Cruis'n World

"This is what Cruis'n USA should have been."

Cruis'n USA is probably the worst racing game ever developed. Cruis'n World, its sequel, is, without a doubt, the superior game of the franchise and almost certainly an improvement over the original Cruis'n. Unfortunately, it just doesn't have enough depth to it to make it one of the best racing games ever created. All the fun and wacky physics of a typical arcade racer are still there, but it should stay where it belongs: in the arcade.

Let's make the following clear: Cruis'n World is DEFINITELY the superior game in this series. There's absolutely no doubt about it, and Cruis'n World definitely is a BIG improvement over all of the other games in the series. There are fourteen tracks that cover all corners of the globe, plus a total of 24 cars for you to brave the world tour with. Some of the vehicles are your typical Joe Average speedsters, while there are some other circuits such as a three-wheeled delivery vehicle that can only be described as freaky.

Cruis'n is definitely improved over the original. Instead of being just a straight-on copy of the arcade game like Cruis'n USA was (with just a few small additions to make the game slightly more entertaining instead of just a game whose lasting appeal is about as long as it takes to finish with the 25 cent race), the designers decided to add a heck of a lot of add-ons to the game, the most significant being Championship Mode. You can rack up plenty of points by winning races, and as you gain more points you will be able to apply various paint jobs or power-ups to your cars. The fastest one will boost your car well in excess of 200 miles per hour, so watch out! Lap races in Championship Mode really mix things up a bit. Thankfully, the menus of the game are drastically changed from the arcade version, which was basically a copy of Cruis'n USA.

Of course, there is your typical Cruise the World mode, where you get to race on all fourteen tracks in an attempt to complete your road trip in the fastest time possible. Compared to Cruis'n USA, this mode is pretty useless and only results in the unlocking of a few extra tracks. However, if you place in the top three, you get to move on, unlike the original where you had to win the race.

Another neat little addition: stunts. If you pull off some various moves such as wheelies (which, oddly enough, are pretty easy to do - just tap the A button twice) off the top of jumps or off other cars, your car will do some pretty neat flips, rolls, spins, et cetera. These stunts not only count for points in Championship mode, but in other racing modes, they take off one or two seconds from your final time.

Cruis'n's graphics are definitely a step up from the original game. The head-up display is much more clearly defined in the World version. The graphics and movement in the game are much sharper, and slowdown in the game is not that frequent. The worldwide landmarks seen in the game are actually defined quite well. Unfortunately, the problem of Cruis'n USA is back: there is still pop-up galore. If that's your sort of thing, be my guest and play this game, but otherwise the graphics in Cruis'n World really aren't that great and certainly inferior to the arcade version of the game. Period. Sorry to say it, but there's definitely more to come from this title before it really does become as good as the arcade.

The steering and control is pretty faithful to the series - extremely tight, but very forgiving all the same. Crash into another car or an object, and it'll either go down like cardboard (thankfully, this is slightly less frequent) or your car will flip over or spin around. For the racing people who just love wacky physics and don't care about the difficulty of simulations, this is for you. There's hardly any risk that you'll really get screwed up, since your car barely ever loses enough speed to come to a standstill. Such is fun, but rather painful for those in love with games like Gran Turismo or Test Drive.

Cruis'n's music and audio aren't bad. Unfortunately, the sound of your vehicle is barely audible, and you can only hear the sounds of your car rearing back as you shift up through the gears. Fortunately, the worldwide beats in the game get things going just enough. For the most part, the music in the game is awesome. Otherwise, I'd say that the audio in this game really isn't that great.

For Cruis'n World, the number of players has been pushed up to four, and for the most part this expanded multiplayer mode is pretty good. For the most part the game runs pretty smoothly as compared to other video games' multiplayer modes which can be slightly jerky at times (at the very least). But no, Cruis'n World is pretty decent when it comes to its multiplayer mode. Surprise, surprise! This is probably one of the biggest ways in which Cruis'n World is better than its prequel.

Overall, Cruis'n World is definitely the superior game in the series. For the most part, it's just pretty much more of the same play-wise for those of you looking for a sequel, and I think you'll have some fun with it. But for those of you who though Cruis'n USA was a total washout and it's just the sign of a horrible series, I definitely recommend you give this game a play at the very least. I think the lasting appeal of the game is definitely a lot higher than the original (not just a ''pop in your 25 cents, play, and leave'' type of game), and for those looking for the same crazy racing, guess what? You've still got it. Sure, there's room for improvement, but this is definitely the better game between USA and World.

Final score: 7.9

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/00, Updated 11/30/02