Why? Because two decades on, and with the franchise now nestling in the hands of developer Sumo Digital, Coast 2 Coast has forgotten none of the fundamental qualities that made the mid-'80s OutRun such a gem. The entire game may have a few additional frills now, in the form of extra minigames, modes and challenges, but the main game, the centrepiece of the title, remains the same. You're in a Ferrari, and are set the task of driving through five of fifteen themed stages. You're trying to beat the clock at the top of the screen that's constantly counting down. Each stage lasts no more than three minutes, and at the end of each you can choose two directions: left for a harder stage, right for an easier ride. And that's it, in all its simple and undiluted glory. No alarms and no surprises.
Everywhere you look, OutRun tradition is rigidly upheld in Coast 2 Coast. There's the cars themselves of course, with 24 gleaming, immaculate Ferraris available for unlocking from the start. Whilst these aren't quite in the same league visually as the cars in the latest Gran Turismo, they're lovingly modelled nonetheless, and come with handling that's diverse enough across the range to justify the eager hoarding of OutRun miles, a currency which can be used to purchase new cars, as well as racing stages, car colours and background music (happily, quitting or failing in a race still means you get points). There's the stages also, bursting with colour and attention to detail and boasting more variety than any other racing game we can recall. You'll race by neon-lit cities, past GI-GAN-TIC waterfalls and through sun-kissed tulip fields dotted with windmills that seem to stretch for miles. Truly, it's a sightseeing experience in its own right.
Palm Beach, the opening stage and a lovely bit of eye-candy to boot.
And, just as the game is a treat for the eyes (note for those with the required technology, including the swines who recently nabbed my lovely LCD panel: it looks particularly slick in progressive scan mode), the sound is yet another triumph for Sumo Digital. Admittedly, it's hard to cock up the soundtrack for an OutRun game if you're borrowing tunes from the original, which featured a stellar score. But pleasingly, and in another respectful nod to the roots of the series, Sumo has included at least two or three versions of each song, with the original tracks thrown in alongside the modern, remixed versions. The effects are uniformly superb as well, from the screeching tyres to the effect you hear when you power past an opposing Ferrari, a sound we seriously don't think we'd ever get sick of hearing.
However, what's even more impressive from a visual and aural standpoint is how little has been sacrificed for the versions on the supposedly weaker consoles. We say "supposedly" because, while the Xbox version is more or less identical to the PlayStation 2 version, how they managed the PSP version is beyond us. OK, it doesn't boast as smooth a frame-rate as the home console versions, but it's still technically brilliant when you consider how close it is to perfectly emulating them and just how much detail has been squeezed in. For the record, the PS2 and PSP versions also feature some superb link-up features, not least the ability to transfer your saves from one version to the other, allowing you to take the experience with you on the road. If we had to recommend one version over the others, the slightly slicker online component of the Xbox version would perhaps give it the edge in our eyes.
The handling on all three versions is as gloriously silly as ever, but a heap of fun and yet another ingredient lifted from the original game. For the four of you who've yet to play an OutRun title, how well you handle your Ferrari predominantly comes down to how adeptly you can pull off the kind of colossal powerslides that make Ridge Racer look subtle. That makes Coast 2 Coast sound overly arcadey and simplistic, but don't be fooled: like its predecessors, OutRun 2006 falls firmly in the "easy to pick up, a complete bastard to master" category, and if you don't believe us then you're welcome to go online and get your backside firmly whupped by some of the frighteningly good drivers who play there. Like we did. The handling is a tad more forgiving than in last year's OutRun 2 (rebounding off the barriers is now more likely to rescue a badly taken corner), but this doesn't stop it from being any more absorbing.
This corner in Casino Town demands the longest powerslide in video game history. Seriously.
It's not even like a lack of longevity is a serious issue, despite being a common arcade racer affliction. This is partly thanks to the inclusion of the Flagman and Heart Attack modes, essentially a long series of challenges that will see you streamlining your opponents as much as possible, powersliding for as long as possible, and, uh, just racing (ironically enough, perhaps the least satisfying). There's also "Knockout", our favourite game and a wonderfully sweaty-palmed experience which sees the driver in last place periodically eliminated as the race progresses.
Aside from these extra niceties, the lifespan is massively boosted by one of the most brilliantly rewarding and compulsive time trial modes we've ever seen. We put it down to the length of the stages - they're short enough to encourage that "one-more-go" feeling, yet long enough to ensure you can always take one corner just a little better, slicing a split second or ten off your best time. We shudder to think how much time we've invested in knocking our Coniferous Forest time down by one and a half seconds.
It's not a flawless overall package. The earlier Flagman and Heart Attack challenges are a little on the easy side, to the point where completing them can occasionally feel slightly like a chore. And early on, you'll find yourself flying past the AI-controlled Ferraris with some ease. This is particularly noticeable on straights, where your opponent's Ferraris seem to morph in to Robin Reliants. But these are minor blotches on an otherwise excellent report card. In truth, OutRun 2006 is not only the best racing game of this year so far by some distance, but a shot in the arm for a racing genre that's rapidly beginning to take itself far too seriously. It's the finest home console racer since Burnout 3: Takedown, and offers the best time trial experience since Mario Kart DS, and if those aren't a pair of strong recommendations, we don't know what is. Indeed, we're playing it now, zipping through Ghost Forest to the tune of "Life Was A Bore". But it needn't be. The cure? Buy OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast.
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