OUT RUN

• HIDDEN MESSAGE: In Sitdown/Upright Revision A, hold down START as you're crossing a checkpoint (just before the sky changes color), the message “PROGRAM YU SUZUKI 1986 SEP” will appear (picture #1).  In Sitdown/Upright Revision B, activating the message is more complex.  First, you need to achieve a high score, and enter "YU." as your name.  Also, it can only be activated when transitioning from Stage 2 to Stage 3.  It should also be noted that the message can only be displayed once and is then deactivated.  Also, if the user enters "YU." again on the high score table, the egg will also be deactivated.

• HIDDEN MESSAGE: A message to the game's programmer Satoshi Mifune (picture #2) was intended to appear if RAM address 00126100 (the palette index used for enemy objects) is set to a value higher than 3B. However, the code has been dummied out, leaving this text unable to be displayed whatsoever. It is assumed this message was left by Yu Suzuki.  The message is "BIN CHAN E COLOR BANK GA TARINAI NOYO ! 1 STAGE 127 KO INAINI SHITENE." (translation: "TO BIN-CHAN THE COLOR BANK ISN'T BIG ENOUGH! MAKE IT WITHIN 127 OR LOWER FOR 1 STAGE.").

• The fastest route for finishing the game is Right (Devil's Canyon), Left (Snowy Alps), Right (Wheatfield), Right (Autobahn).

• To make the car get to full speed faster, keep the RPM meter in the bottom-left corner within the green zone. This will require you to shift a little earlier in some cases.

• On the sound test menu, there are 4 voice samples you can play. The 4th one doesn't work, but the data for it is in the code and it says, "You're doing great". The unused voice sample is apparently used in Space Harrier, so it would appear the Out Run code was based on the code for Space Harrier.

• There is unused code for displaying the time used to reach a checkpoint. It can be used in the MAME debugger with the command d0 = X; pc = 7fea; g;, where X is the lap to display.

• There is unused code for having traffic flow toward the screen. It can be enabled in the MAME debugger with the command b@60b6b = 1, but the game lacks graphics for cars viewed from the front, so it looks like they're driving in reverse very quickly.

• Wait on the starting line for about 15 seconds after the lights go green, and the man waving the flag will eventually stop and look away from the driver in disgust (after a few encouraging "move" animations).

• The second before going off road you can change very quickly to low gear and then high gear again. If done correctly you can drive off the road without any slowdown for about 1-2 seconds. If you time it right you can actually change to low then high again after the 1-2 seconds and not loose ANY speed whatsoever when driving off-road. This way you can keep going 292mph even though you're off-road.