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OUT RUN EUROPA
review | MASTER SYSTEM
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Publisher: U.S. Gold.
Developer: Probe Software. Released: 1992. Genre: Racing. Other versions: GG; AMI; C64; ST; SPC; CPC. Posted 16th July 2025. By Tom Clare © 2025 |
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Given the sheer volume of nostalgia that tends to orbit SEGA’s iconic arcade racer Out Run, it’s something of a surprise that the six entries between the 1986 original and its 3D rebirth in 2003 have been, to varying degrees of extremity, overlooked. Releases such as Out Run Europa have barely generated so much as a murmur from the wider gaming community. A closer look explains why. Firstly, it’s not the same kind of experience, more like Chase H.Q. than Out Run. Secondly, and more significantly, it wasn’t very good.
The premise behind Europa is an undeniably alluring one. You play as Simeon Kurtz, a secret agent who’s not only had his Ferrari F40 pinched, but a load of classified dossiers too. To prevent his bad day from turning into a catastrophe, the player must chase the perpetrators, seemingly using any means (and indeed, any means of transport) necessary, to retrieve them. Take the continental road trip idea of the original, plonk the action in distinct European cities such as London, Paris and Berlin, add a dash of James Bond action, and a bunch of vehicles including speedboats, sports cars and motorbikes. It sounds amazing, what could possibly go wrong?
Despite a great premise, Europa lacks a key element: fun
Quite a bit, as it turns out. SEGA once again chose to outsource development, and despite some reasonable showings on 16-bit home computers, passed over the Mega Drive in favour of their 8-bit systems. What Master System owners got was a curiously retrograde experience, too crude and rickety to be fun. Many areas see it lagging far behind the (by now ancient) Hang-On and the original Out Run on Master System, as a number of issues hamper its potential.
The roads scroll reasonably quickly, generating a reasonable sense of speed, whilst the handling model proves simplistic but responsive enough. The idea of swapping between different vehicles is really cool. Things begin on a motorbike, which is an unusual approach, and it handles a little differently to the cars, which is nice. A solid attempt has been made to help distinguish the locations featured, with London populated by houses, tunnels and a nice Dover cliffs section before crossing the channel. Paris sees a night-time section set against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. These are interspersed with water levels that see the player dodging debris and helicopter fire, though sadly, they’re a lot less exciting than they sound. There are a few alternative routes, giving players the choice of a shorter journey if you’re worrying about the clock, or a longer one with more power-ups, but these don’t offer the scenic changes of the original.
The roads scroll reasonably quickly, generating a reasonable sense of speed, whilst the handling model proves simplistic but responsive enough. The idea of swapping between different vehicles is really cool. Things begin on a motorbike, which is an unusual approach, and it handles a little differently to the cars, which is nice. A solid attempt has been made to help distinguish the locations featured, with London populated by houses, tunnels and a nice Dover cliffs section before crossing the channel. Paris sees a night-time section set against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. These are interspersed with water levels that see the player dodging debris and helicopter fire, though sadly, they’re a lot less exciting than they sound. There are a few alternative routes, giving players the choice of a shorter journey if you’re worrying about the clock, or a longer one with more power-ups, but these don’t offer the scenic changes of the original.
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Unfortunately, in trying to emulate the larger sprites of the 16-bit versions, we’re subjected to some jarring scaling, as large but ugly, basic-looking buildings judder past, and traffic wobbles into view so jerkily, it’s difficult to know what side of the road they’re on until they’re too late to avoid, an issue further compounded by really poor collision detection. The graphics are poor, with gaudy colour schemes and some sections, where trees appear to consist of square blocks of pixels, look appalling. There’s an irritating tendency for crucial fuel, shield and ammo power-ups to pop-in about half a second before you pass them, nearly always mid-corner, when there isn’t time to alter your line to collect them.
There’s a lazy feel to Europa’s design, with accelerate and brake mapped to the D-Pad, giving it a strange, ill-suited joystick config during a time when nearly every racer was using the face buttons. It’s as if the controls were lifted directly from the computer versions. This could easily have been rectified through an alternative control configuration. However, there’s no options menu to speak of: no difficulty levels, no BGM player. The presentation as a whole is underwhelming, though there are one or two bright spots, namely the audio. The music is suitably urgent, and the mission briefing screens carry a certain spy movie charm. Though you won’t welcome seeing it, the arrest screen is rather striking too.
There’s a lazy feel to Europa’s design, with accelerate and brake mapped to the D-Pad, giving it a strange, ill-suited joystick config during a time when nearly every racer was using the face buttons. It’s as if the controls were lifted directly from the computer versions. This could easily have been rectified through an alternative control configuration. However, there’s no options menu to speak of: no difficulty levels, no BGM player. The presentation as a whole is underwhelming, though there are one or two bright spots, namely the audio. The music is suitably urgent, and the mission briefing screens carry a certain spy movie charm. Though you won’t welcome seeing it, the arrest screen is rather striking too.
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Some locations appear sparse, whilst others look plain ugly. Europa isn't one of the Master System's better-looking games
Whilst the time limits are fairly achievable, you’ll typically find your races being ended either by cops pulling you over (running out of turbos means you’ll have a job passing them), or running out of shields as a never-ending sequence of gang vehicles ram you. The weapons represent one of Out Run Europa’s most disappointing aspects, many of which feel utterly useless. You can throw punches from your motorbike, in a somewhat feeble (but at least semi-effective) nod to Road Rash, whilst the grenade launcher in the water sections is a very low percentage option, and I’ve never been able to illicit any useful reaction from the pistol that can be fired from your Porsche. What could have been a dynamic addition to the formula is embarrassingly limp in its execution.
Simplistic physics allow for little driving input: there aren’t any sharp corners and you’d have to make a big error to ever encounter the roadsides. It doesn’t become any more enjoyable with additional plays, because its gameplay is too shallow. Almost the entirety of the game’s challenge is rooted in avoiding vehicles and getting lucky enough with power-ups to escape the attentions of the police. The Master System version of Europa could have been something special, but for fans of the 1986 arcade game, this will feel like an Out Run in name only.
Simplistic physics allow for little driving input: there aren’t any sharp corners and you’d have to make a big error to ever encounter the roadsides. It doesn’t become any more enjoyable with additional plays, because its gameplay is too shallow. Almost the entirety of the game’s challenge is rooted in avoiding vehicles and getting lucky enough with power-ups to escape the attentions of the police. The Master System version of Europa could have been something special, but for fans of the 1986 arcade game, this will feel like an Out Run in name only.
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VERDICT"Underwhelming visuals, boring combat and shallow driving serve to cut short a road trip racer that, in theory at least, had bags of potential. A big disappointment." OVERALL: 3/10 |
2020s RACING GAMES INSPIRED BY OUT RUN REVIEWED
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Horizon Chase 2 (2024, PlayStation 5)
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