Marmite game poll: Outrun

edited February 2013 in Games
Just a bit of fun really, but after rustyredline's "driving games" thread, and seeing how some people loved it and some people hated it, I thought it'd be interesting to do a poll and see exactly what everyone thinks of it (sorry if it's been done before).

Like I've said before, I personally think it's a great conversion. A little slow, perhaps, but it looks great compared to other 8-bit versions, and I spent a heck of a lot of time playing it back when it came out. So, mine's a "yes"!! :smile:
Post edited by GreenCard on
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Comments

  • edited January 2010
    I'm a fairly emphatic "no" on this one. For starters, I don't think the arcade game is that great; it's just elevated into a bit more of an experience by the fancy cab and graphics that were well above par for its time. Unfortunately, the Spectrum version lacks either virtue and the mediocre driving game at the core just doesn't stand up at all well.
  • edited January 2010
    Loved the arcade game, back in the day i kinda forced myself to like the Speccy version. But when you see games such as Super Hang-On or WEC Le Mans you realise that Out Run on the Speccy could have been far far better.

    Just slow as anything and a terrible conversion. I remember as a lad playing the Speccy version (and playing the soundtrack on the tape alongside it) which 'kinda' helped but lets be honest, Out Run on the Speccy was poor ! I just wish they had a different team behind it

    A lot of the Probe games i didnt like at all -Turrican, Tiger Road, Xevious (so boring) and Side Arms to name a few. Just poor graphics and gameplay. Shame
  • edited January 2010
    I spent ages playing this too...A yes from me!
  • edited January 2010
    deadpan666 wrote: »
    I spent ages playing this too...A yes from me!

    Well bloody vote then!! Hehehe. :wink:
  • edited January 2010
    I think Jim Douglas's review in Sinclair User January 1988 issue sums it up pretty nicely. Of course it would have been impossible to get close to the speed and style of the original, given the obvious limitations of the Spectrum. Even with its limitations, however, is a competent and enjoyable game, especially on the 128K models.
    As good as it could get, then, even if someone did manage to achieve a better result, like Software Studios's conversion of Super Hang-on. WEC Le Mans cannot be compared with Out Run, being much simpler in both style and gameplay.
    My answer is still, as it was 22 years ago, a resounding "yes", although I reckon it probably was the beginning of the slow downfall of Spectrum coin-op conversions, as coin-ops were becoming harder and harder to be remade on the Spectrum in an overall convincing way, especially when they relied - like in this case - on hardware feature that were simply not possible to mimic fully on the Spectrum.
    On a side note, Turrican's graphics can be described as anything but "poor" in my opinion, as well as its gameplay.
  • edited January 2010
    Be interesting to see how a different company could handle the conversion though. Yes Out Run is more complex than WEC Le Mans but a lot depends on the company doing the conversion.

    Look at Rambo and its bad gameplay (bad scrolling, soldiers who just follow you) compared to Commando.

    Would have liked to see another company do Out Run as i never thought much of Probe
  • edited January 2010
    psj3809 wrote: »
    Would have liked to see another company do Out Run as i never thought much of Probe

    Until you said that, I didn't know it was made by Probe. Looking at their list of titles, there are some great games in there: Rygar, Metro-Cross, Arkanoid, Turtles, Sim City etc.
  • edited January 2010
    Mind you, Probe Software was some of the most puzzling programmers team in Spectrum gaming history. Probably it was due to its being made of so many different individuals. They produced - at least in my opinion - some great games (Arkanoid, Golden Axe, Mr Heli, Savage, Solomon's Key, Turrican), some OK ones (the TMNT titles, Robocop III, Out Run, Smash TV, Slap Fight, Metro Cross, Rygar, Smash TV, Quartet), some that could have been much better although not being completely dire (Fernandez Must Die, Xevious, Slap Fight) and some that it's better to mention just for historical purposes, so to speak (Demon's Revenge, Italia '90, Tiger Road, Out Run Europa, Dynamic Duo, Pogostick Olympics).
  • edited January 2010
    Out Run has to be a no for me, I'm afraid. It's just too slow to be fun. The arcade Out Run is probably the best driving game of the decade (and inferior fairground rides like Wec Le Mans have long slipped into obscurity), but the spectrum game tried too hard and kept the same ratio of car size to scenery size, which made it even slower.
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  • edited January 2010
    Yes. Taking into account the ZX Spectrum limitations, it's a decent version.
  • edited January 2010
    GreenCard wrote: »
    Well bloody vote then!! Hehehe. :wink:

    hehe....I thought I bloody did, but apparently I can't even click a mouse button right today...
  • edited January 2010
    I always did like the Speccy conversion of Outrun. OK, so it's far from perfect and the multiload is crap, but I always did enjoy playing it. Its a game that i play alot these days too, esp on an emulator that doesn't pratt about with the loading aspect and jumps directly to each level without pausing.

    I remember reading the reviews of all the various home computer versions in a Christmas issue of C&VG and the Speccy version came through quite well as it contains all the elements of the arcade version (minus the speed of course). It has the fork roads and hills for example that were missing from many of the other home versions.

    it gets a hard time, but I always ejoyed it :D
  • edited January 2010
    Yeah, I thought Outrun was pretty good.

    The graphics did resemble the arcade version and had decent detail - far better than the other 8-bit versions.

    It was a bit slow but the levels seemed to be quite accurate too.

    Overall it was 'sort of good' - a bit like the conversion of Space Harrier I reckon.
  • edited January 2010
    It's not just a good game - It's a great game! (But only on a 128k machine) It may be slow in places (maily in the second stage) but it's also got some pretty high-speed moments too, plus well defined graphics, a broad road to drive around and fantastic music. It's the best 8bit version of the arcade game and when I first saw it, was totally blown away. I never thought it could be done on a Speccy. It was also the very first 128k game I ever saw. Yes (Yes, yes, yes!)

    The 48k version? Erm, it's okay, but, erm... no. well, yes, well, I dunno.
  • edited January 2010
    Just gave it another go, 128k version to see if my memory was bad. Arrgh ! Its sooo slow, i mean when you put your foot down you just get no speed. Considering this came out in 1987 its not great.

    Totally blown away by it ? Cant see how !

    You know i love the Speccy specially its arcade conversions but this was one big nightmare for me !
  • edited January 2010
    A no from me. The one thing that made the arcade game breathtaking - the speed - just wasn't there. Giga games should've done the conversion.
  • edited January 2010
    Oh, I just want to add that I now prefer the Speccy version to the Arcade original. That's how much I loike it. :)
  • edited January 2010
    Graz wrote: »
    The 48k version? Erm, it's okay, but, erm... no. well, yes, well, I dunno.

    That's how I used to play it and I still loved it. I've never played the 128k version... ever... not once!!

    *scuttles off to the archive to have a go*
  • edited January 2010
    Graz wrote: »
    Oh, I just want to add that I now prefer the Speccy version to the Arcade original. That's how much I loike it. :)

    Oh come on Graz ! You cant mean that !
  • fogfog
    edited January 2010
    Mind you, Probe Software was some of the most puzzling programmers team in Spectrum gaming history. Probably it was due to its being made of so many different individuals

    that obv. depends on the team.. when probe first started out on 64, I thought they were poor , but with Mark Kelly + Steve Crow doing the c64 versions, they were always good.

    I'm guessing it's the same for speccy.. I was looking at what they produced

    http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekpub.cgi?regexp=^Probe+Software+Ltd$&loadpics=1

    BUT remember they were dev's.. the publishers could turn around and say NO , I want it X Y and Z way.. and there are a few here who will confirm about deadlines for release etc. I see so many comments from the original game coders on Lemon64 saying "well I was forced / told to code it this way" (in some cases that maybe a cop out)
  • edited January 2010
    Yep its interesting to read those stories, like the guy who coded Nemesis on the Speccy, didnt have much time and had to get it done or big penalties.

    Shame though as 'some' games could have been far much better with time (or a different team behind it). Like i say if the guys who did Commando did Rambo that game could have been brilliant.

    If the team behind Flying Shark did 1942 instead that could have been so much better instead of that 'put put' type gun you had !
  • edited January 2010
    psj3809 wrote: »
    Oh come on Graz ! You cant mean that !

    S'true. Yeah, I kinda get a bit bored playing the Mame one, tho it's good for a quickie, but the Speccy one keeps my attention longer (pobably cuz I'm on the road for longer! :D :D )
  • edited January 2010
    At Ocean you got penanlised for being late (bonus wise - never happen to me, I just said "yeah - it's finished - go with it", but that's because I was dead clever!).

    The guy doing "Yie Ha Kung Fu" (sic?) got so far behind that he had to go the accountant each day and sign for his dinner money!

    There is always loads of politics and crap going on behind the scenes that people don't see - they just see the finished product and not the heart-breaking turmoil that plonked the crap into their hands.

    Anyway - I had to rip the game off for a sub-game in a GBA title and it was a pain in the arse to program.
  • edited January 2010
    I wonder if Outrun would have been faster if the game contained the car as a sticker that you placed on the TV monitor. It would also discourage piracy. Red car or no car. Hmmmmmm....
  • edited January 2010
    Not sure why Arkanoid is credited to Probe, it was done in-house at Ocean by Mike Lamb.
  • edited January 2010
    I wonder if Outrun would have been faster if the game contained the car as a sticker that you placed on the TV monitor. It would also discourage piracy. Red car or no car. Hmmmmmm....
    No, the problem there is that the Ferrari horse logo wouldn't mirror-flip whenever you turned left...

    They could have drawn everything with outline vectors, like Space Harrier on the Amstrad. Haha. That version cracks me up every time.
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  • edited January 2010
    On Speccy: Chase HQ >>> Outrun. That's all.
  • edited January 2010
    It's a 'Yes' from me (in true X factor style). Not the best racing game ever, but I reckon it's good.

    Seems a bit sluggish, but I always thought the Ferrari was quite easy to control. Also never seem to go flying off the track right from the start or on the bends like some other racing games, which gives it a few extra playability points for me.
  • edited February 2013
    useless
  • SKRSKR
    edited February 2013
    Sorry, NO from me too....

    SLOOOOOOOW, too monochromatic , and the pip-pip-pip of the tyres was almost as annoying as that pink fire breathing thingy in "Trap Door"
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