Sega has long excelled at arcade games such as Crazy Taxi, in which you deposit your coins in return for five minutes of thrills. These games are not designed to be immersive, but to provide maximum excitement. The original OutRun was one such game, and OutRun2 continues the tradition. Forget subtlety, just grab the girl, jump in your sports car and hit the open road.

The main focus of OutRun is the classic arcade mode. The premise is simple: race your car against the clock down the highway. The difficulty of the race varies with your selection of route and the traffic you encounter. For the Xbox version, Sega has added a challenge area, in which you attempt a variety of trials across 101 missions, which range from racing over markers on the road to Crazy Taxi-style conveying of passengers. The better you drive, the more you impress your female companion. Drive badly and it may spell the end of a beautiful relationship.

The longevity of this title is guaranteed by the Xbox Live feature, which allows you to take on up to seven other players online at a time.

OutRun2 is not a game that you will spend hours playing at one sitting, but you will experience lots of very happy five-minute bursts.

Stuart Miles