It's safe to say that without Sega's Outrun, racing games as we know them may not exist. Inspiration taken from Yu Suzuki's classic has spawned some of the greatest games ever made. However, Sega wasn't content to leave Outrun in the bargain bin at the local game shop. It's always deserved a sequel, and said sequel has finally arrived on the Xbox! Outrun 2 is better than the original, but whether you'll like it is heavily dependant on your taste in racers.

Outrun 2, like its predecessor, is all about going as fast as you can. There's no vehicular damage, car tuning, or advanced AI. It's just you, your girlfriend, a really expensive Ferrari (that's quite the oxymoron), and a long stretch of road. Your only opponents are yourself and the clock. The map is divided into various sections composed of all sorts of varied scenery, and to reach them you need to blaze through check points as quickly as possible. It's a game that requires almost perfect driving in order to complete, as the slightest bump shaves precious seconds off the clock. It's the most simplistic of concepts, but the game presents you with a tremendous challenge, and often times, you'll need to restart because you slammed into a wall or got hit by traffic. Trust me, there's nothing more saddening in Outrun 2 than getting within five feet of the check point and having time run out.

Outrun 2 has the following three sections: Arcade, Challenge, and Xbox Live, and each is very enjoyable. Arcade has three sub modes including the standard Outrun experience I previously described, where you pick your speed demon and hit the streets in a race against time. The various areas are accessed by taking forks in the road (in between check points), and the path you take will determine how easy or difficult that upcoming stretch of road will be. The beauty of the driving system, aside from its tight controls (Left trigger is brake, Right is gas, Left analog stick is steer, and that's all you need to know), is its excellent use of drifting. You can literally power slide through entire portions of the course, and although you won't go nearly as fast as just barreling down the highway, the pure joy of seeing these expensive cars gracefully slide down the track makes the game a worthwhile investment.

Also available to play in Arcade is Heart Attack, where you complete various challenges at the request of your female companion to win hearts (if you mess up, she'll get medieval on your @$$), and Time Attack, which, as you probably have already guessed, asks you to beat the clock.

Arcade Mode will keep you busy for a long time, but Challenge Mode is the true heart of the game. Featuring 101 different missions (and track variations), you'll certainly have your work cut out for you. Challenges include running over certain colored cones and drifting for as long as possible. The missions are a lot of fun and a welcome change of pace, and the rewards for beating them are well worth it. You can unlock new tracks, cars, and other assorted goodies. Also, there's a Party Mode where you can take turns and compete with three of your friends.

Outrun 2's Xbox Live play isn't as intense as Burnout 3's, but it's satisfying nonetheless. It's very easy to jump into races, as well as keep the same opponents when one race is finished. Everything runs all right, though lag causes cars to sometimes teleport.

The arcade game features highly detailed graphics, and those visuals have been perfectly transferred to the Xbox. You'll cruise through a tropical paradise, master twists and turns in a desert, and drift through grassy fields, among others, and while you won't necessarily be dazzled by particle and other snazzy effects, Outrun 2 is simply one of the most beautiful racing games ever made, in part because its fresh look exudes fun and excitement. After all, there's nothing depressing about driving a high-powered several hundred thousand dollar Ferrari through a sunny beach location.

The game's fully-licensed Ferraris are highly detailed and reflect the various environments. Unlike the first Outrun, there's a much wider selection of vehicles, including the Enzo, F40, F50, and the Testarossa, and each has been painstakingly recreated, right down to the last minute detail. The characters in the cars aren't as well detailed, but who's looking at them anyway? The same goes for the environments. It's nice that they're gorgeous, but you won't have the time to marvel at their grandeur as you make a hair-pin turn at 150 mph. If you take your eyes off the road for a second, it could spell disaster!

Outrun is memorable for many reasons, in particular its cool soundtrack. Thankfully, Sega's included all of previous game's classic tunes, and they've never sounded better. Magical Sound Shower and Splash Wave sound great, but Sega could've done a much better job here, as the music sounds like it was all done with computers instead of real instruments. As far as the game's sound effects go, the car engines and screeching tires are excellent.

I really like Outrun 2, but it's an acquired taste. Even though Challenge Mode extends the replay value a bit, it eventually gets boring, and you're left with the game's core, which is racing around the same track over and over. What the game does it does exceptionally well, but it falls a tad short when compared to other games in its genre, in particular, Burnout 3, a game that's loaded with features.

Outrun 2 is a slick arcade-style racer that's best played in short bursts. The fact that I can replay the same levels over and over again without getting bored of the scenery is a testament to the game's greatness. It's an extremely polished and incredible port of a phenomenal arcade game, and I give Sega and Microsoft major props for bringing it to the Xbox. They certainly didn't have to.