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OutRun 2: Coast 2 Coast - IMO the best arcade racing game ever to grace consoles...but I bet you might disagree lol

VGEsoterica

Member
The racing genre is one of the most well represented genres on any home console you can name. For as long as hardware manufacturers have been giving us gaming consoles developers have been giving us racing games. It's basically one of the original gaming genre's and the number of entries in said genre is STAGGERINGLY huge.

But for me one game stands above every other "arcade racing" game ever made and that is OutRun 2. Sure its a very fractured release with the Xbox and PS2 versions having different features, which ALSO have different features than the arcade version...which ALSO has a second version in arcades...which ALSO has a now delisted release....wow OutRun 2 really is confusing lol

but even with all these variants no arcade racing game has ever given me the sense of speed, control and just straight up joy that OutRun 2 does. An amazing handling and physics an engine paired with course design perfection, absolutely gorgeous graphics for the time and a killer soundtrack...there genuinely is nothing I could point to and say "oh this could have been improved".

Plus throw in the giant arcade cabinet where you sat in what amounted to half an actual car...and its just chefs kiss levels of good.

But GAF...considering how DEEP the arcade racing genre is...what is your favorite and why? Id love to hear...maybe I haven't played some and will find something new. For me a close second would be the original Thrill Drive, which sadly never got a home port

(oh and you can 100% say Gran Turismo but I am talking "arcade" feeling games and not stuff on the sim side)

 

skybaby

Member
A perfect game if there was ever one. Classic sequel done right.
Lighting in a bottle with sega, sumo digital and ferrari working together flawlessly.
 

Sp3eD

0G M3mbeR
Pretty sure I still have my Xbox copies of 2 and 2 SP. I never played the arcade version, but the Xbox kept me playing for a long time. One of the few games I kept and never sold from that gen.
 

Stuart360

Member
Amazing game but Ridge Racer on PS1 will always be my fave arcade racing conversion. Endless nights playing basically one track, crazy but oh so good.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Glad I picked this up on steam before it was delisted. It really is a perfect outrun game.
 

Rayderism

Member
I always thought it was ridiculous that the "excuse" for not having new Outrun games is that they no longer have the Ferrari license. It doesn't have to be a Ferrari to be Outrun, it could be a generic car (like how so many other games do it), as long as the game itself plays like Outrun, people would eat it up. Sure, the Ferrari was an iconic part of Outrun, but does that REALLY matter to the gameplay? I don't think so. So just remaster the damn game with a different graphic for the car, why is that so hard? It's not like it's a sim racer or anything.....the graphic representation for the car could be a friggin' Pinto for all I care.
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
On the Xbox it was one of the games I played regularly. Haven't played it in a while, need to find a new way to play it ASAP. Wait, I wonder if I can just find it in my library..
 
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Quasicat

Member
Step Brothers Ryan GIF
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
but even with all these variants no arcade racing game has ever given me the sense of speed, control and just straight up joy that OutRun 2 does.
Burnout 3 surpasses it in that aspect, that game can feel like F-Zero at times with how fast you can blaze through the tracks. With all the stuff on screen being rendered it's an impressive showcase for the PS2 and XBox even in 2004

Also, why didn't you mention outrunners? The insane amounts of scaling and color in the environments make that game feel very hectic

 
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Sethbacca

Member
Actually, are we limiting this to car racers? Because there was a period of time where I was straight up obsessed with Wave Race. I might need to change my vote.
 
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Roxkis_ii

Member
I really like Outrun, that's why I'm a big fan of Horizon Chase. (Been replaying it recently)

Also, if it's any games that deserves a Unreal engine 5 remake, Outrun would be my pick too.
 

Shut0wen

Member
I whole heartly agree with OP with burnout revenge being the 2nd greatest racing game of all time, i hate the fact my chipped ps2 is broken and cant play coast 2 coast anynore but the game was fillee with so many gamemodes that its the ulimate OG racing game of all time, sumo digitals greatest game, segas greatest game holy fuck i need to play the game now so i can cooooooom so hard
 
Early 2000's drift racers are my favorite type of racing game. I've never played this but it doesn't look as good as Burnout 3 or the Ridge Racers. Maybe the guy playing just isn't doing it justice
 

SpiceRacz

Member
You'll get no argument from me. I bought that game day one on Xbox. What's crazy, is OutRun 2 was a $30 game at release if I remember right. Basically treated like a mid tier budget title.

Sega were experts at racing games though. Daytona USA and Super Hang On would be among my favorite as well.
 

ViperZombie

Neo Member
One of my favourite arcade racers, although to be honest I love most of Sega's arcade racing games. I remember the OG Xbox version had the scud race levels as unlockable bonus stages.
 

Miles708

Member
The racing genre is one of the most well represented genres on any home console you can name. For as long as hardware manufacturers have been giving us gaming consoles developers have been giving us racing games. It's basically one of the original gaming genre's and the number of entries in said genre is STAGGERINGLY huge.

But for me one game stands above every other "arcade racing" game ever made and that is OutRun 2. Sure its a very fractured release with the Xbox and PS2 versions having different features, which ALSO have different features than the arcade version...which ALSO has a second version in arcades...which ALSO has a now delisted release....wow OutRun 2 really is confusing lol

but even with all these variants no arcade racing game has ever given me the sense of speed, control and just straight up joy that OutRun 2 does. An amazing handling and physics an engine paired with course design perfection, absolutely gorgeous graphics for the time and a killer soundtrack...there genuinely is nothing I could point to and say "oh this could have been improved".

Plus throw in the giant arcade cabinet where you sat in what amounted to half an actual car...and its just chefs kiss levels of good.

But GAF...considering how DEEP the arcade racing genre is...what is your favorite and why? Id love to hear...maybe I haven't played some and will find something new. For me a close second would be the original Thrill Drive, which sadly never got a home port

(oh and you can 100% say Gran Turismo but I am talking "arcade" feeling games and not stuff on the sim side)



I absolutely love Outrun 2 and Coast 2 Coast, i think it's miraculous how they understood the formula of the first one and made it 3D without losing anything of its magic, but actually adding to it with that magical drift mechanic.

I love it so much that I've tried to make MY outrun 2 in Dreams!



This is the second of 2 stages i've created.

I love OutRun so much.
 

Frwrd

Member
This gem simply reminds me how bad I need another Tokyo XTreme Racer with modern graphics/physics.
It’d close the casket on NFS at last.
 

Naked Lunch

Member
Quite possibly the best game ever made. Outrun 2 is simply timless perfection.

The Xbox version of the original looks the best and is exclusive to the console - and it has tracks from Daytona 2 and Scud Race.
Coast 2 Coast was a downgrade visually but it has more content. C2C also does some weird things to the gameplay tho, like minor car passing changes which were for the worst in my opinion.

The PS2 version of Coast 2 Coast simply doesnt compare to the Xbox version - a downgrade in every way. If its all you can access then fine, but I prefer the real deal.
 
Been playing this on the Steam Deck, Sega really needs to just make a modern version even if they don't have the car licence anymore just remove the car badge ggez.
 
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