Cruis'n USA

Download Cruis'n USA and hit the road in this classic arcade racing game. Race across the United States, from the Golden Gate Bridge to the White House, in a variety of high-performance vehicles. Can you master the tracks and become the ultimate road warrior? Play now!
a game by Midway
Genre: Simulation
Platform: Nintendo 64Nintendo 64
Editor Rating: 6.7/10, based on 9 reviews, 10 reviews are shown
User Rating: 7.6/10 - 5 votes
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See also: Download Racing Games, Cruis'n Series
Cruis'n USA
Cruis'n USA
Cruis'n USA

In addition to Killer Instinct, Nintendo previewed Williams' new driving game for the Ultra 64 called Cruis'n' U.S.A. This game was much more complete as the sit-down version was fully operational ($1 per race) and almost the entire course was programmed in. This game will probably be in the arcades early this fall and then everybody will be able to see what Nintendo's Ultra 64 is capable of.

Unlike Kl, Cruis'n' was not as revolutionary a game. Looking more like a very detailed Outrun rather than the hot, new Daytona or ultrafast Ridge Racer, Cruis'n' takes place over the two-lane highways of America starting in San Francisco and ending 14 segments later in Washington D.C.

Like any racing game, you have your choice of four cars when you start: the red Italia P 69 (Ferrari lookalike), the silver Devastator D1, a brown La Bomba (old '40s car), or a 1963 custom yellow Corvette. Of course, you can select either a four-speed stick shift or an automatic tranny. The goal is to complete each of the segments in the allotted time. Do that, and you progress to the next segment.

Is this a representation of the capabilities of the Ultra 64?

Perhaps. While looking good, it is more typical of first generation-type games. That is, they are OK, but not spectacular. Only after the programmers begin to understand the hardware, will we get to see some of the really great games. More on this next issue.

Download Cruis'n USA

Nintendo 64

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Couldn't get enough of Cruis'n USA at the arcade? Gamers will be happy to know that it's coming to the Nintendo 64 in its true token-takin' form. And Cruis'n USA isn't just a sloppy conversion of the arcade game; the N64 version is a direct conversion that has all the tracks, all the cars, all the hidden surprises and everything else gamers raced to the arcade for. The player can choose from four vehicles-sports cars and buses alike.

There is a variety of roads to burn rubber on: from city streets to the roads of the redwood forest of Northern California. It might not be a steering wheel, but the N64's analog controller should still give gamers the edge they need to maneuver their mobiles at high speeds. This first racer for the much-hyped Nintendo 64 could very well below the doors off of eveiy other racing title available for the home systems, even though the arcade version has been around for d relatively long time. So bulk up that lead foot save your tokens and cruise the USA from your home.

One of the hottest racing games to hit the arcade will be making a welcome appearance on the N64 this fall. Racing enthusiasts who fell in love with the game's original feel need not worry about the port over to the new and yet untested system. The graphics, as you can see from the few preliminary shots we received, are extremely crisp-giving bright skylines and opposing racers crisp, sharp detail.

The original cars also still hold a close resemblance to the fleet gamers have grown used to. The stages also appear to be close to original translation, bearing testimony to the N64's ability to handle high-quality arcade ports. The only question that remains for gamers is: How many hidden vehicles are there, and is the hilarious schoolbus still one of them? A great game that will work wonders for the N64's post-launch period.

  • MANUFACTURER - Nintendo
  • THEME - Racing
  • NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1 or 2

One of the N64's earliest games, dredged up for some unaccountable reason nearly 18 months later for a UK release. Even those desperate for new games should avoid this - it might have a very low price for an N64 title, but it's also got a very low quality level! Shockingly inept stuff that makes even Multi Racing Championship look like a polished diamond.

Pathetic driving game that's fun only for those with half their brain kept in a jar by the bed. Avoid at all costs. You've been warned.

At first glance, this game is very reminiscent of San Francisco Rush, with the same bright colours and somewhat cartoonesque graphics. This isn't surprising really, considering they're both supposedly faithful conversions of arcade coin-ops. As soon as you play Cruis'n USA though, you'll notice the difference immediately. Notably, SF Rush is quite challenging and a lot of fun... Cruis'n USA isn't.

Choosing (initially) from four different cars, the camera pans around your choice as you accelerate out of the parking garage to join the other cars waiting at the start line. A bikini-clad beauty pops out, waves her flag, and before you can say "Aren't you a bit cold wearing that outfit?" you're off.

Cruis'n For A Bruis'n

Everything seems fine to begin with, as the cars all burn off down the track jostling for position and you settle down to pick your way past your opponents... which will take you about five seconds (if that). Once in front, all you've got to do is stay on the track - no real problem as the cars are surprisingly responsive - whilst avoiding the oncoming traffic and any slower traffic going the same way as you.

You should find that you breeze through the stage - or even cruise through, if you will. The problems occur when you hit things. Collide with a truck and your car spins around, flips over and lands on its wheels facing up the road. Drive on, hit another car, do the same, and the same thing happens. In fact, there only seems to be one animation for collisions, the car behaves the same way every time you hit anything - spinning annoyingly. Most annoying is when you hit something fairly slowly, as the car still spins, and your vehicle and the other will usually end up facing each other, crash again, spin again, land facing each other, crash again, and so on. This can be infuriating, happens all too often, and is about the only thing which will stop you winning the race.

Bogus Bonuses

As you progress through the stages (they must be played in sequence to 'open' them for single races) you'll gain various bonus vehicles which you can then drive in addition to the initial four cars. These include buses and police cruisers, but they aren't really any more fun to drive than the original vehicles.

Cruis'n USA is completely lacking in anything interesting whatsoever. All you do is drive down a road and try to avoid hitting things. While you might think that this is about what you'd expect in a racing game anyway, there's no excitement to it. Crashing into things is just annoying instead of damaging, and half the trackside obstacles can just be passed through as if they're made from styrofoam! The cars in the game don't handle anything remotely like real cars. Playing Scalextric would be closer to reality!

The problems with this game, in terms of graphics and gameplay, have not changed, and whereas SF Rush had a whole extra element added to it in the form of hidden keys and secret stunt tracks, Cruis'n USA just hasn't got what's needed to keep you going back for more.

The only thing Cruis'n USA has to recommend it is the fairly low price (comparable to other N64 titles), but as Graeme said when he reviewed this in issue 1, it's really not worth £5, let alone £35!

Pop-up cardboard scenery and music to make your ears bleed. Less about driving, more a rule book on how to cock-up console games.

Hold the Top. Left and Bottom-C to access some 'weird' secret vehicles at the car selection screen. The game's still crud. mind.

Cruis'n USA IS apparently a racing game, although Supermarket Sweep with cars instead of shopping trolleys is a more truthful description.

Taking place across the entire United States, driving in stages from west to east, this is a conversion of the ageing arcade game which had "Ultra 64" spinning on the screen but was actually running on a 32-bit board of Williams' own. At the very least the conversion hasn't downgraded the game any; with the Nintendo 64 version actually having a few minor enhancements.

Tacky

Generally, as a rule in videogame development, it is always a good idea to check that the game is fun, no matter how faithful the conversion Is. But that one niggling detail has unfortunately gone unnoticed In this case. With the choice of only a feeble four cars, you take to the roads of America racing against nine computer controlled opponents, in the hope of winning a car that might be any fun to drive.

Cruis'n USA is painfully short of features that would disguise what is obviously the most basic of driving games, adding nothing to an ancient genre to pull it from mediocrity. Crashes are ugly, pre-defined affairs, so you either spin through a perfect 360° to face directly forward again, or flip the car in the air, only to land miraculously on all four wheels and pointing in the right direction again. Even nudging the sides of a track causes the car to rotate until you are facing straight down the road, and all this is so false and unnatural that it betrays the nice way the cars sway on their suspension during cornering.

Cruis'n USA also suffers from many other problems that make it look as though it simply cannot have been play-tested by anything higher in the food chain than a bap. For example, at the very start of each race all the cars line up on the right-hand side of the road. You begin at the back, but all you need to do is steer out onto the left-hand lane and drive past the rest of them, directly into first place! The computer cars will not deviate from their right lane until after you have passed them all.

If there are any real fans of the arcade machine, they will probably be in love with the idea of the split screen two player game available. Don't place any hopes on this mode saving the game from gameplay hell, it's far worse than the regular one player mode because of the crippling slowing down of the frame rate, which is particularly unacceptable on a machine of such obscene power.

Awful

Next up, the sound. Turning off the music lets you really hear what those sound effects are doing, and It's not much. Aside from when you rev the engine of your car, that is take your finger off the accelerator and put it back on again, your engine is entirely silent! So you can be hammering along at full speed, maybe i4omph, without so much as a timid whimper from the engine.

The civilian cars and opponents cars make sound as they pass, but yours doesn't do a thing. Pump the volume up high enough and you may be able to convince yourself that there is an audible hum, but that's as good as it gets, and a good raw car sound is so important to add feel to a driving game.On a stage like Redwood Forest where it is possible to drive a tiny bit off the side of the track, you will suddenly appear back on the road if you do so, as if teleported, so there is not one single Inch of freedom In the game, remembering that you can't turn around either. Another feature of the Redwood Forest stage is the ability to smash down several giant redwood trees with your flimsy sportscar, without even a hint of resistance, which simultaneously lets you see the wafer-thin dimensions of the trees as they fall down In front of you.

Rubbish

All in all, Cruis'n USA is a depressingly poor product that is not worth more than five pounds of your money. Each leg is only worth winning for the marvellous breasts belonging to the bouncy young lady who presents you with your trophy, but sadly this alone doesn't justify the heavy price tag. It is upsetting at such an early time in this fantastic machine's life to already see the familiar Official Nintendo Seal of Quality stamp on this product, and there is nothing here which will not be bettered soon enough. Steer clear.

Cruis'n USA takes a spin out of the arcades and onto the N64. Choose from several vehicles (including the bus and cop car) in this wild 14-stage ride across the great American highways. Split-screen perspective allows two players to share the action simultaneously. The N64 control stick gives players precision accuracy in the tightest turns.

Ahit in the arcades several years ago, Cruis'n USA finally arrives on a home system. The gameplay and graphics generally remain faithful to the arcade version, which means shallow but fun fender-mashin' mayhem.

Cruis'n's races tour the country, so you peel out on tracks that range from the Grand Canyon to Washington D.C. Drivers choose from four cool cars for exhibition or championship action.

The gameplay is pure arcade, focusing on frantic bumper-car bashing, not technical driving. While entertaining at first, Cruis'n's thrills eventually fade because the game doesn't offer enough diversity or challenge to maintain interest. Even worse the two-player split-screen game is seriously marred by slowdown and pop-up problems.

Cruis'n's worth checking out for the nostalgia value alone, but be sure to rent this one first. It just doesn't have the staying power of a true champion.

ProTips:

  • In the Redwoods, reduce speed for the last two S-tums to retain control. All the straightaways follow immediately, so if you blow it and lose position here, you lose the race.
  • Don't hesitate to pass oncoming traffic on the outside--the minor speed reduction is often better than whatever awaits on the pavement.
  • The Italia gives beginners the best combo of speed and handling, while the Devastator delivers sheer speed to advanced drivers.
  • As you skid out or wreck, hold Up while your car's out of control. You straighten out much quicker than you would by trying to steer out of it.

Graphics

The graphics stay true to the arcade version with snazzy courses and cars. However, the problems with slowdown and pop-up remind you you're on a console after all.

Sound

The mediocre sounds don't do justice to the frenzied action. The generic effects barely register and the childish tunes sound really out of place.

Control

Even with the steering, the handling feels twitchy, and you often get unfairly stuck in crashes. Practice helps smooth over these problems, though.

Fun Factor

Wave Race still leads the N64 for adrenaline-drenched racing, but casual racing fans and young gamers alike will enjoy Cruis'n's rowdy yet shallow action. This one's a rental all the way, though.

Snapshots and Media

Nintendo 64/N64 Screenshots

See Also

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