It’s been a busy week for the hard drives on my Wii and Xbox 360. After taking a fairly long break from the Live Arcade and Virtual Console services I came back to a whole list of new titles and downloadable content that I couldn’t resist. Pokemon Snap returned those wonderful memories from when I was younger, Majora’s Mask is awaiting my time on the Wii and one of my favourite racers also made its debut this week, Outrun.
   
Outrun is a true arcade racer through and through. Select from a handful of Ferraris and then choose if you want Manual or Automatic Transmission. You are now ready to go! Things couldn’t be kept simpler as you race at around 300kph with your girlfriend in the passenger seat down winding roads and widely varying environments. Hard breaking is for losers in this game as drifting is all you need to make your way around seemingly impossible bends. While racing along tracks is all well and good, what sets this simple racer aside are the forks you reach in the roads. You will begin on a wonderfully beautiful beach where after about a minute of driving you will need to make a choice as to where your driving takes you next. If you stick to the left road you will then take an easier path whereas going right will make things more difficult and challenging. With fifteen locations to drive through it’ll take multiple races to venture all of them. It’s crazy how one minute you’ll be racing through dusty canyons, then drive onto snowy mountains and then end up in a casino paradise.

There are a small handful of differing modes to accompany the regular Outrun option. First up is the oddly titled “Heart Attack Mode” where not only must you try and make it from start to finish, but you must also attempt several missions along the way. These range from something as simple as overtaking cars or not crashing into the walls right up to the bizarre like hitting floating ghosts and grabbing giant coins in the road. Some are especially challenging and can often require extremely precise driving in order to gain a top grade. The second mode is a standard time trial mode where all traffic is wiped away and you’re solely scored on how quick you make it from the opening area to the finale. If you’re looking for a lengthier challenge then you can tackle both Outrun and Heart Attack Mode over all fifteen courses! While these are all for the lone player, the addiction kicks in when trying to get higher in the leaderboards since all these modes each have their own individual tables to prove yourself on.

However Sumo have included a multiplayer mode which isn’t bad but isn’t as good as it could be. While it’s great fun having five other people racing with you at once, the problem lies in how stripped down the entire experience feels. For one the traffic is all gone so slipstreaming is out of the question. Next as for the different match styles, all you really have is the basic Outrun mode which is a bit of a let down.

When you consider this is only an Xbox Live Arcade title rather than a fully fledged store bought game, the overall presentation isn’t too bad. The menus are nice and simple with the sounds of crashing waves in the background. Visually when you set foot in a Ferrari, everything looks attractive and colourful. The varying locations help make tracks feel more appealing with the Milky Way and Jungle sections looking particularly great. The music is classic Outrun tunes remixed and updated which I’m sure will please long term fans of the series and I have to admit I do love the “Risky Ride” track especially when speeding down beaches and navigating hairpin turns.

On the surface Outrun Online Arcade may seem like a basic package with little new to offer driving fans, but after one race you’ll see how it becomes so hard to put down. Here’s hoping Sega decide to release more of their arcade catalogue on XBLA. Crazy Taxi perhaps?