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For those who don’t like playing with themselves, multiplayer online and LAN support is provided. This is where things get a little strange. Maybe it was just the advance copy I received, but the back of the game box promises, “Highly competitive head-to-head and co-op multiplayer modes for up to eight players.” This is an exact quote from the back of the box, and everything about it is wrong. First, unless I was completely missing it (possible, but unlikely), there is no co-op gameplay in OutRun. I’m not even sure how it would be possible in this type of game to have co-op.



Second, you can’t play with up to eight people. The limit is six, no matter what. I have no idea where they got eight from. Anyone who buys this game for its eight player co-op gaming is going to be sorely disappointed. Nice job, SEGA. And the highly competitive part? Well, it’s hard to tell how competitive the online gaming is when cars are warping around on the track Nightcrawler from the opening scene of X-Men 2. One second, you’re in first place, the next second, three cars warp in front of you out of nowhere, and now you’re in last place. The online interface itself isn’t any better. The only way to chat with people is to first add them to your friends list, and even then, you can only chat one-on-one.

Once in race setup, there is no ‘ready’ button, so the host can start the race even if you haven’t yet selected your car, which happened to me more than once. What is pretty cool though is that if you have a broadband connection, you can sign-in without actually entering the online mode, which means the game will let you know anytime one of your friends sign online, even if you’re messing around in singleplayer.