Sega Out Run arcade racing game

In 2003 I added a video arcade game to my pinball collection.
Not that I suddenly started collecting these now (I really don't have room for them) but I wanted something different to add to the collection. And when I had the opportunity to buy an Outrun arcade machine (upright deluxe), I couldn't resist. Compared to used pinball machines, the price of old video arcade games is ridiculous low, and there's nothing better to impress neighbourhood kids who just bought a Game Boy Advance with a real arcade game that costs about the same :-)

My game certainly isn't in collectors condition.. I knew that, and don't mind, I'm not going to collect vids.. Cabinet decals are scratched, have parts peeled off and even cut out.. there are sigarette burn marks, a large plastic glued where the nice map sticker should be to cover holes, and some minor monitor burn in.

But who cares ? The game plays great, it's Out Run !!

Out Run.. Outrun.. sigh...
I admit, I bought this game pure for it's nostalgia.

This is THE game I remember from the arcades. OK, big names from that time are also Afterburner and Operation Wolf, but I always like driving games most.
OK now I'm being nostalgic, the earliest race game I remember playing was an old game named Crash (anyone in Belgium who has one for sale ??), and of course I also spend a lot of time on Road Blasters..
But still, Outrun is THE classic game from the 80ies. A Ferrari Testa Rossa convertible (can anyone explain btw why the horse logo flips left/right when the car turns ??), great midi music, ... you don't get more 80ies like that ! (all we need is Miami Vice)

I've played the game in the arcades, I've played it an awful lot on my Commodore 64, and when I later bought an Amiga I also played it a lot.. (probably.. can't really remember really, I remember playing a lot of games..) (I also remember playing Power Drift a lot on C=64, wouldn't mind owning that arcade also...)

It's weird how some of these old arcade games are that good. Graphics were suberb for their time, now they look very primitive compared to what an XBox 360 or Playstation 3 can do, but most important is gameplay. 15 to 20 years later these games are still great. It plays good, feels good, is very challenging, ...

I'm not the only one who loves the game, you'll find more information about the game at this site: Outrun.org

Game Play

Ok for those who absolutely have no idea what this game is about: it's about racing !
You race against time and have to finish a section to receive additional time. Crash a few times in the beginning and on later levels you will run out of time. At the end of each section you can choose to go left or right and thus follow different paths towards 5 final sections.

Tech tips

The steering wheel didn't shake when I bought the machine, but I traced this back to a broken fuse.. easy fix :-) Because my wife likes the game but doesn't like the shaking, I've added a switch so we can turn the shaker motor off.

If the machine is set to free play (can be set using dip switches on the game pcb) or it still has credits on it, the machine will start a game after 45 seconds.

Update: after having some technical problems with it I've sold this great game :-(