While it wasn't much of an improvement over Outrun, it was still one of the best looking driving games available by the time of its release.
I love Outrun. In fact, not only do I love Outrun, I also love Outrun 2. And I've always felt that, despite sharing the same DNA, both games are masterpieces for completely different reasons.
Outrun (1986) is a vibe game. Despite the time limit, it's a game about materializing the feelings of driving a car like a toy on the most idealized tracks that a 10-year-old could think of. That's why, for me, the definitive version of this game is the Cannonball mod for the PC, which leaves it 60fps, widescreen and with the option to completely turn off the time limit.
Outrun 2 drinks entirely from the aesthetics of the first game, but the appeal is not specifically in getting from point A to point B, like the first game, but HOW you get from point A to point B, how you optimize your route the more you play. To fully enjoy Outrun 2 you need to become one with the drift mechanic and find loopholes to use it even when it doesn't seem possible, it's about exploring every millimeter of the track.
Easily one of my favorite franchises and, so far, the most consistent of them all. Two games: two perfect scores. However, recently the series flame rekindled in me and I went to replay the games, and browsing through backloggd, I discovered reading the vanilla Outrun 2 synopsis that, in fact, it is the FOURTH installment in the franchise. Doing some not-so-deep research, I discovered that the first Outrun sequel was actually TURBO OUTRUN, and that in 1992 another game in the series was released under the name OUTRUNNERS (I haven't played that one yet).
If Outrun is about feeling the car and driving without worriesl, and Outrun 2 is about the frenzy of drifting, this game is an interesting middle ground. Seems like way back in the day SEGA knew that the direction they wanted to go with Outrun was to greatly increase the action attributes of the original game, and that's what they did with Turbo.
Turbo Outrun is an extremely action packed game that is only concerned with delivering the most visceral feeling of extreme SPEED to whoever is playing. The game is uglier, the music doesn't even come close to that of its predecessor, but what the game wants is for you to change gears and release the turbo to forget about all this and not think about absolutely anything else. It works, especially at the beginning, but the biggest problem with this game is that it's an arcade game and it needs to take your cash. Obviously I don't have a problem with that playing on an emulator, but I say this because the game knows that you'll always want to be as fast as possible, and in the stages towards the end of the game, it just puts up some sharp curves and obstacles that are impossible to predict.
One thing I've always admired about Outrun 2 is how plasticized it is. Even though you're relatively fast, if you hit the edges of the track it bounces you off more than it flips you over. And this is actually a Turbo-Outrun-thing! Just like its 3D brother, it is a game that values the feel of the car a lot, specially in speed, but contradicts itself a little when it makes you stop and crash several times to lose (on purpose). Turbo Outrun is far from perfect like Outrun 1 and 2, but it was great to play. These are good ideas, but they could only be implemented in their fullness when video games made the generational leap into three dimensions.
I need Niel to play this tho
Outrun (1986) is a vibe game. Despite the time limit, it's a game about materializing the feelings of driving a car like a toy on the most idealized tracks that a 10-year-old could think of. That's why, for me, the definitive version of this game is the Cannonball mod for the PC, which leaves it 60fps, widescreen and with the option to completely turn off the time limit.
Outrun 2 drinks entirely from the aesthetics of the first game, but the appeal is not specifically in getting from point A to point B, like the first game, but HOW you get from point A to point B, how you optimize your route the more you play. To fully enjoy Outrun 2 you need to become one with the drift mechanic and find loopholes to use it even when it doesn't seem possible, it's about exploring every millimeter of the track.
Easily one of my favorite franchises and, so far, the most consistent of them all. Two games: two perfect scores. However, recently the series flame rekindled in me and I went to replay the games, and browsing through backloggd, I discovered reading the vanilla Outrun 2 synopsis that, in fact, it is the FOURTH installment in the franchise. Doing some not-so-deep research, I discovered that the first Outrun sequel was actually TURBO OUTRUN, and that in 1992 another game in the series was released under the name OUTRUNNERS (I haven't played that one yet).
If Outrun is about feeling the car and driving without worriesl, and Outrun 2 is about the frenzy of drifting, this game is an interesting middle ground. Seems like way back in the day SEGA knew that the direction they wanted to go with Outrun was to greatly increase the action attributes of the original game, and that's what they did with Turbo.
Turbo Outrun is an extremely action packed game that is only concerned with delivering the most visceral feeling of extreme SPEED to whoever is playing. The game is uglier, the music doesn't even come close to that of its predecessor, but what the game wants is for you to change gears and release the turbo to forget about all this and not think about absolutely anything else. It works, especially at the beginning, but the biggest problem with this game is that it's an arcade game and it needs to take your cash. Obviously I don't have a problem with that playing on an emulator, but I say this because the game knows that you'll always want to be as fast as possible, and in the stages towards the end of the game, it just puts up some sharp curves and obstacles that are impossible to predict.
One thing I've always admired about Outrun 2 is how plasticized it is. Even though you're relatively fast, if you hit the edges of the track it bounces you off more than it flips you over. And this is actually a Turbo-Outrun-thing! Just like its 3D brother, it is a game that values the feel of the car a lot, specially in speed, but contradicts itself a little when it makes you stop and crash several times to lose (on purpose). Turbo Outrun is far from perfect like Outrun 1 and 2, but it was great to play. These are good ideas, but they could only be implemented in their fullness when video games made the generational leap into three dimensions.
I need Niel to play this tho
Still feels pretty good to play in some instances, but the level design, mechanics, visuals and music have all lost the spark of the original OutRun. It ends up just feeling like a clunky, messy game where I don't feel the vibes and I don't feel the motivation to perfect my racing skills