Cruis'n World

"Snooze Cruise."

I can remember first trying out Cruis'n USA. At first, I thought it was the most fun I'd had in years. This was primarily due to it taking place in famous landmarks around the states. But soon, I discovered how linear the game was, especially for a racer. This is when I tried the game out on a console, rather than in the arcades. Cruis'n World is, obviously, the sequel, and is quite a bit more expansive than Cruis'n USA. It has more tracks, more racers, more replayability, but can it stand up to other racers of its kind? You can either take a look at the score if you're impatient, or read on for the details.

This game's gameplay is the same general idea that was in Cruis'n USA, with some new features. When you start the game, the first thing you will do is choose the mode you want to play in. Then you'll choose your car. Various cars excel in either speed, acceleration, or handling. In single player mode you race around the world tracks collecting points. When you win enough races and points you can get new paint jobs, secret cars, upgrades, etc. The control is a little touchy but nothing you couldn't get used to after racing once or twice.

Midway has also added two new moves with the car since Cruis'n USA. In the original, you could give yourself a temporary boost by tapping the gas. That returns to this game, plus being able to pop your wheels and drive on two wheels. If you pop a wheelie and go over a jump your car will do a somersault. Vehicles can also fly through the air and spin while in mid-air. The more times you spin and the better you land, the more points you'll be awarded. Just make sure you hit the ground straight, or you'll end up losing much more time than you would have if you didn't take the jump.

The new tracks provide a lot of variety with new obstacles and jumps. There are 14 tracks total, each taking place at a landmark somewhere in the world. For example, the China course has you racing across the Great Wall of China. The Australia course has you speeding across the outbacks while avoiding dingos that hop across the track. The Germany course pits you on the Autobon, but other drivers are a rare sight, surprisingly. Other courses include Egypt, Mexico, England, New York, and a few others.

Of course, these tracks are very unexciting and linear. Most of it consists of nothing but straightaways. In turn, this forms some very dull and tedious gameplay. It's almost enough to make you fall asleep. One moment you're cruisin' through Moscow, and the next moment you're cruisin' through Snoreville. On the bright side, there's some sexy cheerleaders waiting for you at the finish line! Some good incentive for you desperate guys out there.

Multiplayer also returns, which adds to the fun. Up to four players can play. You can choose the same cars as you can in single-player. Unfortunately, like the single-player mode, multiplayer gets rather stale after a while. It's definitely not the most exciting multiplayer racer in the game. Lots of times you'll want a difficult curve in the road, since the courses consist of far too many straightaways. If you want a fun racer to play with friends, play Mario Kart.

And graphics? For a Nintendo 64 game, these are rather mediocre. The trees in particular are flat and have virtually no texture to them. It's a rather poor use of lighting. This also leads to a few glitches. The vehicles are also a little on the smudgy side. On the bright side, everything is solid, especially on the New York and Germany courses.

Now on to sound. Ugh, don't even get me started. You see, there's an extremely irritable theme song. The instant you turn on the game, some chick will start singing ''Cruuuuuusiiiiii-iiiiin! Cruisin' the Woo-ooooo-oorld! Yeah-eah!''. Trust me, it's worse than it sounds. As the song progresses, it gets less annoying, but even 80's rock would have been better. She also says various other things throughout the game. They could have at least made her cute. As for the course music, it's less than music to your ears. They try to make a tune that fits the atmosphere, which it sort of does, but it ain't pleasant.

Lastly, we'll touch base on lasting appeal and replay value. If you don't have anybody to play with, this category is fairly dismal. There's really not much to do after you've beaten all the races, and that really shouldn't take you all that long. If you play with friends, it gets better. Still, the replay value is fairly low for the most part.

Cruis'n World improves over Cruis'n USA in the sense that it adds many more tracks and cars. Still, it's nowhere near the perfect racer. Chances are you won't find this game around anymore at most places, but rest assured that you didn't miss much. Of course, you may want to fork over a few quarters if you stumble upon the arcade version (which, BTW, owns the console version).

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/11/06