Racing games have got to be something pretty special to keep up with the competition on any system - PSP included. There's Burnout Legends, Wipeout, and the overrated but still good, Ridge Racer which are the top dogs. Others have tried to compete but have ultimately scampered away whimpering, with their tails between their legs - The Need For Speed games are dire, TOCA Race Driver 2 was a little too unforgiving… basically they just can't compete.
Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast is another one to add to the list of top racers. It has the style of Ridge Racer with it's over the top drifting around corners, and the variation of Burnout Legends with it's several play modes and loads of traffic to avoid. The problem I found with Ridge Racer was it's monotonous racing which gradually got duller and duller. Outrun, however, throws in a decent amount of traffic to avoid and goals to achieve other than just finishing first. Burnout had plenty of traffic to avoid and goals to reach and Outruns goals are almost as good. Whilst you should do your best to avoid crashing they do still keep you interested and prevent the game becoming tedious. There are game modes aplenty, although some do feel similar to others and your not always quite sure what the difference is between some of them. They do keep you busy though and again, prevent the dreaded MRS, (Monotonous Racing Syndrome), from setting in.
The graphics are quite impressive and run smoothly. It may not look quite as nice as Ridge Racer but looks alone do not make a great game. It does still look great though. Certain sections see you driving over the crest of a hill to be presented with a view that looks superb with rolling hills and the winding route ahead twisting amongst them. It really does look stunning at various points of the race.
It's a shame that the same can't be said about the sound. The engine noises and whooshes as you pass everything else on the road are good enough. However, the music is truly awful. I know Outrun first came out in the eighties but there was absolutely no need at all to solely rely on cheesy music from the decade that style forgot. I ended up turning the music volume down so that it was barely audible. Ridge Racer's music wasn't bad but wasn't particularly good either, and Burnout's tunes were excellent if you like that style but probably rubbish if you don't. It seems as though only Wipeout has got it right so far in the music department. Why can't developers integrate the option to use your own music, as is the case in Toca 2 and GTA-Liberty City Stories. The PSP has the ability to do it so why not use it?
Bonus's can be bought using Outrun Miles which are accumulated no matter what race you take part in. These include new colours for your car, new cars, new tracks, new tunes (I haven't bought any of them yet), and new goals to achieve. There's plenty to buy and you can buy them in any order, so you are not limited to getting a new car when the game says you can get one.
On-line racing is a welcome addition. As well as being able to play against friends sat a few metres away you can also play against complete strangers thousands of miles away. Various settings allow you to choose what sort of race you want be be in. However, when I tried it there was a certain amount of confusion as to what position I was in the race and cars occasionally vanished only to reappear a few seconds later. Also, a couple of races ended when I hit an invisible brick wall separating stages and stopping me going any further. When it works it's good fun but on-line racing is not without its glitches.
And last of all… lets face it… this is the closest that most of us are going to get to driving a Ferrari of any sort, let alone having a choice of 13 of the things.
Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast is really a fun game that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't try to be better than anything else on the market. It's just great fun. Try it.
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