Out Run

Out Run is the arcade racer that made driving games about the drive rather than the finish line. Yu Suzuki designed it around one idea - choose your own route - and wrapped it in a cabinet that moved under the player.

You drive a Ferrari Testarossa with a passenger, and at the end of every stage the road forks left or right into a different next stage. Five different endings, fifteen possible routes, and no lap counter: the whole run is a single point-to-point sprint against a clock with checkpoints that extend it. The handling model is deliberately loose, with a drift that you steer with the accelerator, and the traffic is placed to punish a line taken too optimistically. What it is really remembered for, though, is the presentation: three selectable radio tracks by Hiroshi Kawaguchi that start with a station tuning effect, and the deluxe sitdown cabinet that physically tilted and shuddered. It became one of Sega's best-selling arcade boards and the template for everything from Hang-On to the modern arcade racer.

• ▸Route forks with five endings and fifteen possible paths
• ▸Three selectable in-game radio tracks with a tuning intro
• ▸A drift model steered with the accelerator
• ▸The deluxe sitdown cabinet physically moved with the car