''Turbo OutRun'' () is a 1989 arcade

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a motor racing, racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more re ...

released by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

. A follow-up to 1986's ''

Out Run (also stylized as ''OutRun'') is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and ...

'', it was released as a dedicated game, as well as an upgrade kit for the original ''Out Run''

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

. Like its predecessor, ''Turbo OutRun'' has players driving a Ferrari, this time a

Ferrari F40 The Ferrari F40 (Type F120) is a Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car version ...

. Players traverse a set route across the continental United States from New York City to Los Angeles. In addition to a time limit, ''Turbo OutRun'' also adds a computer-controlled opponent driving a

Porsche 959 The Porsche 959 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1986 to 1993, first as a Group B rally car and later as a road legal production car designed to satisfy FIA homologation regulations requiring at least ...

. The "Turbo" in the title plays a factor as players can press a button to receive a brief turbo boost of speed. Various

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...

s which increase the vehicle's attributes can be chosen at various stages of the game.

Ports Ports collections (or ports trees, or just ports) are the sets of makefiles and Patch (Unix), patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages. T ...

of ''Turbo OutRun'' were released for home computers as well as Sega's own

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

Gameplay

In ''Turbo OutRun'' the player controls a male driver sitting alongside his girlfriend in a

, racing against the clock and a computer-controlled opponent in a silver

in a race across the United States. The goal is to reach Los Angeles from the starting point of New York City. Unlike the original ''Out Run'', there are no branch roads to choose from. Instead, there is only one path that can be taken to reach the goal. The player can increase speed by using

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

boost by pressing a button on the side of the console-mounted shifter; the engine temperature will increase in kind on the on-screen

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

. When the gauge reaches "OVERHEAT!" turbo boost cannot be used until the temperature decreases. Police cars occasionally appear that try to stop the player. They have to either be outrun by using the turbo boost or destroyed by the player by ramming them off-road and into an object on the side of the road. ''Turbo OutRun'' offers the player a choice between

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

or two-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...

. At every sub-goal (reached after passing through about four cities), an upgrade can be chosen, the three being: Hi-Power Engine, Special Turbo, and Super Grip Tires. If the CPU opponent reaches the sub-goal before the player, at the next race, the driver's girlfriend will move to the opponent's car. He can still win the girl back if he beats the CPU opponent to the next sub-goal. If the player beats the opponent with the girl in hand, a 1,000,000 point bonus is given. Also, the girl kisses the driver in front of his CPU opponent. If the player reaches the final checkpoint, in the process, the player will pass the CPU opponent and the ending scene is played. It was available in a stand-up cabinet, and a sit-down cabinet with decals giving it an appearance of a

, the car featured in the game. There were also conversion kits available to convert original ''Out Run'' machines to ''Turbo OutRun''. Computer ports of the game were received with varying degrees of enthusiasm. While the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

version was widely seen as a good game, the 16-bit conversions got very negative reviews.

Music

The game's background music plays in a predetermined order, depending on region. In the 1993

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

'' Daytona USA'', a song from ''Turbo OutRun'' can be played on the name entry screen by entering the initials TOR. The result is the opening couple of bars of "Rush A Difficulty".

Commodore 64 soundtrack

The Commodore 64 home version soundtrack, composed and arranged by Jeroen Tel, was well received. The soundtrack won the "Best music on 8-bit computer 1989" award on

European Computer Trade Show The European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) was an annual trade show for the European video game industry which first ran in 1988, the final event being held in 2004. The exposition was only open to industry professionals and journalists, although i ...

. The title track is a remix of "Magical Sound Shower" from ''Out Run'', featuring sound samples from Jeroen Tel himself; due to sampling quality, he was actually saying "One, two, ''tree''... hit it, Out Run" while recording, instead of "three", to avoid it sounding like "free".

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Turbo OutRun'' on their March 15, 1989 issue as being the third most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month. In North America, by August 1989, the arcade game had reached number two on the ''

Play Meter ''Play Meter'' (initially ''Coin Industry Play Meter'') was an American trade magazine focusing on the coin-op amusement arcade industry, including jukebox and arcade game machines. It was founded in December 1974 by publisher and editor Ralph C ...

'' video game charts and number six on the ''RePlay'' upright cabinet charts. ''Turbo OutRun'' received positive to mixed reviews, depending on the version. The arcade and Commodore 64 versions were well received. ''

Commodore User ''Commodore User'', (also referred to as ''CU'') later renamed to ''CU Amiga'', is a British magazine initially published by Paradox Group before being acquired by EMAP. Timeline ''Commodore User'' was launched in October 1983 with an initial pr ...

'' reviewed the arcade version and scored it 8 out of 10. The C64 version was awarded 93% from ''

C+VG C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C ...

'' and 97% in ''

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' is a computer games magazine covering games for computers manufactured by Commodore International, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazi ...

''. The Spectrum version of the game received 70% from ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', originally ''Your Spectrum'' or ''YS'', is a discontinued British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was commercially published between 1984 and 1993. History The magazine was la ...

'', 78% from ''

Sinclair User The ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

'' and 79% from '' Crash''. ''Mean Machines'' dismissed the Mega Drive version with an overall rating of 42%. The only aspect of the game to receive genuine praise was the high-scores screen design. The review pointed to "hopeless, mega-jerky 3-D graphics, juddery scrolling, dreadful tunes, naff sound effects, and badly drawn sprites", and concluded it to be a "clapped out Robin Reliant of a race game".''Mean Machines'', Issue 18, March 1992, pp. 78-9 '' Mega'' placed the Mega Drive version at #3 in their list of the 10 Worst Mega Drive Games of All Time.Mega magazine issue 1, page 85,

Future Publishing Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

, Oct 1992

References