Turbo Outrun review - Sega Megadrive

After the sad racing debacle that was called Outrun, I was looking forward to Turbo Outrun, hoping that Sega had learned from the many errors made in the original version and made this sequel a true representation of the classic arcade race game. I came away with my hopes horribly dashed. Apart from the fact it's harder than Outrun (not difficult to improve upon since even a complete doze could finish it on their first go), every aspect of Turbo Outrun is worse than its predecessor. Hopeless, mega-jerky 3D graphics, juddery scrolling, dreadful tunes, naff sound effects and badly drawn sprites make for a sad first impression, and hopeless car handling, poor playability and the fact that all five levels seem to be exactly the same make those first impressions last. And if that's not enough, the shope of the tracks, background graphics and other car sprites bear no resemblance whatsoever to their arcade counterparts - this is Turbo Outrun in name only. If you're after racing excitement, check out Super Hang-On, Super Monaco GP or Road Rash - or alternatively wait for Super Monaco GP II. Whatever you choose, it'll be miles superior to this clapped out Robin Reliant of a game.

The original Outrun was a real disappointment - I mean, it had the graphics and sounds of the real thing, but the gameplay was sadly lacking. With Turbo Outrun, the programmers had an opportunity to put things straight. Unfortunately, they've just flushed that chance straight down the toilet with this completely inept driving game. The visuals are just pathetic with jerky, unconvincing movement and malformed scenery. The car sprites look like misshapen, twisted renditions of the coin-op's. The sound is truly tragic, boasting discordant, jarring effects and cacophonous, grating music. All could be forgiven if Turbo Outrun played well but unfortunately, the game has many flaws. Perhaps the most glaring one is that the Ferrari handles nothing like the coin-op equivalent and you're often sent spinning off the wrong because of the cack-handed collision detection. The difficulty levels are so unbalanced with some levels being simple to complete others seemingly impossible. I always thought that the point of coin-op conversions was to bring the arcade game to the smaller screen - and in this respect Turbo Outrun is a complete failure. Go for Road Rash and Super Monaco GP and put all Turbo Outrun-related thoughts out of your mind.