BATTLE OUTRUN Guide
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Version 1.0     9/1/04
Created by Matthew McIntyre ([email protected])
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Legality:
This Guide is Copyright, 2004, Matthew McIntyre

This guide may not be used on a website or in any public forum
where it is protected by copyright without the consent of the author.

Websites with permission to use this Guide:
www.GameFAQS.com
www.neoseeker.com
faqs.IGN.com
www.1up.com

Battle OutRun and its characters are copyright SEGA.
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Version History:

-3/27/2006, added 1up as a host.
1.01 (9/2/04) some glaring typos fixed
1.0 (9/1/04) basic guide complete
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Table of Contents:
1: Introduction
2: Story
3: Gameplay
4: Upgrades
    4.1: Upgrade Descriptions/Prices
    4.2: Concerning Nitro
    4.3: Upgrade Path Suggestion
5: The Road
    5.1: Signs
    5.2: Obstacles
    5.3: Other
6: Courses
    6.1: Course Names and Bounties
    6.2: Defeating Mob Bosses
    6.3: Course 9
7: Credits and Contact

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Section 1: Introduction
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Those familiar with the SEGA Master System have likely played
the game OutRun. Now, Battle OutRun is the sequel to this game,
but it’s actually quite different. Battle OutRun attempts to add a
story to the game, setting the overall theme of gameplay.

While OutRun has you drive to each destination and choose
branching paths, Battle OutRun allows you to choose where you
want to go and has a continue option. Now, a lot of people criticize
Battle OutRun for deviating from the norm - I’m not one of them.
OutRun is my favourite game on the Master System, and I like
this one almost as much. And for this reason, I’m giving the
game a benefit of a guide.

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Section 2: Story
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As stated, the game attempts to fuse a storyline into the OutRun
gameplay style. This is the story as it appears in the manual:

"You’re Joe Hurst, the coolest bounty hunter ever to take the
wheel. You’re the kind of guy who likes to do thing himself.
Like building your custom Larborarri Teratuga from odd parts
you found in you friend George’s tune-up and parts shop. That
‘Tuga doesn’t run too well now, but man, is it a beasutiful
machine! All you need is a little cash to make it move as great
as it looks.

That’s why you’re on the road right now, trying to collect the
bounty on eight of the nastiest mod bosses ever to grace the
Most Wanted. These guys are fast. And they’re flanked by
ferociously loyal thug drivers who’ll try anything to slow you
down. Once you spot a boss, the only way to stop him is to
bash the life out of his car before time runs out. Otherwise,
you’ll have to start over, and lose all the great parts you
buy along the way.

So belt in and battle your way across the country to meet
and beat Casadrando - the biggest boss of them all. If
you’ve got the brains, the guts, and the time, the
big guy’s yours."

That’s about the size of it. Use your car to beat mobsters
into submission and use the bounty to boost your car’s
performance.

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Section 3: Gameplay
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On the road:
Button 1: Gas
Button 2: Brakes
Left/Right: Steer the ’Tuga
Up: Nitro (if you have any)

So, you want to get into a game, no? Well, first you need to
select your location. You’ll be presented with a map of the
United States with 8 locations on it. Note that the higher the
number by the location, the harder it will be. Thusly, you
may want to start in San Francisco so that you’ll be able
to compete better in the later stages. At any rate, make your
selection and you’ll be taken to the dashboard.

At the dashboard, you will be able to choose between four
radio stations. When you’ve picked your desired music,
you’ll go to a screen that shows a portrait of your mobster,
his car, and the bounty he’s worth. The level starts after this
screen.

You start a level with 150 seconds. Hold the gas and steer
around corners and obstacles. Going offroad will cut your
speed, so stay on the road as much as possible. About
halfway through the level (If you’re an average player it’ll
probably be at 100-110 seconds left), you’ll come across
a large truck with COME written on the back. This is
your friend’s parts shop where you may tune up the car.
When you get close a ramp (saying IN) will drop down
letting you enter.

In the shop, you can use any money you have to buy car
upgrades or nitro. One of the other big benefits of the truck
is that you’ll get an extra 65 seconds when you reach it.

A while after the truck, you’ll encounter the boss. His life
bar will appear at the top of the screen and you will have to
give chase. Smash into his car with yours until the life is
depleted and the boss will give up. Try to do this as quickly
as possible, as the more time you have when you defeat a
boss the more money you will receive at the end of the
stage.

If you run out of time, you can continue the level in extactly
the same state you were in (money/nitro/upgrades) when you
chose it.

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Section 4: Upgrades
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Upgrades are pretty essential for efficient boss-defeating.
The upgrades come in four forms: body, tires, engine,
and chassis. You may also buy Nitro.

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***4.1: Upgrade Descriptions/Prices
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*Body: The strength of your body determines just how much time
you lose in collisions. The stronger the body, the less your
speed will cut when you hit something. It’s pretty severe when
you begin, but Body 3 will allow you to stay at a respectable
speed when you’re hit. It’s a very important upgrade, every
car on the road will want a piece of you. This is also why they
are so expensive.
Body 1: $3000
Body 2: $8000
Body 3: $18000

*Tire: Tires improve your grip. This is useful for some of the
more severe curves in the game. They also reduce time lost
from oil slicks - making them essential later in the game when
oil slicks are frequent. Tires are pretty cheap, but no less useful.
You need to get some decent tires early, but the premiums aren’t
necessary until later.
Tire 1: $1000
Tire 2: $3000
Tire 3: $8000

*Engine: Engine is a very important category. It will both
let you accelerate fast and reach higher speeds. Speed quite
important: you want to reach the gangster as fast as
possible and defeat him quickly as well. Bodies are made
much less effective, as well, if you can’t reach a proper speed
even after their benefits. Engine should be your top
priority.
Engine 1: $2000
Engine 2: $5000
Engine 3: $12000

*Chassis: Chassis is kind of ambiguous, it’s not covered in
the manual and it doesn’t seem to benefit your performance
on the road. It does seem to increase your jumping ability,
however, after a chassis upgrade you’ll fly farther off the
ramps. Obviously, ramps aren’t super abundant, and they’re
kind of randomly distributed. Bottom priority, most time
will be spent on the ground.
Chassis 1: $2000
Chassis 2: $5000
Chassis 3: $12000

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4.2: Concerning Nitro
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Nitro acts like a booster for the car, allowing you to accelerate
faster. Nitro’s best used after a collision, and when chasing
a boss.

Nitro can be bought in the tune-up shop for an initial fee of
$1000. It will increase by 1000 on successive purchases and
cap at $4000.

After buying the stuff, there’s be a meter next to Nitro at the
top of the screen. The meter decreases as you use Nitro, so
use it wisely.

Unless you expect to make a ton of money because of it, nitro
is not necessary for the early stages, It helps out profusely
later on, however.

Buy nitro when you reach the Grand Canyon. Use half against
the boss and the other half against the Chicago boss. After
that, buy Nitro every round.

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4.3: Upgrade Path Suggestion
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This is how I recommend you upgrade your car. You get a
little choice initially, you start with $3000.

A. Use your $3000 for Tire 1 and Engine 1. This is a great
value - you’ll want to be able to stay on the road and catch
up with your mobster. Besides, if you start on an early stage
then obstacles shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

B. Body 1. Definitely upgrade your Body next, obstacles
will get trickier and you’ll need the body for sure.

C: Engine 2. It’s only $5000 and worth every penny. By level
4 the mobsters will be getting evasive. You’re going to need
to catch up.

D: Chassis 1. With more congestion on the road, jumping over
the thugs will be beneficial when you find ramps.

E: Body 2. The enemy is going to be getting aggressive, and
the mobsters life bars will be large. You’re going to need a
better body to come back after him after you bash him.

F: Tire 2. They’re only $3000 and you’re going to need them
for better control on curves and for when you’re forced into
oil.

G: Engine 3. Great for its speed and acceleration, you won’t
regret the purchase.

H: Body 3 . Amazing. You’ll lose very little speed on collisions,
and be able to bounce back almost immediately. Essential for
the tough mobsters.

I: Chassis 2. Well, you may as well update your Chassis for the
price it costs. You’ll probably afford it out of your leftovers.

J: Tires 3. Needed for the last levels, for sure. You’ll be
faced with a lot of curves and in level 9: MANY oil
slicks.

K: Chassis 3. Complete your car.

Of course, you can do this how you want, but this set up allowed
me to complete the game with a fair amount of ease.

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Section 5: The Road
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Ah the open road! Nothing like haphazardly strewn oil and
signs! Not to mention no other cars but thugs for miles
around!

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5.1: Signs
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Giving a meticulous description of each course in Battle
OutRun would be ridiculous. How’s that going to help you?
Instead, learn to respond to the road and read the signs.

*White sign with curved red arrow:
This denotes a turn in the road, usually pretty severe. They will
flank the outside of the entire curve.

*White sign with squiggly red arrow:
Denotes a multi-tiered curve. It’ll go one way and then the other.
The signs flank the outside curve of each portion.

*Yellow sign with car. Black trail behind.
These tell you that oil slicks are ahead. Wow! I wonder why they’d
bother erecting signs about oil spills when they could have just
cleaned them up?

*Yellow sign with exclamation point.
Big yellow boards straight ahead!

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5.2: Obstacles
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*Signs: Yes, the signs that tell you about obstacles
are obstacles themselves. If you hit a sign, you’ll
spin out and return to the road. This is the most significant
loss of time you’ll encounter, ESPECIALLY if you hit
a car while spinning in. Your speedometer will drop
to 0, and you’ll have to start from standstill.

*Oil Slicks: Black Puddles on the ground with little
Oil signs beside them. Hitting them will cause you slow
and spin.

*Big Yellow Boards: Well, Big Yellow Boards in the
middle of the road. They will cut your speed significantly
if hit.

*Thugs: Thugs will go out of their way to strike your car
and slow you down. They’re the most common and persistent
threat on the road. They’ll swerve into you, so be ready.

*Boss: The boss car which you must bash into submission
to complete the level.

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5.3: Other
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*Offroad: You can travel offroad, but your speed will be cut. With
a good engine and tires it won’t be so severe, however.
Actually, I suggest getting used to going offroad. You’ll lose less
time by going off the beaten track than you would colliding with an
obstacle.  This will benefit you especially when getting around
thugs. Just be careful of signs.

*Truck: The Truck which counts as a tune-up shop. Even if you
don’t need to buy anything, you may want to go inside just to take
a break. IT will give you 65 seconds for reaching it - very
nice.

*Curves: Big curves will make your tires spin and controlling
your car will be difficult. Try to turn from the inside of the curve
because if you lose full control you may end up hitting the
signs on the outside curve.

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Section 6: Courses
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You will have 8 courses to choose from. The ninth is opened up
after the others are completed.

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6.1: Course Names and Bounties
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Course 1: San Francisco, $2000
Course 2: Los Angeles, $3000
Course 3: Las Vegas, $4000
Course 4: Grand Canyon, $5000
Course 5: Chicago, $6000
Course 6: Miami, $8000
Course 7: Washington, $10000
Course 8: New York, $12000

Round Multipliers:
Depending on how much time is remaining when a boss is
defeated, you’ll receive a bonus in addition to the bounty.
They multiply the seconds x a variable. The variable changes
from round to round.

Round 1: x100
Round 2: x150
Round 3: x200
Round 4: x250
Round 5: x300
Round 6: x400
Round 7: x500
Round 8: x600
Round 9: x900
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6.2: Defeating Mob Bosses
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Now that you’ve reached a mob boss, you’d better be ready to
battle! They will attempt to escape you, and you must attempt
to smash them. You spent the entire level avoiding collisions,
now it’s time to cause some.

When the mobster is in your field, ram him. You can get him
from the side (most damage) or directly behind (less). You
will probably find that hitting the side also slows you down
less, maybe letting you hit him twice in a row.

When the mobster is ahead of you, stay on the road and away
from his thugs. The thugs will be more aggressive here. Go to
the opposite side of the road, and if you have to: offroad. If
you’ve got a good body, you can try going between them, but it
could be compromising.

There’s no signs in this part of the course, but you’ll still want
to stay on the inside of curves: it’s both the fastest and if you drift
right you may hit the mobster.

If you have nitros, you can use them now for sure.
*Activate them after you hit a mobster, you’ll want to get back
on track as quickly as possible.
*Activate them if the mobster is a significant distance away-
you’ll want to catch up.
*Activate them when you get back on the road after going
offroad - cut your losses.
*Activate them if the thugs are particularly aggravating to
either get past them or bounce back from your loss.

Also note that Mob Boss #8 will leave you with less time to
defeat him than the other seven - New York is a long stage.
You’ll need to be extra aggressive to deplete his life bar.

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6.3: Course 9
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This is the only course that needs a description. It’s long and
full of hazards.

The course goes into a very large curve soon after the stage
begins. If you begin to slide from the inside corner, you’re
going to likely smack a sign. This might be a time to go
offroad for part of the curve, or slow down a bit.

Before the truck is littered with Yellow Boards. Even
when you’re fully upgraded, they do a number on your
speed. You’re going to need all the time you can muster
for the big boss.
Enter the truck and buy nitro. You’re going to want it.

The second portion of the course is absolutely full of
oil slicks. I know gangsters fight dirty, but this is ridiculous.
I find it easiest to stay on the side opposite the signs and
go offroad when a slick hugs the side. Well, when the thugs
can afford you that luxury anyways.

Finally, you’ll meet Casadrando. He has the biggest life bar
of all. Graciously, you get an extra 40 seconds when you arrive
at him, and I suggest trying to reach him with at least 50
seconds on your clock.

He’s going to be pretty evasive, darting from side to side. Try
not to get opposite of him too much in the race, tail him
with absolute vigour. His goons will try to keep you at one
side of the road. If it’s hopeless, use some nitro. The
big guy can go pretty far up the road after being walloped,
so use a little nitro to get ahead.

Casadrando’s battle road is very twisty. There’s an annoying
tendency for the road to curve just as you’re closing in on him.
Again, be sure to take the inside. You may be separated from
your mark by thugs when you get out. Casadrando often shifts
sides in the middle of a curve, however, so you can squeeze
off a shot here and there.

Overall, stay on his tail like a car possessed. And be patient,
you can continue the stage whenever you want so take
a breather now and then if you can’t beat him. He’s the
biggest challenge in the game, and when you beat him
the game ends.

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Section 7: Credits and Contacts
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I’d really like to thank SEGA for releasing this game - yeah,
she’s a different breed of OutRun but it’s right up there
in my ranks.

If I have something wrong (I may be about chassis, but that’s
the best I could come up with) or something’s missing...
Let me know!
I’d especially like the names of the mobsters .
[email protected]

This guide may not be used on a website or in any public forum
where it is protected by copyright without the consent of the author.

Battle OutRun and its characters are copyright SEGA.
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