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Ethos Video Game Reviews
Thursday, 24 December 2009
3.5 out of 5.0
Now Playing: Cruis'n USA (1996)
Topic: Nintendo 64

    

     This game has gotten a bad rap over the years since its Nintendo 64 release. Cruis'n USA was the 64's first racing game and one of the first games released for the system back in its debut in the Fall of 1996. The N64 came out of the gate strong with the revolutionary Super Mario 64 as its flagship game. It followed with some other memorable titles such as Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. It was in December of 1996, on Christmas Day, that I receieved the Nintendo 64 as a Christmas present, and what a present it was! I still have it to this day, and it works as flawlessly as it did the day I got it (compliments to Nintendo's quality design). It was on that faithful day where I received the aforementioned games, and of course the one I will review today is Cruis'n USA - as to reflect upon one of my many cherished Christmas memories.

     As I said before, this game gets a bad rap. It generally was a critical dissapointment at its time of release, and time itself has not been particularly friendly to its already damaged reputation. I say now that I disagree with the consensus that this game has garnered and appeal to you, the reader, to judge for yourself. Cruis'n USA is a fine, enjoyable - albeit basic - racing game. What began as a coin-op arcade racer became a port to the N64, and apparently the transition wasn't the smoothest. Nintendo edited out some of the more mature and supposedly vulgar elements of this game. From what I've read, the original arcade version had some brief sequences where you could hit farm animals on the road, and the ending of the game had the President of the United States in a hot tub with his wife - and these certainly did not appear in the N64 version. In any case, these omissions are irrelevent and don't effect the game whatsoever.

     I hinted that this game is quite basic, but that's ok - it is pure fun. You get a choice of four cars, and as you progress through the game, new colors become available, and with the new colors, the cars upgrade with better acceleration and higher top speeds. In addition, there are some secret cars like school buses and police cars that can be unfurled with a button-sequence code. The gameplay itself is rather straight-forward, you simply race your car against seven other computerized opponents, or you can compete against a second player via good-old split screen action. There aren't any wacky jumps or stunts in the game, nor any significant power-ups that can be acquired mid-race, no Nitro boosts and whatnot either. If you like those sorts of things, than by all means, there are a plethora of fine racers out there.

     The graphics, which seems to be the most targeted area of critic's complaints, is one that I don't have much issue with myself. Sure, the graphics now look rather dated, but for 1996, they were just fine. They stumble here or there, but overall, hold up fairly well, and don't hamper the experience. In fact, I say that for the time, it was one of the better looking racing games out there - only to be supplanted by future releases (i.e. the sequel, Cruis'n World, amongst others). Of course, in contrast to some of the other debut titles, like the great Super Mario 64, this game paled in comparison. Aside from that, the game is easy on the eye.

     The sound is another area of criticism, and I can agree to an extent that the music isn't particularly good in the game. The opening theme is silly, but fun to listen to. The in-game music can be switched any time via the pause-screen menu, but the selection isn't the greatest, with really only one or two out of the many being listenable. The sound effects for the cars though are pretty cool.

     So, yes, Cruis'n USA was not a great game, not a bad game, but a solid one. It may not have the big frills and nuances of a newer racing game, but bottom line, it is simple, good fun. If anything, it harkens back to the days of the simpler racers like Top Gear, or even Rad Racer, but, I'd say this one is better, because it has the more modern look. Hunting down a cartridge of it today is pretty easy, and won't cost much either, as it was a pretty prevelant game back in its time (sold over a million copies). However, it is also available on the Wii's Virtual Console. I would check it out if you haven't already, and if you like racing games, I don't think it will disappoint. I recommend it. Happy Holidays everyone!

-Kurt L.

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Posted by ethosreviews at 9:40 AM EST
Updated: Sunday, 3 January 2010 10:02 AM EST
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