Dreamcast Game #23: Outtrigger

アウトトリガー

Today we’re talking about Outtrigger, a first/third-person shooter video game that was originally released in 1999 for the arcades and was later ported over to the Dreamcast in summer 2001. The player character of Outtrigger is a member of an anti-terrorist group, can be chosen between default characters with different specialties or a custom character, and can utilize a number of power-ups. The game’s producer is Yu Suzuki and the game’s composer is Fumio Ito. Ray Larabie’s Pricedown font (which was first updated in 2004, then to around 2010 and later 2019) can be seen in the game’s intro sequence.

The player chooses one of four characters to play as. Each character has a weapons specialty, such as laser pulse rifles or sniper guns, as well as different attributes such as speed and jumping ability. Along with the default characters, there is an edit mode for players to create their own character by combining weapons of other characters. Each character is limited to three weapons: a general shooting weapon, an artillery-type explosive weapon, and grenades. The stages of the game have a number of power-ups, including thermography allowing players to see through walls, a plasma cannon that shoots a ball of energy that can bounce off walls, and a power-up icon that temporarily increases damage. A local multiplayer deathmatch mode is also available, along with online play except in Europe.

Here’s a little trivia. I didn’t physically own the game but have downloaded the ISO from a ROM site and later burned it with the now-obsolete DiscJuggler program. Reception to Outtrigger was generally positive, praising the gameplay and mechanics, though criticizing the removal of online play in the European version of the game.