For the first couple of years it was an absolutely brutal time to own just a Nintendo 64. Right out of the gates the system had some serious issues with software droughts. The system launched with just a few games and to add insult to injury the release schedule was pretty barren. I knew some people who, half a year after release, owned every piece of software for it. With such a small and concise library the duds stuck out like a sore thumb. Cruis’n USA is one of those games. This was to be a showcase for the system; a port of the popular arcade game and it was sure to set the world on fire. Critics panned it and compared it unfavorably to the coin op version. I had never played either one, but today I’m diving into the Nintendo 64 game to see if the reviewers were right.
Cruis’n USA is a mix between a traditional racer and a simple driving game ala Outrun. While your goal is to reach the finish line ahead of all seven other racers a timer counts down at the top of the screen and when it reaches zero you lose. You gain precious seconds from reaching the checkpoints. It’s a pretty basic system with a few quirks. The tracks are composed entirely of highways and freeways across the United States, and on these courses you’ll be forced to deal with pedestrian traffic. What’s cool is that the traffic drives on the correct real-life side of the road, and so you’ll only deal with oncoming vehicles if you travel on the left side. You also have other obstacles such as cones, trees, etc. And are slowed down when you veer off road. You’re given the choice of several cars with different speed and handling but more are unlocked as you complete races in the single player game at each difficulty level. This is a pretty basic racer with very basic options.
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| Real life landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge are the highlight of this game. |
So what sets Cruis’n USA apart from the rest of the pack? Not much to be honest. I will admit that I do enjoy the ‘race across the country’ theme and I found several of the locales to be interesting such as the Golden Gate Bridge and Grand Canyon. There isn’t a boring level in my opinion and I even enjoyed driving through places like Iowa and Indiana. I did chuckle a bit that the game is so focused on the Western United States and bypasses most of the Midwest because I mean, why wouldn’t they skip all that? Each stage has its own set of hazards but by far the best one I encountered is the moving train that you have to beat across the tracks. The only areas I didn’t like are those with narrow roadways through forests because the controls aren’t fine tuned for precision.
The gameplay engine is a little weird to be honest. The physics are very odd. I don’t think I’ve played a game where a car controls quite like it does in Cruis’n USA. While the developers did a good job of making each vehicle feel like it has actual weight the way they turn feels entirely random and like none of them have ever driven a car before. Perhaps it’s because the analog stick was new, but you can nearly whip your car into a full circle at the highest speed just by tilting it a little in either direction. The controls are just a bit too touchy for my tastes, and there are far too many turns and curves in the game. Additionally when your vehicle crashes into something it spins out instead of bouncing off of it which is quite odd. It could make sense in some situations, but crashing into a tree head-on should not cause you to spin out. That’s just weird. What’s more is that when you hit a pedestrian vehicle they too will lose control, and it can be tough to get back into the race when they’re rotating in front of you for no reason.
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| The pop-in is pretty bad, and the animations are stiff and weird. Yep, it’s an early 64-bit racing game! |
The graphics are actually pretty good for the time period in which it was released. Cruis’n USA looks better than both Ridge Racer and Daytona USA on the Playstation and Saturn respectively. The cars appear a little boxy and animate oddly but the models are serviceable. Cruis’n USA’s main strength is in the environments. While there’s a bit of pop-in it’s not as bad as your typical Nintendo 64 title. The courses feature fantastic looking slopes and great scenery that, while it’s mostly paper-thin and pixelated, looks much better and more smooth than its contemporaries. Real world landmarks are easily recognizable, and there are quite a few personal touches to give the game its own character. There are a few weird aspects such as the spin-out animations and how cars drop like rocks off of jumps, but I can forgive these problems. I actually find it very funny that, upon completing a race in first place, you’re ‘treated’ to an animation of a woman holding the trophy. Unfortunately it looks like she’s having a seizure. The soundtrack is pretty lame in my opinion with simple rock based midi tracks playing in the background, but at least you can switch between songs via the in-game radio. It’s not a new feature by any means (Outrun did it a decade prior) but it’s cool nonetheless.
Cruis’n USA isn’t a bad game, per se. It has some fundamental issues with the game engine and these really hold it back, but there’s some good too. The scenery is nice to look at and racing is actually pretty rewarding. Few times have I had to concentrate so hard on a racing game with both breakneck turns and oncoming traffic frequent here, but overall the experience was mildly enjoyable. Cruis’n USA is certainly a product of its time, and although it hasn’t aged particularly well there’s still a mildly enjoyable time to be found within the plastic casing of this cartridge.
