In 1986, mastermind Yu Suzuki and his development team at AM2 were responsible for many an arcade classic for Sega, including the likes of After Burner and Hang-On. But then they introduced a breezy new arcade racer called Outrun, and the arcade world got turned upside down with its fast-paced antics and the inclusion of a nagging girlfriend if you drove just a bit too harshly and resulted in the flipping of your fancy Ferrari. Now, twenty years later, Sega carries on the tradition, with the help of Sumo Digital, with the release of Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. We dug the PS2 version, but what of the portable edition for Sony PSP?

Well, although the game has a couple of slight quirks that keep it from crossing the finish line with ease, it still maintains a lot of the qualities that made the original so much fun. This is basically a director's cut of Outrun 2, with extra tracks thrown in from the Outrun 2SP extra edition that's in arcades, as well as a number of new features, modes, and unlockables that make it worthy of a play.

Probably the main difference between the handheld version and the console versions is graphic performance. Although most of the detail is retained in terms of trackside beauty and the speed of the game, you can't help but notice that the frame rate chugs from time to time, dropping from 30 frames per second to 20. This is usually when you've got too many cars on-screen or find yourself scraping alongside a rival or bumping into the side of the road. Still, it holds up, and doesn't go to an absolute crawl. Sumo Digital's done work on the PSP before with Sega's handheld iteration of Virtua Tennis, and they continue to show their prowess here. The graphic performance is backed by a soundtrack that's slightly cheesy, but nostalgic to the original. Magical Sound Shower continues to soothe.

Like the arcade version, there's a number of modes to mess around with here. You can jump into Quick Outrun and just have a quick race to go around; you can go into Arcade Mode and play it just as you would in a deluxe arcade unit (with obvious differences); or you can check out Single Player mode, which offers OutRun Mode, Heart Attack Mode (where you try to please your girlfriend with a number of outstanding maneuvers), and the new Coast 2 Coast Mode, where the flagman and others pose plenty of new and strange challenges, which involves all kind of strange details. All of these can pretty much be beaten over a weekend of play, but they pose plenty of opposition to keep you busy.

As far as gameplay, it mostly stays true to the original arcade game. Sure, the drifting system can be absolutely ridiculous, as you drift your way around a corner and do murder to your virtual tires, but it holds together well, with only a couple of noticeable problems. First, the collision system is completely unreal. Hit a wall and you only deter in speed a little bit; have a full-on hit and your car flips around, only to land completely back on its tires. That move's not without its punishment, though, as your girlfriend gives you a verbal beatdown that bruises the ego. Lose the game entirely and she puts you in the kind of chokehold that basketball coaches can only dream of. So it's true to arcade form, but realism is obviously taken with a grain of salt. Sim enthusiasts need not apply.

Then there's this annoying tactic with the AI in computer racers. Say you're racing up against a rival who has the ability to knock you aside to keep competitive, and, if you're going up against them in a drift or even scrape them slightly, they suddenly find themselves launched ahead as a result. Um, excuse me? I can understand hitting them directly from behind and giving them a jolt forwards, but off the side? Again, arcade logic, but even then, it makes one scratch the head. But it's a small performance issue that doesn't affect the overall ride.

Fortunately, the game has a mode that lets you deal with real people in competitive racing instead of just computer cars, and that's the wireless racing mode. If you have a group of friends that have the game, you can link up with them, for up to six people. Granted, it's Outrun and you probably won't call it as heated a match as you would with, say, Burnout Legends, but it's still breezy, smooth-flowing fun as you drift around corners endlessly and put your Ferrari skills to the test.

Lastly, the game lets you unlock Outrun Miles, which you can use to unlock new colors, vehicles, and other goodies from the game's past, all of which are worth collecting. Granted, it's not a bountiful collection of extras, but it's nice to mess with. The game can also be linked up with the PS2 version to unlock other bonus goodies, which is a nice touch. The $30 price tag doesn't hurt either, knocking it down $10 below the usual $40 terrain.

Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast is the weakest version of the three on the market right now (at least, until the PC version arrives, although that'll probably be superlative), but that doesn't make it something of a disappointment. Despite the AI quirks and the feeling that you've done this kind of racing before, it still satisfies in a visceral kind of way, giving you the idea of a casual Sunday drive in the ideal sports car, alone or with friends. And it manages to obtain that magical chi that the original had, which is hard to do considering that Sumo Digital had so much to work with from AM2's blueprint. That's not an easy feat, folks. Coast 2 Coast is a fine ride.