Cruis'n Exotica

"The only thing this game has is replay value."

As one of the biggest racing fans of video games, I was quite overwhelmed to see a copy of this game on a shelf in my local Blockbuster. I liked both Cruis’n USA and Cruis’n World, so without thinking I rented this game. However, I was utterly disappointed in this game. But after playing a few more times I felt that Cruis’n Exotica wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was more average. Okay enough of my story. Now on with the review.

Gameplay: The gameplay was okay. There were a lot of cars and they were of nice variety. The tracks were ok but not excellent. However, there are only three modes. The exhibition mode, where you unlock tracks as you go along. The Freestyle mode, which is just playing any tracks you want to. And the Exotica mode, where you have to beat every track in order to finish the game. The Exotica is insanely easy because if you lose you just continue. So, you can beat the game, in ten minutes, the first time you bought it.
6/10

Graphics: The graphics were really under par. The cars were choppy and blocky. The color was blinding and to top it off, it had a bad frame rate. The tracks were definitely better than the cars but is nothing to dance about.
4/10

Controls: The controls are very simple. A to accelerate and the control stick to move. B is for brake but you never need it. There should have been more things but this is good enough to be the best in the game.
8/10

Sound/Audio/Music: The music is barely noticeable but still good. The sound are on par. The sound of crashing is ok and the screeching of tires is really annoying. The commentator is different in every track and is pretty good. So, this feature is totally average.
5/10

Story: What story? This is a racing game, so it’s ok to not have a story. It would have better though to have a story.

Overall: This game is totally average and wouldn’t please everyone.
6/10

Replayability: This has a lot of replay value because you would probably want to play it again to gain new tracks and cars. So, this part is good.
8/10

Buy or Rent: If you’re a fan of Midway racings, the Cruis’n series or plain racing games, I would advise you to rent first. And for others, I would tell you stay very away from this game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/03