Out Run

Game summary

The aim of Out Run is to "get to the end of a five-stage course, avoiding cars and roadside obstacles along the way, before your timer runs out," according to a Nintendo Life review. Players control a Ferrari-inspired sportscar with steering, accelerator, brake, and optional manual gear shift. The car is viewed from behind and drives towards the horizon. At the end of each driving stage, the player can veer left or right to choose their route through the branching stage map. The timer is extended each time the player passes a checkpoint.

Driving stages

Out Run offers a branching map of 15 stages and 16 possible routes. The map differs between the arcade's Japanese and international releases.

• Coconut Beach (S1): A beach-themed stage with blue skies and palm trees.
• Gateway (Int S2, Jp S4): A dusky course long grass and castle-like structures. Named "Big Gate" in the Japanese version.
• Devil's Canyon (Int S2, Jp S3): A sunset stage with jagged roadside rocks. Named "Walls" in the Japanese version.
• Desert (S3): A sandy desert with deep blue and purple skies.
• Alps (S3): An alpine location with fields of pink and yellow flowers and icy mountains on the horizon.
• Cloudy Mountain (Int S3, Jp S2): An evening course with green trees, cloudy lilac skies, and hills on the horizon.
• Wilderness (S4): An arid location with shrubs and a city on the horizon.
• Old Capital (S4): A dusky course with barren trees, dilapidated buildings, and purple skies.
• Wheat Field (Int S4, Jp S2): A farmland course with wheat fields, bare trees and orange skies.
• Seaside Town (S4): A coastal location with green hills on the horizon.
• Vineyard (S5): A cool location with snowy mountains on the horizon.
• Death Valley (S5): A dry desert location with shrubs and rocks by the roadside.
• Desolation Hill (S5): A rocky course with grey skies and castle-like structures. Named "Stone Hill" in the Japanese version.
• Autobahn (S5): A rural road with sunset skies. Named "Dual Way" in the Japanese verison.
• Lakeside (S5): A tree-lined course with purple skies.

Driving, not racing

Out Run creator Yu Suzuki conceived the game as a driving experience, rather than a race. He told Wired: "Unlike rigid racing games, I was able to create a new genre of driving game where you would drive one-handed with a beautiful girl by your side, listening to the car stereo while leaving the competition in the dust." Suzuki was also inspired by the 1981 movie The Cannonball Run. "I thought it would be fun to present in a game the simple, straightforward satisfaction of barreling towards the goal line in a super car."

European research trip

Out Run creator Yu Suzuki initially wanted to tour the USA to research locations for the game's 15 stages, but was told it would be nothing but desert. Instead, Suzuki went to Europe and toured Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Spain in a rented BMW 520i. "I was impressed by the scenery of the Côte d'Azur, along the Mediterranean Sea," Suzuki told Wired.

Ferrari license

Although the car in Out Run bears a striking resemblance to a Ferrari Testarossa, the likeness was not officially licensed by Ferrari. Video game historian Michael Thomasson told Wired: "Ferrari did contact them and grumbled about it – but they never took any legal action." Several sequels to OutRun did feature car designs licensed by Ferrari.

Home computer versions

Out Run was ported to numerous home computer systems in the 1980s including the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1987; the Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, and Commodore Amiga in 1988; and MS-DOS in 1989.

PlayStation 2 version

A PlayStation 2 (PS2) version of Out Run was developed by SIMS and released in 2004, as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series of retro releases. The PS2 version features full 3D graphics, but with music and gameplay closely matching the original arcade.

3DS version

A Nintendo 3DS version of Out Run was developed by M2 and released in March 2015 in the US and Europe. Titled 3D Out Run, it featured stereoscopic 3D visuals running at 60 frames per second, along with two new music tracks "Cruising Line" and "Camino a Mi Amor".

Nintendo Switch version

A Nintendo Switch version of Out Run was developed by M2 and released in 2019 as part of the SEGA AGES series of retro releases. The Switch version features is a faithful arcade port with added widescreen support, motion controls, new music tracks, and a new ranking system.

Super Scaler 3D effect

Out Run's 3D effect of driving towards the horizon is made possible by a technology called Super Scaler, which had previously been used in the SEGA motorcycle racing game Hang-On. Out Run's Super Scaler graphics "could rotate and enlarge 2D images called sprites to give the scene a 3D effect, by making objects such as the road or trees come at the player very fast," according to Wired.

Selectable music

OutRun innovated in video game music by presenting the player with a car stereo before the game began, which offered a choice of three tracks. The tracks, composed by Hiroshi ‘Hiro’ Kawaguchi, were titled "Splash Wave", "Passing Breeze" and "Magical Sound Shower". "I composed the music based on the idea of what I wanted to listen to while driving," Kawaguchi told Wired. "I came up with the idea of making the song selection at the start of the game into a radio. I figured that if we were going to select songs in the car, the radio would be a good match."

"Last Wave" ending music

A fourth music track, "Last Wave," is heard when the player completes the game.

Home-version music cassette

Some home computer versions of Out Run came with an audio cassette featuring the original arcade music.

"Real driving" model

To create the feeling of real driving, Out Run creator Yu Suzuki designed a driving model based on realistic parameters such as torque, horsepower and tyre grip.

"OutRun" arcade hardware

The original Out Run arcade ran on custom arcade hardware named "OutRun". This was the second in the company’s Super Scaler series of arcade hardware, the first having been created for Space Harrier. The system features two 68000 CPUs and a Yamaha YM2151 sound chip. Video output is 320 x 224 pixels running at 60 frames per second.

Hydraulic arcade cabinet

The deluxe version of the Out Run arcade cabinet was seven feet long, weighed 770 pounds, and featured a hydraulic-powered seat that would shake vigorously during crashes.

Arcade sales success

20,000 Out Run arcade cabinets had been sold worldwide by 1987, a year after the game released, earning SEGA an estimated US $240 million in revenue.