3DS and Switch versions of ''[=OutRun=]'' redesign the car's back to look less like Ferrari due to licensing issues (which also resulted in ''[=OutRun=] Online Arcade'' being delisted from online stores).
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Context VideoGame / OutRun