PixlBit

I thought the USA was larger than this...

Originally released in the arcades back in 1994, Cruis'n USA is the first game developed for Nintendo 64 hardware. With a pure arcade core, it forgoes realism to provide an emphasis on speed. Unfortunately, differences between the cabinet and final Nintendo 64 specs lead to a bit of a bumpy transition to the home system, adding to the issues it already had.

When I first saw a Cruis'n USA arcade machine, it was in the back corner of a discount movie theater. The person playing it was none other than my father, which was a bit of a surprise. Although this wasn't the first time he had played a videogame, he had played mostly Super Mario Brothers, and it had been a while since the last time. I actually have not played the game in the arcade myself, and instead simply watched my father play it. He was surprisingly decent at it, which may have something to do with it using a steering wheel and pedals as the controller. Several years later, we came across the game in a bargain bin, and enjoyed playing its 2-player split-screen at home.

Differing from a circuit racer, the tracks instead go from one point to another point, having no laps. The races span across the USA, though with just fourteen tracks and only a few states represented, a more apt name would have been “Cruis'n Most Famous States” or Cruis'n MFS for short. Like with the arcade game, progressing to the next track requires placing in first, though fortunately retying no longer needs another quarter. The tracks can be played separately, but it's better to cruise the whole USA, as doing so will unlock a faster version of the vehicle used.  This can be pretty tough on the higher difficulty settings, where the rival cars are usually bunched together, making it hard to pass them up withing crashing into one. As just about a straight port from the arcade, about the only thing worth mentioning added to the home version is that the game supports two players.

Mentioning crashes probably made them sound more spectacular than they really are, if they even qualify as a crash. Running full speed into traffic, objects, or slower opponents will just cause a spin-out, leaving nary a scratch, and it won't take long to get back up to speed. Most courses have walls or barriers that prevent driving off road, but the ones that don't simply have invisible walls to bar passage. Driving into these usually results in just bouncing back to the road unscathed, but may sometimes cause a quick teleport that will reset the car back on the track at a low speed. This extreme disregard for realism may not be appreciated by some, but it does make for a more fast-paced racer, and it can still be tough to catch up after a mistake on higher difficulties.

The presentation is a big step down from the arcade, leaving results lackluster even for an early release. Although the road is usually fairly smooth, the backgrounds are mostly flat and pixelated, and the framerate chugs along at a low rate. The most notable blemish is the pop-up; the draw distance is rather close to the player's view, and the upcoming road and scenery can be seen fading into existence. Everything behind the player car disappears after it passes, which can be seen during a spin-out. The music tracks range from generic rock and country to a more bizarre piece featuring a woman's voice samples, and are all short and repetitive.

Cruis'n USA is a straight-up, no-frills arcade racer, for better or worse. It benefited from being one of the first of its kind, but after the strides made in the racing genre, including on the Nintendo 64, the game doesn't hold up. Anyone who isn't nostalgic for simpler times is better off leaving Cruis'n USA as nothing but a relic of the past.