Out Run II  (demo)
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
_________________________

1988 Video Images
Status: Preview, Findability: 5/5

Coding: Dirk Lee
Graphics: Dean Hickingbottom
Sound: N/A

An intriguing title next up, which we are as of yet unsure if it was intended as an official conversion pitch attempt or was something unofficial to demonstrate the credentials of Video Images.

Two loading screen variants were created, but also a quick demo showing a road routine effect, with controllable car.

Dean tells us that the game was a Porsche demo dating back to 1988 at Video Images, where they were attempting to get someone interested in an idea they had for Outrun 2. Dean did the graphics and the coder was a guy called Dirk Lee.

The idea was to have the game set around all of Europe, taking in various famous landmarks. The potential customer (US Gold?) dismissed it all and wasn’t interested, but then some months later, Outrun Europa surfaced. Co-incidental? Perhaps, but Video Images didn’t think so at the time.
Dean suggests they should have just done their own racing game.

So was this the beginnings of Outrun Europe that Neil Coxhead once started and also was never released? Who knows, but yet another piece of history preserved.

Contributions: Dean Hickingbottom


https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/outrun-2/
