Games

[Molloy]

I just bought OR 2006: C2C for the PS2.

I must have spent a good 80 or 90 euro on OR2: Special Tours in the arcade. And this is one fantastic port. it's all there. Even the really large scale levels like Waterfall. Levels like Milky Way just don't look nearly as good but on the whole it's a phenomenal port. The framerate drops on some of the extra challenges but the draw distance and handing is spot on -- makes it 10x times better than the likes of Burnout 3. You can actually see where you're going!

My only fault with the game is it's too goddamn easy. I played two Sega racers in the last two years -- F-Zero GX on the GameCube, and Daytona 2001 on the Dreamcast. I'm particularly addicted to Daytona 2001. I literally spent 80+ hours on that game. I just never get tired of time trialing.

Played OR2006 Flagman Races for two days and never got less than AAA. Must have played 50+ challenges and absolutely no challenge. Now on the 4th Flagman section (OutRun?) and it's finally starting having some difficulties. They should have cut down on the unlockables a little. Don't want to go overboard.

[icycalm]

I am thinking of picking up OutRun 2 for the Xbox eventually. I am just wondering how good the game plays with the controller--I've only played it in the arcades. I've finished most of the routes, however, so maybe it's not even worth buying the port.

I don't really care much for extra modes, either. It seems to me that there is only one way to play OutRun...

[schmeetz]

I just got C2C to review (also the PS2 version), and it's all right, I guess. I didn't think it looked that good though, so I checked it with the original Xbox game. Quite the difference, I must say. It's all right, though, although I also got the PSP version and I think I actually prefer that. It just makes more sense as a "oh, I have 20 minutes to kill" game than something you sit down for at home, and the PSP version seems more... summery, somehow. Maybe it's the screen.

Mind you, I liked OutRun 2 as an arcade game, but even the added modes don't make it something I would play for very long, although I don't mind them per sé.

[icycalm]

So wait, there's no Xbox version for this new OutRun? If there is, why'd you guys buy the PS2 one?

And, um, schmmetz, are you reviewing this game for a site, a blog, or just for yourself?

[schmeetz]

Yeah, there's an Xbox version, I just didn't get that particular one. Companies tend to give out PS2 version for review when it comes to multiplatform titles. Why they don't realise this is a stupid practice I can't fathom but there it is. And maybe Molloy doesn't have an Xbox?

The review is for a site. Dutch site called Gamevillage. Their design sucks (that should change!) but they like my writing and I figured it would be a good place to get some experience.

[Chuplayer]

I have the bawks OutRun 2. It's awesome. I can't wait to get the PS2 version of OutRun 2006. I want to play online for free. None of that bawks Live bullshit.

[Molloy]

Don't own an Xbox I'm afraid. I thought it was a bit silly buying four 128 bit consoles.

[Pongism]

I hope you don't consider the PS2 a 128-bit console.

Because it isn't.

[Chuplayer]

I'm not so sure about that, but the bawks definitely has a 32 bit CPU.

[icycalm]

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! I was half-way through writing an OutRun 2 review, and I got to the point where I mention the SP SDX version. Then I take a break to go shave, and while shaving I suddenly have this epiphany.

Gimmick #7: 62" widescreen DLP monitors

This is the only new feature which had the potential to improve the original experience, and the only reason the game earns an extra star. Some games stand to gain a lot from extra screen real estate, and OutRun 2 sure as hell is one of them. You could hook up any of the home ports to a huge TV or a projector, but that setup would still be inferior to the arcade cabinets (even if you added a steering wheel and pedals), so until SDX came out the best way to enjoy OutRun 2 was to find the deluxe version of OutRun 2 SP, which sports 50" rear-projection screens. Howevar! There's something fishy going on here. SDX runs at 720p resolution, which is the reason that the Lindbergh was used instead of the Chihiro, but the graphics do not look sharper as a result -- in fact they look duller, as if the image was simply being upscaled by some internal monitor scaler, and not completely redrawn by the graphics subsystem. It's a very bizarre but unmistakable effect -- unmistakable at least to those with the eyes to see it.

At the time I put this down to poor quality monitors or some other such bizarre factor. My mind just couldn't fathom the possibility of someone using upscaling in a 3D game, especially since the original OutRun 2 run on Chihiro whereas SP SDX runs on the Lindbergh, which one would expect to have enough juice to redraw OutRun 2 at 720p.

But apparently it doesn't... Or at any rate the people who constructed that ridiculous monstrosity couldn't be bothered to put some effort into optimizing the code (too busy adding all those bells and whistles I guess, and besides it's not like their target audience would be able to tell the difference). And it's only now that I came to realize this. What a fucking fiasco.

[Jedah]

In this moment I have to inform the Insomnia forum that:

1) The PC version renders the game in 1680x1050@60Hz in a humble Athlon XP 2200+ with a GeForce 7600 GS without framerate drops. It make you wonder why anyone at Sega haven't tried to modify the PC version to run in PC-based Lindberg. The game graphics are not upscaled, excepting the 2D bitmaps on menus, HUD ,etc. Nevertheless they look blurred but NOT stretched.

2) The PC version is excellent if you have a wide flat panel. It puts the arcade version to shame actually.

If anyone knows in more detail the difference in quality between the PC and arcade version, please let us know.

[icycalm]

The game graphics are not upscaled, excepting the 2D bitmaps on menus, HUD ,etc. Nevertheless they look blurred but NOT stretched.

Blurred=Stretched

When you stretch something it becomes blurred. I have to see this port for myself. Unfortunately I don't have access to a decent PC right now.

The PC version is excellent if you have a wide flat panel. It puts the arcade version to shame actually.

How do you know this if you haven't played the arcade version?

[Jedah]

Blurred=Stretched

I meant that although the upscaling blurs them, they look OK in pixel aspect. They do not look shorter and wider, they look exactly the same, they use the same aspect ratio as in the native 4:3. This feature must be inherited from the Xbox version that supported wide screen display. Or not? Whatever the case, OutRun 2006 PC is one of the best console to PC conversions ever made.

How do you know this if you haven't played the arcade version?

I've played the DX version, it's available at Athens Mall (at least a year ago). The car cabinets and the rumble are great, but in a straight graphics comparison the low res arcade version really looks worse than a crystal clear 1680x1050.

[icycalm]

PSP Ridge Racers (known as Ridge Racer in the West) was released almost exactly one year after arcade OutRun 2, and my question is this: was the extreme drifting in the former inspired by that of the latter?

My only experience of the Ridge Racer series was the original game in the arcades, and then the PSP and 360 games, so I am not sure at what exact point the series went from a regular racing game to a kind of rollercoaster-ride thing. If the PSP game was the first to play like that, then I think I am justified in concluding that it was inspired by OutRun 2, but if previous entries had already been exaggerating the drifting and the PSP one merely went one step further, then I am mistaken, and perhaps it was the other way around, and it was OutRun 2 which was inspired by the Ridge Racer series.

Let me know if anyone can shed some light on this. I want to write OutRun 1 and 2 and Ridge Racer reviews fairly soon, that's why I am asking this.

[Saf]

The earliest one I've played is R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 (1998), which had super-tight corners you had to drift around. Had real trouble with it as a kid until I figured out the drifting mechanics. Not sure how it compares to the PSP game but the first track gives you an idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdXkENyJwos

[Amor fati]

I have played pretty much every Ridge Racer game. They almost all require drifting to get round corners quickest. If you are braking to slow down to get round a corner like in a normal car racing game, you are not playing a Ridge Racer game properly. Ridge Racers on the PSP made the drifting more on-rails compared to previous instalments most likely due to the limited controls of the PSP and the introduction of the nitrous boosting system which is charged via drifting.

[icycalm]

From that video, drifting in R4 seems normal and nothing at all like in OutRun 2 and the PSP game.

Amor fati, the issue is not whether there is drifting in the games. The issue is whether there is rollercoasting. OutRun 2 and the PSP Ridge Racer are nothing like any other racing game ever, and my question is are there earlier Ridge Racers that are like that? Going from Saf's video the answer is no, and so the RR team copied these mechanics from OutRun 2. There's no way this identical and unique drifting was developed coincidentally by the RR team, as you seem to imply. And the nitrous was added on top of the OutRun 2 mechanics, not the other way around, as you are saying. You seem to be saying that nitrous caused them to independently invent OutRun 2's mechanics. As for the PSP controls, I don't see what they have to do with it.

[icycalm]

I remembered I've also played a bit of R: Racing Evolution. Again, nothing at all like OutRun 2 and the PSP game. So the only other games to check are 64 and V.

[icycalm]

Basically, Ridge Racer was dead, and OutRun 2's mechanics gave the series a shot in the arm for a few years, until it died again. That's how I am reading the history of this thing.

[Amor fati]

Ridge Racer 64 had a drift handling mode “RR64” that allowed for a rollercoaster feel. It was only viable for a few cars, see for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr2d93WZfLEI. I always thought the PSP game’s handling was just an evolution of this but dumbed down due to the analogue nub making precise controlling of the drift more difficult compared with an analogue stick. Note that Ridge Racer 64 was developed by Nintendo’s American division with support from Namco.

[icycalm]

Yep, that's it. So the question is whether the OutRun 2 team played this game and copied it or whether they developed their drifting independently.

I guess a clue would be to look for other games with similar drifting, but I haven't heard of any. Then again I hadn't heard of RR64 either, so.

[Amor fati]

Scud Race Vs Outrun 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FYXkj_M0Uw

Daytona USA 2 Vs Outrun 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m59F7eCYXOY

The Xbox port of OutRun 2 had bonus tracks from Scud Race and Daytona USA 2. The videos show a comparison of the similar drifting style from which OutRun 2 evolved. Note that the director of OutRun 2 (Makoto Osaki) worked on both of these previous games.

[icycalm]

Daymn. The rabbit hole keeps going deeper.

[icycalm]

So wait, the videos you linked are of the original games, not their OutRun 2 Xbox port-varieties?

[Amor fati]

The videos show a side by side comparison of the original arcade game (Scud Race or Daytona USA 2) run on a Model 3 emulator (Supermodel: https://www.supermodel3.com) next to the Xbox OutRun 2 rendition of the tracks. The drifting physics are not exactly the same (it is easier to initiate and maintain a drift in OutRun 2) but there are similarities.