Release Date: 2006-04-25
Developer/Publisher: Sumo Digital / Sega
Genres: Racing
Platforms: XBOX
It's been about a year and a half since the OutRun series was remade for the Xbox in the form of OutRun2. That game was a pretty simple but fun arcade racer that effectively captured the spirit of the original arcade game. This time around, Sega has chosen to release OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast for the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable, in addition to the Xbox. The new game doesn't stray very far at all from the formula established by OutRun2, offering gameplay that largely feels the same as the previous game, but with a good deal more content to explore and unlock.
The OutRun games have always relied on the classic design principle of simple to learn, but hard to master. Coast 2 Coast is no different. As an arcade racer, playing this game is quite simple; you've got the accelerator and the brakes, and you steer your car with the left analog stick. If that's too simple for you, you can drive with a manual transmission, but those of you who prefer a more accessible experience will be able to pick automatic transmission. The game is pretty forgiving when it comes to bumping walls or grinding on guard rails or other cars because you can usually recover pretty quickly, but if you really mess up, your car will go flying up into the air before landing, causing you to lose a lot of speed and time. New to Coast 2 Coast is a "slipstream" feature that lets you draft behind cars, which in theory increases your speed without using more power. Drafting works somewhat strangely in this game, though, as the amount of space behind each car you can use for drafting seems too big.
It's been about a year and a half since the OutRun series was remade for the Xbox in the form of OutRun2. That game was a pretty simple but fun arcade racer that effectively captured the spirit of the original arcade game. This time around, Sega has chosen to release OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast for the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable, in addition to the Xbox. The new game doesn't stray very far at all from the formula established by OutRun2, offering gameplay that largely feels the same as the previous game, but with a good deal more content to explore and unlock. 
