Cruis'n USA

"The derelict racing game totally redeems itself!"

Cruisn' USA was one of the most redefining arcade and N64 games of our time. Okay, not really. However, it did lead to the start of the Cruisn' series, which would soon take over the arcade scene like the plague and irritate all the hardcore racing fans, like me, with its recognizably shallow gameplay! It wouldn't be long before there was a Cruisn' game or some sort of clone, such as California Speed or Fast and the Furious, in every arcade in the world. Linear arcade racers became the norm, "difficult" racing games were frowned upon, and that's why this game has some historical significance.

However, you'll find that members of the Resistance (non-Cruisn' conformists), hardcore Cruisn' fans, and N64 connoisseurs alike look at the first N64 racer and grill it to no end. The graphics were pretty bad, there wasn't enough variety compared to later Cruisn' games, and there were better racers released later, such as Wave Race. However, I saw potential. It was the Anakin Skywalker of racing games. It was just a valiant attempt at a racing game that the crew at Midway spontaneously produced. The series could've gone the way of the Jedi or become the next Darth Vader. And as you may expect, it went downhill from there.

The N64 port manages to emulate the arcade game with much success. There are fourteen tracks, seven cars (three secret), and a healthy dose of American patriotism and women (only visible as the flag girl and the finish line crew). All of the courses take place in America along a route from California, going east and cutting through the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountains to Iowa, and going east through Chicago to Washington DC. Regardless of whether you choose a single race or a full-blown trip across the US of A, you'll be driving left and right while beating nine other cars and dodging traffic. It's the simple formula that has carried the Cruisn' series all this time. Players can save their progress to profiles on the game cart or on a memory card. Also, there's a few options, such as the ability to change the controls or edit the sound and music levels.

Cruisn' USA is not a complicated racing game. Most turns in the game don't require brakes since you can just “gun it” by turning the wheel hard in that direction. The grandest extent of difficulty provided by the tracks would be the two-lane segments and barricades inches off the road to punish any mistakes. However, the other cars pose the greatest difficulty. During the race, traffic will cruise by, coming at you to the left and moving away to the right. As you dodge traffic, you may clip a car and send that poor minivan or muscle car flying, with a speed loss to you. However, a saving grace is that the car you just hit can stop other opponents trying to pass you, but beware, the AI can do the same thing to you. As for your opponents, it's like bumper cars. There's no “trading paint” per se because every hit will either send a little shake to both cars or result in a spastic spin out for one driver. That really stinks since you're chancing it when you bump into the AI. However, the AI doesn't follow the awful “rubber band” rule a-la Mario Kart 64, and if you have a clean race, you won't be cheated out a win.

Cruisn' USA doesn't add anything new to the arcade port except for one thing; upgradeable cars. Like in the arcade game, there's the option to “Cruise the USA” from San Francisco to Washington DC and “chill with the President in the hot tub.” Unfortunately, that line was nixed from the N64 port. Players race all the courses in the game in order and progress to the next level if they come in first place. If one fails to do so, they can retry the same race until they do so. Beat Washington DC and the car will change color and gain a speed boost. It's a pretty cool idea, and each car can be upgraded three times, with the difficulty notched up for faster cars. However, the cars don't go that much faster fully upgraded; the speed goes from 150 to 165 mph, which is as noticeable as the upgrades in Cruisn' World.

There is a two-player race option. Split-screen racing tends to reduce the framerate a bit, but it's fluid enough to encourage others to join in. Also, both players can Cruise the USA at the same time and gain car upgrades for their individual profiles.

The gameplay may not get to you, but eventually the graphics will. They are about as bad as the arcade version; even worse! For one, most of the tracks don't pack a lot of detail. If they do, it's in the form of sprites (“cardboard cutouts”) of lights, trees, building, etc. Not to mention that if you should run into one of these “sprites,” you'll run it over flat. It's like the Midway team decided to only give 3d polygons for what was truly necessary, such as the cars and the road/grass. However, in motion, the game looks okay and the cars look fluid, albeit a little jerky, especially in crashes. Aside from the “screenshot factor,” there are the minor framerate issues and semi-noticeable pop-up. Most races run at about 15 fps, but on certain tracks packing a lot of “detail," such as San Francisco and Redwood Forest, the framerate takes a dip for the worse. Even if the framerate stinks, it's good enough to keep the game playable and fun. As for the pop-up, the draw distance tends to be fairly long, so you won't be complaining about it as bad the framerate. The graphics could be worse but they get the job done.

Sound effects consists of a lot of voice clips from your unseen female companion and other anonymous people. She says awesome things such as “Choose your car!” and “Three, two, one, go!” In the race, she will make comments when you pass famous landmarks such as “Wow, Mount Rushmore!” When you barely dodge a crash, she will add more stupid comments such as “We're gonna crash!” or “Wwwaaaiiieeeeeoooowwwwww!!!” Man, sometimes, you just want to drag her out of the car by her hair and leave her there, but other times, she's suitable for this kind of game. As for other sounds, people will scream when you crash into them, making some annoying screeching noise that will make you want to run into them over and over again at the cost of the race. As for actual race sound effects, there's squealing of tires, a little revving noise, and a dull woman saying “Checkpoint!” The engine sounds dead quiet, so don't expect a loud “rraahhhhh” in-game. Disappointing.

How about the music? I think it adds its own cheesiness to the whole experience in a positive way. If you've ever played the arcade version, you'll recall the triumphital entry with the resounding “CRRUISSSNNNNN YEEAAYYUHHHEAHHH!!! Cruisn' USA…YEAH!!!!” It's corny, but it's awesome menu music. As for in game, there's about eight tracks ranging from the headbanging electric guitar tune, the psychadellic surfing music, the dopey bluegrass music, to the horrid house song with the lady singing “Ooh! Aah! Ooh! Aah!” over and over again. But nonetheless, you get music that, somehow, manages to fit the game pretty well.

Okay, so this game is mediocre, it's too simple, it has silly audio and not very good graphics. So what keep this game alive? It's just fun. I know that sounds like suicide for a game reviewer to say, but it just is. Probably the best reason is that this game is genuine. This is Midway's first game and it has nothing to hide. Upon starting the game, the graphics are pretty mediocre from the get-go. There's only four cars as opposed to the gigantic pile available in Cruisn' World. It doesn't hide behind the guise of presentation. It doesn't have a lot of gimmicks such as wheelies, backflips, and turbo boosts. It only has fast-paced racing that rivals that of the newer Cruisn' games. And to me, that's the most important thing in a racing game, and that's why Cruisn' USA redeems itself.

Also, the game comes together just fine. There's only four cars, but they're the best selection of cars I've ever seen in a racing game not made by Sega. The cars available are a '63 Corvette Stingray (the most beautiful car in the world!), a ‘30's Ford muscle car, a Ferrari Testarossa, and a Jaguar XJ220. Also, not to mention the sense of speed is best in Cruisn' USA, so that makes these driving these cars quite enjoyable.

It would've been nice to see Midway follow up the game with a bit more depth, but we don't get any such thing. Instead, Midway has taken the concept and moved it in a less desirable direction. It's quite a shame, but that doesn't mean this game is terrible. Hey, you may not like this game, but it's pretty fun if you're looking for a simple racing game to play. Pick up this “piece of history” for yourself today.

Presentation: 9/10 – The Cruisn' guy is cool, plus the menus are nice with the profiles.
Gameplay: 7/10 – Linear racing at its best. Still doesn't require any technical driving, so it can get pretty shallow for some folks.
Graphics: 6/10 – Cars look cool. Track detail is pretty bad up close and the framerate is not very good.
Sound: 7/10 – Annoying commentary and some cool music.
Replay Value: 6/10 – Upgrading cars sounds like a cool concept. There's only so many cars and tracks in this game so it can get old, unless you play it in small sittings.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/07, Updated 06/24/08

Game Release: Cruis'n USA (US, 12/03/96)