Driving my favorite car with my nagging girlfriend at my side was a blast then, and it's still a blast now on my PSP.
Many years ago, I used to sit and play the original Outrun for hours on end on my PC. Driving my favorite car (a Ferrari Testarossa) with my nagging girlfriend at my side was a blast then, and it's still a blast now, this time on my PSP.
OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast contains all the courses used in OutRun 2 and OutRun 2 SP with added features such as new cars, new music tracks and new game modes. There is also an arcade port of OutRun 2 SP.
Granted, those features won't be available right away, you have to unlock them through game progression, so don't be expecting to jump righ in a Ferrari on your first race.
But lets look at the game modes first. Quick Outrun lets you jump right into the game and do a quick race. Arcade Mode is the complete circuit as you would play it on an arcade machine. The Single Player License Mode is where the fun is at, though. There's an OutRun Mode, a Coast 2 Coast Mode with plenty of challenges and in which you can only progress if you get an A rating, and the Heart Attack Mode in which you have to please your girlfriend by performing certain tasks (passing cars, drifting, avoiding UFOs, hitting ghosts).
I personally find Heart Attack hilarious. It's the girlfriend's actions and words, plus the smileys that dictate how she's enjoying herself that provide the comedic relief. She's a complete nut though, arms flailing and clapping when things go the way she likes it, insulting you or a step away from strangling you when you fail at doing what she asks.
Completing races awards you Outrun Miles, which you can use to unlock content in the showroom. This is an official Ferrari product after all, so there are 13 Ferraris to unlock, ranging from classic models such as the Testarossa and the F40, to other equally beautiful vehicles (F430, 250 GTO, F355 Spider and SuperAmerica). Other unlockables include a range of colors to paint your car with, more courses and even the tunes from the original OutRun arcade game. There is plenty of stuff to unlock, and it will take you quite a good amount of racing to get it all.
OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast also offers a very competitive multiplayer mode for up to six players via system link or wireless, and there's nothing like racing someone else instead of the AI in any racing game. Multiplayer mode lets you customize your races as well, such as disabling or enabling handicaps and collisions or restricting certain vehicles. Besides, you win points for racing and you can check your scores against those of people from all over the world.
Graphically, the game looks pretty good. There are about 30 different courses and all of them have colorful and bright sceneries depicting the Golden Gate Bridge, forests, deserts, beachfronts and what seems to be Las Vegas. I am particularly fond of the lighting and water effects, sunsets and lakes looked quite nice. Compared to what I've seen from the PS2 version, OutRun 2006 looks much better on the PSP.
Twenty years after its appearance on arcades everywhere, Outrun is still making the delights of fans of this arcade racer title, myself included. If you're looking for that nostalgic feeling or if you are looking to add a portable arcade racer to your handheld library, OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast is totally worth it.
Review text part of Grrlgamer.com. Full review and screenshots at:
http://www.grrlgamer.com/review.php?g=outrun2006