54 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
54 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
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OUT RUN
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OUT RUN, from Sega and Mindscape, is a translation of Sega's popular
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video-arcade road race game. It offers colorful graphics, excellent animation,
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highways and scenery from around the world, a "radio," and a car with a
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screaming 295 kph top end. The Atari ST version is the basis of this review.
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If I'm not mistaken, the arcade-room version of OUT RUN had a seat, a steering
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wheel, and stereo sound; unless your ST is similarly equipped, some of the
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thrills will be imaginary. Nonetheless, OUT RUN is pure arcade action and great
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fun.
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Since OUT RUN is not a cockpit game, there's no "dashboard" to deal with. You
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steer a car on a road, rather than by gauges or idiot lights. The road and the
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scenery scroll as you drive; when you sideswipe roadsigns or backend other
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vehicles, well, we don't call that scrolling: We call it crashing and burning.
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Not only does the car in OUT RUN have a great top end, its transmission is
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state-of-the-art: only 2 gears, high and low. You can wind the engine up to over
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100 kph in low (for those tight curves), then kick into high and head up to 295.
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At the bottom left of the screen are two of the three most important
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information displays (other than the road, of course): speed and tachometer/gear
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readout. The third display is the time limit, which clicks off in the upper left
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corner: When time runs out, regardless of how far you've successfully driven,
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the game ends.
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Should you reach the end of a particular course before the time limit runs out,
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any extra time is added to the following course. Points rack up for driving
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fast; on crossing a goal line, any remaining time is multiplied by a million --
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now those're some points! At the end of each course, a map will then appear,
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showing you how far you've traveled into the itinerary.
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OUT RUN can be controlled by either joystick or mouse; as usual, the joystick
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works best. Pushing the stick forward accelerates; pulling the stick back
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brakes; moving the stick left or right does the steering; and pushing the button
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switches gears.
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The songs on the "radio" are "Passing Breeze," "Splash Wave," and "Magical
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Sound Shower," which pretty much sums up FM programming in the '80s.
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Fortunately, the radio can be turned off. The courses will take you through the
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Swiss Alps, southern France, Death Valley, and onto the Autobahn. There are
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fifteen highways in all; most are scenic, although some are cluttered with
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advertising and traffic.
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The game looks and plays great. It's simple to learn; in fact, there's nothing
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to it. If you're looking for action, speed, and thrills, you needn't look any
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further than OUT RUN.
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OUT RUN is published by Sega and distributed by Mindscape.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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