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The internet is wrong: OutRun 2 edition

Discussion in 'General Sega Discussion' started by Black Squirrel, Mar 16, 2021.

  1. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

    no reverse gear Wiki Sysop
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    Thought I'd take my recently beaten Xbox OutRun 2 knowledge to the wiki and... uh. Yeah, problem time.

    OutRun 2's a game that was released a few times, Wikipedia kindly groups them all together in a big incohesive mess, and while we're better, we're also wrong. Blame it on the fact I don't think I've ever seen an OutRun 2 cabinet in the arcade, let alone clocked the differences between all the different versions. But I'm not the only one - go onto YouTube and everyone's either mislabling ports or dicking around with horrible upscalers so you can't tell what anything is anymore.


    The actual timeline:

    2003: OutRun 2, Chihiro arcade. 15 European tracks, 8 cars. First version, easy to identify.

    2004: OutRun 2 SP, Chihiro arcade. Updated version of the above, adds 15 American tracks and adds two cars (10). It has a slightly different interface and the cabinets are usually yellow - it became the de facto version of the game

    Late 2004: OutRun 2, Xbox. This is an enhanced port of the original OutRun 2, with a mission mode, the SP cars, two other cars (12), 101 mission mode, Scud Race and Daytona USA 2 tracks, and the original game as an unlockable (and some other Xbox Live guff). It probably came out after SP, but is not SP.

    Early 2005: OutRun 2, Xbox - the Japanese version. Fixes some issues with the above and makes the Scud Race/Daytona 2 tracks more accurate, but is otherwise the same game. Still not SP.

    --

    then it gets messy.

    March/April 2006: OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. Xbox, PS2, PSP, PC in June. Western markets only. This is a port of OutRun 2 SP, plus the cars from Xbox OutRun 2, three more cars (15), a different set of missions, and some other modes. It has the most content, but not all of the content - some of it is still exclusive to Xbox OutRun 2.

    Late 2006: OutRun 2 SP again, Lindbergh arcade. I'll explain this at the end.

    Early 2007: OutRun 2 SP, PS2, Japan only. I'm led to believe, contrary to what our wiki currently says, that this is the Japanese version of OutRun 2006, just with an older name. And it certainly looks that way... but I don't know if it has all the content. It's apparently better in some respects - it has force feedback for certain steering wheels, and takes out some cross-system PSP support, but I can't compare things side-by-side.

    2009: OutRun Online Arcade, PSN, XBLA. This is another port of OutRun 2 SP, minus the original European OutRun 2 tracks. It adds a couple of things over the arcade version, but cruicially ignores everything from the previous home ports. Also you can't buy it anymore.



    Basically, we're almost certainly wrong about the PS2 version of OutRun 2 SP. Thanks Japan.

    But we're also wrong about the Lindbergh arcade version of the game. The so-called "OutRun 2 SP SDX".

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    It's... kinda not called that. Except it is. Sometimes.

    Sega re-released OutRun 2 SP in 2006 with a couple of new features; a second steering wheel, so you can "share" driving responsibilities with a friend, and fancy pants motion cabinets, which none of the previous versions had. These versions run on Lindbergh arcade hardware. On the left, the twin-cabinet "DX" version, and on the right, the quad-cabinet "SDX" version.

    Not to be confused with the other OutRun 2 SP DX cabinet, which is yellow and houses bog-standard 2004 OutRun 2 SP.

    This 2006 DX version never refers to itself as "OutRun 2 SP DX" in-game. It's just "OutRun 2 SP", despite being an update. The 2006 SDX version does refer to itself as "OutRun 2 SP SDX" in-game, even if the only meaningful difference between it and 2006 DX is supporting more players.

    Does Lindbergh mean better graphics? I don't know. Some sources suggest a higher screen resolution but, it could be anamorphic widescreen, so is secretly 640x480. Our wiki says 800x480 but I don't know if the hardware can support that. Others suggest 720p - I have my doubts, but who knows. It's almost certainly not 1080p or the stupid resolutions people cranking up their emulators to - all the 2D graphics look like garbage.

    But either way, the cabinet might be called OutRun 2 SP SDX, but the game is just OutRun 2 SP again. I think.


    tl;dr the wiki needs to change, but I don't know by how much - help pls
     
  2. Xilla

    Xilla

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    IIRC the Lindbergh version does support higher resolutions, but introduces graphical glitches when forced to do so, especially with the lighting system.

    There's also a 3-cab version of SDX in Coral Island, Blackpool (the yellow car being the "best" one as other than a stiff right gear paddle, it's the only one without a knackered steering wheel, and set to Japanese for some reason). I don't think the multiplayer is linked up though.



    (1:32)
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2021
  3. DigitalDuck

    DigitalDuck

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    Lindbergh supports a bunch of resolutions - none of them are 800x480. They're your standard 4:3 resolutions (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x960) plus a few widescreen (1024x768, 1280x768, 1360x768). But apparently there are different hardware revisions of it (indicated by colours) and not all revisions support all resolutions. I didn't notice an improved resolution when I played it a few years back, so I imagine OR2SPSDX is running at 640x480. Then again, I'm really bad at seeing these things.

    I can confirm this - it has all of OutRun 2006's content, with a few fixes, and adds four songs. I think it uncensors Clarissa's cleavage-covering top as well, matching the arcade versions, but I don't have it on-hand to check.

    In fact, just for completeness, because I've often seen people claim either they or someone else was playing a certain song on a version it doesn't exist in:

    OutRun 2, Chihiro arcade: 7 in-game songs (Splash Wave, Magical Sound Shower, Passing Breeze, Risky Ride, Shiny World, Night Flight, Life Was a Bore)

    OutRun 2 SP, Chihiro arcade: 14 in-game songs (all 7 from OutRun 2, plus the original tracks from OutRun and Turbo OutRun - that's Splash Wave, Magical Sound Shower, Passing Breeze from 1986, Shake the Street, Rush a Difficulty, Who Are You, Keep Your Heart from 1989)

    OutRun 2, Xbox: 18 in-game songs (all 7 from OutRun 2, plus Splash Wave (Euro Remix), Magical Sound Shower (Euro Remix), Passing Breeze (Euro Remix), Splash Wave (1986), Magical Sound Shower (1986), Passing Breeze (1986), Risky Ride (Guitar Mix), Shiny World (Prototype), Night Flight (Prototype), Night Flight (Instrumental), Life Was a Bore (Instrumental))

    OutRun 2, Xbox - the Japanese version: 18 in-game songs (same as OutRun 2, Xbox)

    March/April 2006: OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, Xbox, PS2, PSP, PC in June: 28 in-game songs (all 18 from OutRun 2, Xbox plus Radiation, Night Bird, Shake the Street (1989), Rush a Difficulty (1989), Who Are You (1989), Keep Your Heart (1989), Shake the Street (2006), Rush a Difficulty (2006), Who Are You (2006), Keep Your Heart (2006))

    OutRun 2 SP, PS2, Japan only: 32 in-game songs (all 28 from OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast plus Passing Breeze [H.] Arrange Ver., Splash Wave J Arrange Ver., Rush a Difficulty J Arrange Ver., Lift You Up!). The latter three tracks are arranged by Jun Senoue.

    OutRun Online Arcade, PSN, XBLA: 7 in-game songs (all 7 from OutRun 2, Chihiro arcade). This, and the lack of OR2 tracks and some ending animations, is for space reasons - because online digital stores were still new, there were strict size limits on games, so these things were removed. It also only has the 10 cars from OR2SP for the same reason.
     
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  4. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    I hadn't clocked that this was a thing, but OutRun 2's approach to women is... interesting.

    Jennifer, seen in the standard OutRun mode, seems to be unchanged in all versions of the game across all platforms (although is probably voiced slightly differently).

    Clarissa seems to get away with having her cleavage on display in all the arcade versions, although cabinet and box artwork is positioned in such a way that it's not immediately obvious. Western versions of OutRun 2 on the Xbox, OutRun 2006 and OutRun Online Arcade make her cover up, Japanese versions never do this.

    Holly was given a more revealing outfit in the Japanese Xbox version of OutRun 2, which in turn made its way into OutRun 2006. All of her mission ending images were changed, making her look more "human" in the process.

    (human is relative since all the characters in OutRun 2 have soulless eyes and look like they're made of plastic)


    It's unusual to consciously un-censor a game though.
     
  5. Ted909

    Ted909

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    Originally a 4-cab, as can be seen at 3:20 in this other video from 2011 - looks like they were already having issues with the fourth car by that point too, so they must've just cannibalised it for spare parts instead of attempting a fix

    IIRC there's a better condition one in Bridlington, but to my knowledge most arcade operators have struggled with maintaining these things well, and also often botch LCD conversions which end up cutting off much of the screen.
     
  6. Ashura96

    Ashura96

    HEROIC VERSE Oldbie
    I've always been confused when people say the original Xbox version is based off of SP. The game handles and performs more like the original, but with two notable exceptions.
    - The Testarossa model is the one used in SP and not the original.
    - The original AC version you had to manually steer yourself out of drifts. SP changed it to be a lot more "on rails" and drifts would end automatically when the curve did. OG Xbox port does the latter behavior.
     
  7. Xilla

    Xilla

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    Ah, that would make sense. I've never seen a 3-cab setup anywhere else. Only ever the 2 and 4. Always found standard OutRun2SP cabs to be a rarity in themselves, most arcades I know that had it simply upgraded their standard OutRun2.

    [​IMG]

    "Oh cool! OutRun2! Oh, one of the screens isn't working, at least I can play on the oth....."

    [​IMG]

    ".......Oh".

    Here's something that happened when I was playing the other night, Heart Attack, AAA on every stage:

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    This might be a thing, though I can't actually verify that OutRun 2 and OutRun 2 SP had different models of Testarossa. It's... complicated.


    The original OutRun has a convertible version of the Testarossa, a car that did not exist. All but one official Testarossas have a roof, and despite demand, Ferrari refused to make a Testarossa convertible on the grounds that it was a technical nightmare.

    They only ever made one "Testarossa Spider", and it's silver and belonged to Italian car man Gianni Agnelli.

    [​IMG]

    It was also made in 1986, and Sega probably weren't aware of it. It has a completely different rear engine grill than any other model.

    Third parties would chop off the roof and sell their modified spiders later, but these were never official and most(?) seem dated after 1986.


    So the car in the original OutRun is a work of fiction. And I'm guessing when signing a proper contract with Ferrari, one of the parties was keen on using real cars. When OutRun 2 was first announced, it had Gianni Agnelli's spider model, in red, gracing the promotional screenshots.

    [​IMG]
    (assuming this isn't an Xbox screenshot - I haven't looked into this far enough yet)

    Chihiro emulation is in a very early state. From what I've read, the Xbox emulator Cxbx-Reloaded is the best and one of the few games it can emulate is... a prototype of OutRun 2.

    Proto OutRun 2 has the "old" Testarossa, and because the final doesn't work, I've no idea if it got changed. Apparently this old model also exists in one of the Xbox OutRun 2 demos as a rival - it even appears on the box, but not in-game.

    At some point they would have decided that, yeah, this might be the "official" design, but OutRun fans want the OutRun car, and so the model got switched.
     
  9. Xilla

    Xilla

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    There at least was a model kit of the "OutRun" Testarossa released by Monogram in the late 80s, which I have:

    [​IMG]

    I'll get around to building it someday!
     
  10. cartridgeculture

    cartridgeculture

    Wiki Contributor Member
    Thank you for this excellent research and for untangling all these releases! I’ll get this on Sega Retro soon.

    Ok the info’s up there. Related to those convertible versions, there were aftermarket companies that modified Testarossas with convertible tops. So even if they aren’t factory-original, there are definitely red convertible Testarossas driving around in the world ;)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 28, 2021