Cruis'n USA
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| Cruis'n USA | |
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| Developer(s) | Midway Games (Arcade) Williams (Nintendo 64) |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Distributor(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Eugene Jarvis (director) |
| Series | Cruis'n |
| Platform(s) | Arcade Nintendo 64 Virtual Console |
| Release date | Arcade 1994Nintendo 64  December 3, 1996 April 12, 1998Virtual Console March 28, 2008 March 31, 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously Upright Sit-down |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A (Kids To Adults) (N64) ESRB: E (Everyone) (VC) |
| Input methods | Wheel Shifter Pedals |
| Arcade system | Midway V Unit |
| Display | Raster 512 x 400 Resolution Horizontal Orientation |
Cruis'n USA is an arcade racing game released in 1994. It was developed by Midway Games and published and distributed by Nintendo.[1] It's the first game in the Cruis'n series and it features locations around the United States.
It was released on Wii's virtual console in Europe on March 28, 2008, making it the first third party developed N64 game to be released on the service. It became available on the virtual console in North America on March 31, 2008. The HOLLYWOOD sign (found in the Beverly Hills track) was removed from the Virtual Console version for unknown reasons.
Although Cruis'n USA was advertised as running on Ultra 64 hardware (based on the Nintendo 64's hardware), it was actually implemented on the Midway Games reality engine.
Along with Killer Instinct Gold, it was planned as a launch title for the Nintendo 64. Neither game made it out for Nintendo 64's launch, however, primarily because the arcade versions of both games were done on hardware that was very different and somewhat more powerful than the console. Cruis'n USA, although impressive in arcades in 1994, got panned in 1996 when it was finally released on the Nintendo 64 due to the fact that the port was less polished than the arcade version and its technology had already been surpassed by other games.
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[edit] Gameplay
Like in most racing games, players race down one-way courses consisting of streets vaguely based on real-life locations. While racing, they do their best to avoid various road hazards such as oncoming traffic and construction. Players chose between seven different cars to race with. As in most racing games, the car can simulate either an automatic or manual transmission. Automatic increases the speed of gear shifts, while players using the manual transmission must switch during races. Players who reach first place move on to the next track, like in most racing games. Unlike most racing games, there is the option to change the music by pressing the music button.
[edit] Courses
Cruis'n USA features fourteen courses to race on, but only eleven are on the menu screens unless using a cheat code to get to them.
| Difficulty | Track Name | Real-life Equivalent |
| Easy | Golden Gate Park | Drive through San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge with easy traffic and some sharp turns. |
| Expert | San Francisco | Rush through the hills of San Francisco on a two lane road with some hard traffic and some hard turns. |
| Easy | U.S. 101 | Race through the highway by overcoming some jumps and turns as long there's some easy traffic. |
| Expert | Redwood Forest | Drive through the two lane road inside Redwood Forest by avoiding traffic and make some sharp turns. |
| Medium | Beverly Hills | Rush through a part of Hollywood by avoiding traffic and making some turns. |
| Easy | L.A. Freeway | Race through the freeway in L.A. by avoiding on coming traffic and making sharp turns. |
| Expert | Death Valley | Drive through the desert in a two lane road by avoiding on coming traffic and some turns to overcome. |
| Easy | Arizona | Drive through the deserts of Arizona with easy traffic and less turns to make. |
| Expert | Grand Canyon | Race through a part of the Grand Canyon with some hard turns and bit of easy traffic. |
| Medium | Iowa | Rush through the country road in a two lane road with easier traffic and some hard turns. |
| Expert | Chicago | Drive through the city of Chicago with some hard turns and hard traffic. |
| Medium | Indiana | Race through another country road in the state of Indiana in a two lane road with some easy traffic and easy turns to make. |
| Medium | Appalachia | Drive through the country road in the mountain region with some jumps to make and easy traffic to overcome. |
| Expert | Washington D.C. | Rush through the capital of the United States by overcoming traffic and try to make some easy turns. |
In addition, there is a map displayed between races that tracks your progress. Five routes, including four Interstates, are depicted on the map, and they are (in west-to-east order): U.S. Route 101, Interstate 40, Interstate 25, Interstate 80 and Interstate 70. Notice that the Interstate routes are not correctly traced, the star for the Grand Canyon appears somewhere in the Midwestern United States, and I-25 is never portrayed in actual gameplay (for example, in the Grand Canyon course, the scenery immediately transforms from the Grand Canyon to Mount Rushmore at one point, and the Rocky Mountains are not at all included in the transformation). Also, the Gateway Arch appears at the end of the Iowa course, even though St. Louis, Missouri is too far south to be included on the route.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Cruis'n USA at the Killer List of Videogames
- Arcade History Database entry
- Cruis'n USA at MobyGames
- An old fan site from the nineties
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