Quietly tucked away deep within the confines of Microsoft's E3 2004 booth, OutRun2, the long-awaited follow-up to Sega's classic arcade driving game, is being shown. Why would a game that many Sega fans have been pining for, for years upon years now, feature such minimal promotion at a show as big as E3? Simple: Apparently, the game hasn't been approved for the US yet. As it stands, the game has currently only been approved for a European release, though it sounds as though this will simply be a temporary setback and that OutRun2 will make a stateside release sometime in the relatively near future. With that, we opted to take the game for a test drive to see how well this new OutRun compared with its predecessors.

　　Remember how OutRun the arcade game played? It was pretty simple. You'd hop into your hot little Ferrari with your lady--a young blonde--and race through a series of courses trying to beat the clock and make it to the finish line. Along the way, you could take any one of a series of branching paths in the courses, and depending on which course you took (harder or easier), you could earn a higher score. OutRun2 looks pretty much the same--at least, that is, what was available in the demo looked the same.

　　We only had the opportunity to test out the game's arcade mode, which, while fun, seemed almost too close to the original game for comfort. The handling of your car feels roughly the same, in that it is still very arcadey and powerslide friendly. The driving is still quite fast, and the more speed you build up, the harder it becomes to take sharper turns without braking around them. Sliding out costs you time, and in this game's case, it causes your lady friend in the passenger seat to start pounding on you. If you are a serious fan of classic OutRun, the game seems like it ought to be right up your alley. If you want a little more meat in your driving games, the arcade mode, at least, isn't going to be your kind of thing.

　　Fortunately, it seems there is more to the game than just the arcade mode. The game will also contain a mission mode, as well as full Xbox Live play. Up to eight players will be able to compete on Xbox Live competitively, and you'll be able to upload your top scores and download ghost racers. OutRun2 will feature 16 cars total, including the F50, the Dino 246 GTS, the Testarossa, and the Enzo Ferrari.

　　OutRun2's visuals looked pretty good in the demo we tried. The cars all looked pretty polished; though no damage modeling of any kind was apparent. The game's various tracks all looked like heavily upgraded versions of the same kind of tracks you'd encounter in the original OutRun. OutRun2 also looks as though it will feature a fairly robust soundtrack of original tracks, though no mention was made as to whether or not custom soundtrack support would be available.

　　From our time with OutRun2, we have to confess that we weren't exactly blown away either from a nostalgic point of view or when comparing the game to more modern racers. Still, we have yet to check out the mission and online modes, and all told, the driving mechanics are still as solid as ever, even in this day and age. We'll reserve any judgment until later, when we've had more time to experience the game. We'll have more on OutRun2 as it develops.