This Apple Watch running Sega classic OutRun makes no sense, but I still want it anyway

Playing games on an Apple Watch seemed like a pretty good idea right up until I started wearing one. Poor ergonomics and the device’s paltry power quickly made me realise Apple’s hardware was little more suited to games than a 1980s calculator watch. But Apple wearables are far more capable today. And developers are, apparently, far more unhinged. At least Anth Rodgers is, given that he got Sega classic OutRun running on an Apple Watch.

Rodgers isn’t some random tinkerer – he worked on the Need for Speed series and GRID 2. Yet he says OutRun has been his favourite game ever since he first saw it in a smoky arcade back in 1986. 

His Apple Watch version of OutRun allows you to zoom in so the game fills the entire display. The car auto-accelerates, leaving you to steer with the Digital Crown and tap the left side of the screen to change gears. You can also prod the right side of the screen to brake. Not that any spirited OutRun fan would ever consider doing such a thing.

Wrist Racer

Not content with squeezing OutRun on to Apple Watch, Rodgers appears intent on turning his Apple Watch into a tiny arcade. His videos show ports of Ridge Racer, Power Drift, Star Wars, Alien 3, Operation Wolf and, terrifyingly, insanely tricky Capcom classic Ghosts ’n Goblins. (He somehow manages to play better on Apple Watch than I manage on a Super Pocket…) One of his older videos features his first crack at this kind of thing. That jittery Pac-Man port on Apple’s first-gen wearable shows how far Apple Watch arcade emulation has come.

Sadly, Rodgers says these experiments are purely personal projects for now. Which means you won’t be blasting along open roads from your wrist anytime soon. Still, the idea isn’t completely far-fetched. There’s already a Game Boy emulator for Apple Watch on the App Store. Otherwise, even older-school titles like Star Duster and Asteroid Commando (as featured in my best Apple Watch apps roundup) will have to do when I’m out and about and don’t have a retro gaming console to hand.

• Now read: Apple Arcade just accidentally became the best place for normal people to play retro arcade games

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.