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Out Live

TurboGrafx-16

TurboGrafx-16

A very important discovery was recently made on the planet Laffra - ancient ruins at an excavation site, containing relics of another civilization, with technique that would surely benefit the great intergalactic Empire. But a mysterious organization that calls itself Mars began to stir unrest on...

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Developer
Sunsoft

Released on
1989

Size
1 Player

Version
TurboGrafx-16

Requirements
NEC TurboGrafx-16

Downloads
Role-Playing

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

A very important discovery was recently made on the planet Laffra – ancient ruins at an excavation site, containing relics of another civilization, with technique that would surely benefit the great intergalactic Empire. But a mysterious organization that calls itself Mars began to stir unrest on the planet. The head of Imperial Scouts sends the hero, piloting a combat robot known as FW, into the depths of the ruins, to face the enemies and retrieve the precious knowledge…

Out Live is a solo dungeon crawler; unlike most representatives of this genre, it is set in a sci-fi environment, and the player controls a giant robot rather than a medieval warrior. Most of the enemies are also machines and robots of different kinds.

Before venturing into the dungeon, the player has access to various shops, where it is possible to repair the robot, buy weapons, protective shields, and items that restore the robot’s energy. Most of the gameplay takes place in pseudo-3D, maze like underground complexes (without an auto-map, but with a compass feature). There, the game plays similarly to other dungeon crawlers: random enemies must be fought in turn-based fashion; they drop money and award the player character with experience points.

A somewhat unusual feature is double leveling: the robot has two independent levels, for attack and for defense. The experience points the robot receives after battles also come in two different flavors. Depending on the enemy type and outcome of the battle, the robot receives different amounts of experience. The leveling-up itself is automatic, increasing maximum energy, attack and defense parameters.

Out Live

Overview & History

Released in 1993 exclusively in Japan by Sunsoft for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM² system, Out Live is a gritty, sci-fi action-platformer that pushes the console's HuCard and CD audio capabilities to atmospheric extremes. Abandoning the cheerful mascots typical of the era, the game plunges players into a dystopian, biomechanical nightmare. The storyline follows a cybernetically enhanced soldier tasked with infiltrating a sprawling, sentient alien megastructure that has consumed an abandoned colony ship. Driven by a haunting red-book audio soundtrack composed of industrial synth and ambient dread, Out Live stands out as a hidden gem of the PC Engine CD library, blending cinematic dread with unforgiving, twitch-reflex arcade action across five sprawling, bio-mechanical sectors.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike standard run-and-gun titles, Out Live emphasizes tactical positioning and environmental hazard avoidance. Players control the protagonist through side-scrolling labyrinths teeming with mutating horrors. Character moves include a standard directional dash, a high-impact sliding maneuver used to slip under crushing pistons, and a charging plasma blast that requires precise timing to unleash maximum damage against armored bosses. Ammunition for secondary weapons is scarce, forcing players to scavenge bio-cells dropped by enemies. The verticality of the stage design introduces platforming challenges where missed jumps result in instant-death acid baths, demanding absolute mastery over the protagonist's momentum and airborne maneuverability.