Mashed Outrun 2

Bought 05/10/04

Those of you younger than 15 will not probably remember the excitement caused by a new arcade racing game in the early eighties, well why would you, you weren't even born... That said you may have seen it in tatty arcades at the seaside/holiday camps. At the time the speed and the music blew everyone away, well everyone except me.. I just didn't get it....
In the mid eighties there were plenty of Outrun games on the platforms of the day, my favorite being the Spectrum version..
Years later and here we are again, SEGA blazoned on the cover, surely it can't be that bad, it was a toss up between this and Colin McRae Rally 5....

Arcade mode and the maze track of the original, left is an harder route, right slightly easier..

Mission modes.. You can just drive and your girlfriend comments on your skill, or lack of it, beating you over the head if you fail to impress. Another girlfriend mode is she asks you to do stuff (as in overtake cars or drift) and again rates your performance..

XBOX Live, I am unable to use this feature, though I doubt it can save the game..

It's quite a fast arcade game, though you don't seem to get the benefit of the speed that the speedo shows.. The controls are ok, nothing special, drifting seems quite unrealistic, then again it isn't a simulator! The music is the same as the old arcade version, only using more of the XBOX powerful sound card.
There's nothing wrong with this game, but nothing that grabs the player, I was bored within 5 minutes and will probably never play it again. If you were a fan of the original, you may well like it, or if you like easy, inane arcade racing games you will prob like it too... But for me there is no challenge, or interest..

SnOrKs' rating : its not that hot

hits since 4th July 2001 (Only 1 hit per computer in a 24 hour cycle)