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"Splash Wave, Musical Sound Shower, or Passing Breeze?"

Almost 13 years later, and I still wish I owned a Ferrari.  I was 4 years old when I saw my first Outrun cabinet.  Outrun was out for a couple of years, I know, but the whole idea of racing a car along a series of highways at breakneck speeds, dodging traffic with reckless abandon, all the while being told off by your co-pilot girlfriend for crashing, at trying to get to the checkpoints before time ran out.  It was a satisfying experience to play it.  You even got to choose your music before you raced.  It was what fun was to me, back in the day.

Outrun 2 came out for Xbox, but was first on an OXM demo disc, and let's just say I played that demo to death.  Bought the full game later, and played it like crazy too.  But it sort of got forgotten when the big name games, like Halo 2 and Forza came out.  An arcade game wasn't wanted in the times of FPS or simulation racers, certainly when Outrun 2 only had 8 cars to choose from.  My love for Outrun faded, and memories went to the wayside like a passing breeze.

Yesterday, Outrun Online Arcade came out, and my childhood memories returned with a passion.  At 800 Microsoft Points, owning a home copy of Outrun2SP is a steal.  While the game is missing a few features - like the old 1986 chiptunes, or the Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast variants and the F430 and Superamerica models - the core game is still awesome.  You drive your choice of Ferrari along the highway at speeds in excess of 300 Km/H, wind whipping through your hair (or not...), drifting around hairpins with the slam of the brake pedal or gear shifter.  There's plenty of enthusiasts for the SUMO Digital racer, mainly because it's so technical.  There's very few shortcuts, it's all skill and technique to play the game.

The modes are pretty simple to choose from.  You have your classic Outrun mode, which requires nimble reflexes to hit your apexes while dodging the traffic.  You score in Outrun mode depending on how well you maintained a high speed, passed traffic, and strategically placed Rival cars.  The next mode is Heart Attack mode.  Your girlfriend decides she wants certain requests during your drive, and now, it becomes challenge oriented.  Speed isn't generally the name of the game in Heart Attack mode, but you do still need to get to the goal, so hit your mark, complete her requests, and you'll make it through with a rating from AAA to D (and hopefully it's not D).  Time Attack is next, which lets you race against ghost cars along the Outrun paths.  In Time Attack, you have the option of using a harder to control Tuned version of the car you choose, which has a top speed, without slipstream of course, of 300 Km/h.  Driving the Tuned cars are important, because most online racers use them, and that means the entire field in the race uses them, so get used to Time Attack mode.  The last mode is 15-course Outrun.  Basically it runs a full drive of every section in Outrun 2SP.  It's the Ironman's way to play, with some time attack runs falling below 14 minutes as of the posting of this review.

(Ponza's Pro-tip for Outrun Mode: Draft behind a Rival for a bit, getting a Slipstream bonus.  Not only does that increase your score even more, but when you pass the Rival car, if you don't touch them, you get 50000 points instead of 25000.  If you do touch them, you only get 12500 points.)

Online, there's a few bugs here and there, but nothing game-breaking.  The lack of the 1986 chiptunes, and the new tune remixes, definitely doesn't help matters.  Listening to your own music means you'll have to turn down the in-game music's volume setting all the way, which can be problematic if you didn't already know that.  The controller options use configurations, and won't let you make up your own style, but personally, I feel the default Config A, or even Config H is the best for anyone wanting to become good at the game.  But, all the while, keep in mind that this is $10 US.  I mean, you could blow how many quarters at the arcades playing this sweet game?  Easily, I could see me blowing $10 in a single day.  It's a fantastic game to just sit down and play.  Lack of single system multiplayer really doesn't hurt it, because you're just going to play Time Attack instead.  Only takes 5 minutes of your time to get through a run, unless you suck and run out of time.

In short, Outrun Online Arcade is well worth the money for the quality and ease of playing.  The enthusiasts love this game, like they do other arcade racers, like Daytona USA 1 and 2, or Hang-On, or VirtuaRacing... Do I really need to go on?  I give the Outrun Online Arcade a Buy Rating, for anyone who loves bargain basement racing games.  Have fun getting those achievements/trophies!