@N64 Glenn Plant, My dad who passed away on Aug. 6th 2006 May he RIP. This was his favorite Cruis'n Game in the series. I played it with him a lot. I also like this game.
I absolutely love crusin' USA, maybe it's the memories of playing it in a heathrow bowling alley a lot as a kid with its screen of " coming soon for the ultra 64" and imagining how awesome it would be to play at home. Or the whole over the top loads of wacky shit on screen stuff that 90s racers had. But it is a terrible game, that's tons of fun to play. What the Japanese call "Kusoge".
+N64 Glenn Plant (1) i have it. (2) it's still fun 2 jus pick-up and play. (3) i only paid $2 for it, so i din't lose much, considering i jus got it 2 add 2 my N64 collection 4 a reasonable price. (4) da cheat code 2 play with da police car, school-bus and jeep is simple. At the vehicle selection screen, highlight any car except the Ferrari. Then, press up-C + left-C + down-C. The automobile will become a jeep, police car or school bus!
+N64 Glenn Plant hey you for got about CALIFORNIA SPEED game awesome game i love all the cruisin games and all the rush games i think you should review CALIFORNIA SPEED i love all your videos and the NINTENDO64
When we first got it when I was a kid, my dad and I would instantly crash into everything constantly because it is so sensitive, but with perseverance, we found ourselves weaving in and out of traffic with ease. This game has some of the best crazy crashes of any I've played where you can get in a situation where a bunch of cars start crashing and are flying all over the screen and you feel like a solid gold pimp when you weave your way through the chaos without hitting a thing.
I found that the d-pad was WAY easier to control the car with then the analog stick. To be quite honest the analog stick on general was terrible on the n64
i like this game and never really noticed it being bad at all. I mean sure it isn't as good as beetle adventure racing but it's still a fun racing game for the time.
Because back then (1994) it was really dated. It used the same "formula" of scaled as Outrun (1986) with some 3d effects but nothing else much. During the same year: 1994 Need for Speed Ridge Racer 2 Nascar Racing. So Cruisin' USA was simply a flop.
I loved this game! I still remember when you're driving through the farming regions, if you had it set to first person mode they actually had an animation of green bugs splattering on your windscreen. Such an odd/weird/quirky little thing to remember from a game, but what a nice little attention to detail huh?!
I love this game! It was the first game I got with my N64 back in December 1996, and it's the only video game my dad ever got into. I remember he would play with my uncle and they would try to get the best lap times possible. My cousin and I recently got back into it and played it all the way through, unlocking every color for each of the cars. It kind of gets annoying sometimes in the harder difficulties where you really have to concentrate and use all of your reflexes, but the faster car reward makes it all worth while :)
This game is far from perfect, but it bring me back very nice memories. My father and I played it on the arcades, and we loved it... So, even for the nostalgic value, this is one of my favorite games of all time.
It's a guilty pleasure for me, because it reminds me of childhood road trips across California. I haven't really been on the road in many years and I kind of missed the feeling.
why they make race games where you have so sensible controls and you must to give little touch to the control to make little turns and no just lean a little bit continuously ? (sp?)
I purchased this game when it came out. It's one of my favorite racers on the N64. While not even close to being realistic, that is what is fun about it. Just put the pedal to the metal and knock your way to the finish line. The graphics and music in the game are fine by me. It fits the style of the game and I don't believe it was ever suppose to be a polished good looking game. It is the speed and quirkiness that makes it was it is. I still have fun playing this game and would put it in my top 20 best/most fun N64 games.
I loved the arcade game as a kid. Seeing the split-window Stingray in a game for the first time instantly won me over. It's hard to believe Midway has been gone for so long, and yet I still see new arcade racers running off of the Cruisin' game engine.
I think this was my “launch game” my parents got me to go with the console-one where they threw a dart at a wall and guessed if I’d like it. It always had a special place in my heart because of that.
I dunno if anyone has mentioned it but my #1 memory of this series (among others) was being a small child getting dragged into big-box stores with mom or dad and sneaking off to the electronics section to see if was lucky enough to be the first wandering kid to get to the n64 demo setup sticking out of the wall (complete with boogers all over the controller and random claw-marks on the display case where some kid always tried to pry it open and make off with the system). Anyway it seemed like at the time when the system was kinda new it was either this or Mario Kart in there. Often spent watching while some bigger kid was there first or getting dragged off by mom mid-game. Good times.
ah man I always miss kiosks! when you went to a dept store with parents if they had one it suddenly made it slightly less painful to have to be out shopping with them
@N64 Glenn Plant, I've always liked this game as well. My dad who had played this Cruisin Game as well as Cruisin World, and Cruisin Exotica liked this one the best. I think he liked it the best since it seems like you go the fastest in this one, and you didn't really have to do anything to speed up like you do in the others. I also feel driving feels the fastest in this one.
This is the 7th game I beat in my challenge to beat all NA N64 games (296). This is a very fun arcade racer, where it's unique in that you race cross country, like Cannonball Run, as oppose to a standard racetrack.
When I was a kid, my favorite pizza place had an arcade machine of this game and I would play it every time my dad took me. Chicago was my serious stage, and Iowa for goofing around. I loved running over the deer in that stage. And I'd always put the music as Roadkill Jam when I played. Always. I was so excited to be able to play this at home when we got an N64. First played Chicago. So far so good. Then I played Iowa, and... where are the cows?? Did I pick the wrong level? Did I miss them entirely? Played again, but they weren't there! Also I started noticing that Roadkill Jam, my favorite song, actually really sounded like crap. I could've forgiven the port if the biggest problem was the crappy music conversion (it was a cart-based console, so memory was still at a premium) but taking the deer made me the most unreasonably disappointed I've ever been over an arcade port. It still makes me sad, thinking how much of a letdown that was.
Never played the N64 version, but the arcade version was one of my favorite in the era. Loved the little easter egg secret of pressing the different view buttons, which changed the selection of cars. Loved little details like that.
This was so fun playing at the arcades because it was so over-the-top. When I got it for N64, my friend Paul and I would have the closest finishes and it was always exciting.
My very first game ever. My mom got it bundled with the n64 when I was barely 4 years old and I played it like it was gold learning every track, watching my mom play, playing with my cousin, and my friends. I thought no game could beat this until my mom brought home my 2nd ever game super mario 64 (she bought it for herself to play though since she loved the mario games on her Super Nintendo) and I immediately fell in love with it too
Count me among those who have a soft spot for Cruis'n USA. While its technical shortcomings are numerous, Cruis'n USA does capture the feel of the arcade game and is still fun to just pick up and play (as you suggested). 1996 was still a time where we were amazed to have arcade experiences at home, and Cruis'n USA delivered that-- even if Cruis'n World did it a lot better. I still go back to this game from time to time, mostly for nostalgia reasons... or sometimes to best my own records.
To me, this game is a game that I've been wanting to get so bad. I remember when I was a kid, got this game rented and I loved it. It's a vague memory, but I remember this game stood out to me. I like the 'cartoon' style graphics, it's rock n roll! This game smokes man, and about the theme song, I love the theme song! As a musician, part of the reason I play these games is for the music and I hear a lot of well written music in old n64 games. Like Rush, it's got some rock n roll tunes like "Desert Walk" that really put me in the racing mood! The graphics in this game put me in the zone actually, sometimes when I'm driving in real life, I imagine I'm in crusin usa lol. I turn my radio up, usually on 92.5 Wind Fm, classic rock, and I look at my steering wheel, put my shades on, feel the engine rumbling, smell of gas, millions of years of decayed life soul, burning in the name of the USA. In my humble opinion, this game is a definite must have on the n64. The cover of the game itself looks so rockin'!
I am consistently amused at the fact that you see Mount Rushmore in the "Grand Canyon" race, that "Golden Gate Bridge" and "San Francisco" are two separate races, that the "Chicago" race is fucking challenging as hell, that "Iowa" and "Indiana" are basically identical courses, and finally that the Gateway Arch is on the "Iowa" race. Despite geographical anomalies, I still remember this game with great love.
This, if I recall, was advertised on the back of the box. I got it used at a rental store and had fun with the courses. Not a full price game, but was a solid game for $5 or less a year or so after it came out.
I loved this game growing up, I remember clearing every race first place and I loved to use the gold car, and then when I found out about the cheat code cars I loved using the police car =P.
It was so frustrating to have traffic pop up in front of your car leaving you sometimes with no time to maneuver. I did quite like the series though. It would be a treat if the series were to get a reboot. I miss arcade racing games these days
I like this game too. It's a game that I can just laugh at. I remember as a teenager all my friends coming over to play my N64 and we had lots of laughs trying to control the crazy cars & crashing all the time. It was actually quite a fun time. The game is stupid but not totally broken to the point of unplayable.
Wow, harsh. This game is an all-time classic and is an essential part of any N64 gamer’s library. Even with games like Wave Race, Mario 64, Mario Kart, and Shadows of the Empire in our library we still played dozens upon dozens of hours of Cruis’n, unlocking all the car upgrades and beating every difficulty level. I don’t think there’s anything bad about it, except maybe Redwood Forest, the Water Temple of Cruis’n tracks.
I thought the game looked quite good as other n64 racers looked muddy and dark. This was vibrant, used photography, the levels were more varied and had that complete arcade energy. I also found out that the steering sensitivity could be adjusted and that helped a lot. I found the collisions to be frustrating, yet fun, especially using the manual gear shift to get back up to speed. I also had a steering wheel for the N64 and it made things a lot more fun. The game gets a lot of hate, but it was on arcade for years and people still bought it. It can't be all that bad.
This game was a guilty pleasure for me at the time. Like I didn’t want people to know I was playing it. But I had a friend that also liked it, and I have fond memories of playing multiplayer well into the night...sigh. Yeah, so bad it’s...fun. Good review!
You have to look at the game in the context of 1996. The music, style and game-play were exactly what people were into at the arcades. This was a huge success as a coin-op. Everywhere I saw one there was always somebody playing it. The standard rhetoric of this review could be applied to any other game review. In trying to analyze the game like a reviewer I think the fun aspect is left out. It does not matter if the game is bad the impact that it had was enormous at the time. It was a system seller as well. And the music f-ing rocks! :-)
i always mix nostalgia with modern look at the game, but even for the time the graphics etc were out dated but they didn't care as they wanted to cash in on the success of the arcade cab and rightly so. if it aint broke don't fix it. but also remember I'm UK based and coin ops here were dead from around 1994 onwards bar bowling alleys pretty much so i have only ever seen this particular cab at shows and exhibitions, never in the flesh
I honestly liked this game quite a bit despite the terribly sensitive controls. I remember trying to dodge a last second traffic car popping up out of nowhere. Man was it frustrating if you hit a car right before the finish line only to lose your 1st place. It was addictive though and I ended up completing the game, which felt rewarding
I too, really like this game, despite it flaws. Although side-by-side, it's not the best representation of the original arcade version, it really does have the *"feel"* of the original. If you haven't played it, get a copy. I think you too will be pleasantly surprised.
***** I remember all the MAME enthusiasts stating Cruis'n USA may never run at full speed on MAME, a few years back... Fly's along now though... If you're ever in need of a replacement cab, I can head you in the direction of a UK company and will get you a mahoosive discount (hint hint) =)
I have to say Glenn, this is actually one of my favorite games on the n64, at least as a kid, I loved this game when I was younger and thought it was fantastic and I also liked the arcade, I haven't played it since so I'll try and find a copy!
I honestly enjoyed this game a bit, even though people say it's terrible. It was my first racing game, and ever since I started racing in Mario Kart, I looked back on this game as the game I got my virtual driving license from.
It’s a bad game which is so bad it’s good….watch my full play through video, it’s a fun game and the whole series is a guilty pleasure but it’s a terrible port of a great arcade game
Just bought this game and I love it. It’s a dumb fun arcade game. I don’t try to win, I just have a good time and my god I love the music. The title theme for being so cheesy that it’s fun to listen to and I ended up actually liking the race music
I agree 100%. This game has its problems, and I probably would have been disappointed if I bought this full price back in the day, but it's a fun game. I was actually pleasantly surprised playing it for the first time this week, and have spent a few hours actually addicted somehow! It's nice and colorful, and pretty sharp looking compared with a lot of the other blurry third party N64 games. I found it to be a nice spiritual followup to Outrun. The only major issue with this is the poor frame rate in some stages (especially San Francisco, which is supposed to be a medium difficulty track, but the slowdown on the N64 version makes it the hardest track imo).
I got this game for $3 about 2 years ago and it's hard for me to tell if I wouldn't have payed full MSRP back in the day for this game because I enjoyed it so much that I recently beat the pants off of it on every difficulty in one weekend because I simply couldn't put the game down. Especially on the normal to hard settings the game does get quite challenging so it's not a complete brain check-in considering the game defaults to easy. I think it's worth way more than a nostalgia trip IMO.
A true highlight. One of the favorite parts of the game is the flies hitting your camera view and also the weird soundtrack in which a woman is "oooh - aaah!!! (repeat infinitely)"-ing all the time... Hah, great fun upon discovery with my best friend. We had a BLAST!
Great review. I agree with the whole review and pretty much sums up my thoughts of the game. Sometimes you just have to put in this game and play it. Loved Cruisin' World too and these games always bring a smile to my face. I always felt it scrolled the track like 16bit driving game and loved it for its randomness. Best part of this game would have to be Redwood Forest popping up from know where or the dead stop at the finish line
Do you guys think this game could "teach" me "how" to drive? And I mean as a contribution, not as THE lesson itself. I'm a visual learner, and this could be safe way to know how to drive when I'm on the road (I say loosely, since my road in onscreen).
The graphics are realistically blocky is that makes sense lol ! great review Glenn, as always :-) I understand what you mean about your philosophy on why you like the game also !
It wasn't a Daytona neither was it a Sega Rally or even a Ridge Racer but was definitely a guilty pleasure of mine in the arcades. The added value for me was the hidden vehicles
This is also one my favorites on the N64. I don't know what it is about it, maybe the environments combined with the music, but it's just so much fun. And as you've said below, it's very relaxing.
I remember seeing this game being played in a video rental store and thinking it was the best graphics I’d ever seen on a console. What the hell was I thinking?
I love this game then, I love this game now, easy to pick up and always challenging, always makes for good 2 player fun, and when I need to relax and get my mind off of things, this game does the job, and for whatever reason, even if the goal is just to play a few tracks, I always end up trying to cruise all of the usa, no matter how many times, I always feel accomplished.
Aw, I actually really enjoyed the music in this game lol. I felt like each track set the atmosphere for the level. This game was as much a staple of multiplayer rounds in my house as Goldeneye or Killer Instinct Gold or Diddy Kong Racing.
I checked-out the review video and it was very nice. I heard from other retro gamers that Beetle Adventure Racing was a real N64 gem and that is why I picked it up.
The theme song to Crusin USA is the pinnacle of human achievement.
Doesn't get much better than that!
lmao right? Don't forget cruisin world's lol
+Nomad9 Yeah! Whoa, whoa! WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA-OH!
ALL OTHER RACING GAMES DON'T EVEN COMPARE!
Dude I think you are missing the joke...
@N64 Glenn Plant, My dad who passed away on Aug. 6th 2006 May he RIP. This was his favorite Cruis'n Game in the series. I played it with him a lot. I also like this game.
I absolutely love crusin' USA, maybe it's the memories of playing it in a heathrow bowling alley a lot as a kid with its screen of " coming soon for the ultra 64" and imagining how awesome it would be to play at home. Or the whole over the top loads of wacky shit on screen stuff that 90s racers had.
But it is a terrible game, that's tons of fun to play. What the Japanese call "Kusoge".
***** i like this too, any arcade place you went to in the day would have had a cab of this. i think exotica is my fav in the series personally
+N64 Glenn Plant (1) i have it. (2) it's still fun 2 jus pick-up and play. (3) i only paid $2 for it, so i din't lose much, considering i jus got it 2 add 2 my N64 collection 4 a reasonable price. (4) da cheat code 2 play with da police car, school-bus and jeep is simple. At the vehicle selection screen, highlight any car except the Ferrari. Then, press up-C + left-C + down-C. The automobile will become a jeep, police car or school bus!
+N64 Glenn Plant hey you for got about CALIFORNIA SPEED game awesome game i love all the cruisin games and all the rush games i think you should review CALIFORNIA SPEED i love all your videos and the NINTENDO64
@@mothergoose3585 that's cool
How is it terrible lol always loved this game still play it today still just as fun as I remember
When we first got it when I was a kid, my dad and I would instantly crash into everything constantly because it is so sensitive, but with perseverance, we found ourselves weaving in and out of traffic with ease. This game has some of the best crazy crashes of any I've played where you can get in a situation where a bunch of cars start crashing and are flying all over the screen and you feel like a solid gold pimp when you weave your way through the chaos without hitting a thing.
I found that the d-pad was WAY easier to control the car with then the analog stick. To be quite honest the analog stick on general was terrible on the n64
i like this game and never really noticed it being bad at all. I mean sure it isn't as good as beetle adventure racing but it's still a fun racing game for the time.
That music track House Special always made me laugh. Ooh aah ooh aah ooh aah ooh yeah!
I love Crusin' USA, for all the memories playing it with my brother throughout our childhood.
Also: F--K the redwood forest. That is all.
Queer Punk Space Cowboy lol i hated that track
Thats the hardest map swear 😂
This! 😂 redwood is the worst ever!
Loved this game. Didn't think it ranked as so mediocre.
Because back then (1994) it was really dated. It used the same "formula" of scaled as Outrun (1986) with some 3d effects but nothing else much.
During the same year:
1994
Need for Speed
Ridge Racer 2
Nascar Racing.
So Cruisin' USA was simply a flop.
@@eng3d Ah, NASCAR Racing for PC was the groundwork for iRacing.
Me neither. Loved it as a kid, and everyone would come over to play
I loved this game! I still remember when you're driving through the farming regions, if you had it set to first person mode they actually had an animation of green bugs splattering on your windscreen. Such an odd/weird/quirky little thing to remember from a game, but what a nice little attention to detail huh?!
Me and my mates loved this back in the day. Awesome video as always man.
I love this game! It was the first game I got with my N64 back in December 1996, and it's the only video game my dad ever got into. I remember he would play with my uncle and they would try to get the best lap times possible. My cousin and I recently got back into it and played it all the way through, unlocking every color for each of the cars. It kind of gets annoying sometimes in the harder difficulties where you really have to concentrate and use all of your reflexes, but the faster car reward makes it all worth while :)
I love Cruis'n USA! My cousin and I use to stay up until 3 am playing this.
GamerNRetro ;-D
Remember the head rolling by on the license plate conveyor? I LOVE THIS JOB.
This game is far from perfect, but it bring me back very nice memories. My father and I played it on the arcades, and we loved it... So, even for the nostalgic value, this is one of my favorite games of all time.
man i love hearing memories like that! its what being a kid is all about and can make some games epic
I agree. Games are about experiences, not just technology. Your channel it's great, by the way. Have a nice day!
I had too many good memories of this game! Playing this game on late weekend nights with my friends will live in my mind forever!
It's a guilty pleasure for me, because it reminds me of childhood road trips across California. I haven't really been on the road in many years and I kind of missed the feeling.
What an awesome memory 👍
why they make race games where you have so sensible controls and you must to give little touch to the control to make little turns and no just lean a little bit continuously ? (sp?)
I purchased this game when it came out. It's one of my favorite racers on the N64. While not even close to being realistic, that is what is fun about it. Just put the pedal to the metal and knock your way to the finish line. The graphics and music in the game are fine by me. It fits the style of the game and I don't believe it was ever suppose to be a polished good looking game. It is the speed and quirkiness that makes it was it is. I still have fun playing this game and would put it in my top 20 best/most fun N64 games.
This game will always have a place in my heart as it was one of the 1st 3D racing games I've played at the time.
I loved the arcade game as a kid. Seeing the split-window Stingray in a game for the first time instantly won me over. It's hard to believe Midway has been gone for so long, and yet I still see new arcade racers running off of the Cruisin' game engine.
An awesome review as always! Really appreciate your great in-depth reviews, Glenn.
Have you considered making a review of Vigilante 8?
The main theme to this game is arguably the most powerful piece of music ever recorded.
You need to listen to the smiths 😎 😂
I think this was my “launch game” my parents got me to go with the console-one where they threw a dart at a wall and guessed if I’d like it. It always had a special place in my heart because of that.
First games in a console are always special right
I have a soft spot for this game. It was the first video game I remember me and my dad playing on arcade and N64.
I dunno if anyone has mentioned it but my #1 memory of this series (among others) was being a small child getting dragged into big-box stores with mom or dad and sneaking off to the electronics section to see if was lucky enough to be the first wandering kid to get to the n64 demo setup sticking out of the wall (complete with boogers all over the controller and random claw-marks on the display case where some kid always tried to pry it open and make off with the system).
Anyway it seemed like at the time when the system was kinda new it was either this or Mario Kart in there. Often spent watching while some bigger kid was there first or getting dragged off by mom mid-game. Good times.
ah man I always miss kiosks! when you went to a dept store with parents if they had one it suddenly made it slightly less painful to have to be out shopping with them
@N64 Glenn Plant, I've always liked this game as well. My dad who had played this Cruisin Game as well as Cruisin World, and Cruisin Exotica liked this one the best. I think he liked it the best since it seems like you go the fastest in this one, and you didn't really have to do anything to speed up like you do in the others. I also feel driving feels the fastest in this one.
Yeah I think it’s much closer to the arcade version than any of the others!
This and perhaps Mariocart where the only two games I could play two player at the same time and come 1st and 2nd. Mindless gameplay indeed.
This is the 7th game I beat in my challenge to beat all NA N64 games (296). This is a very fun arcade racer, where it's unique in that you race cross country, like Cannonball Run, as oppose to a standard racetrack.
I liked the controls on it more than the other crusin games because you would use the Z button for gas, I really liked that fact.
You could also use the D Pad if you want.
The RPM bar seems like it inspired the same meter leveling for the turbo-boost for Episode 1: PodRacer or, HydroThunder's speed boost meter.
The fact that this game was available on the Wii Shop Channel is a testament to its greatness
Exactly! F the haters 😂
When I was a kid, my favorite pizza place had an arcade machine of this game and I would play it every time my dad took me. Chicago was my serious stage, and Iowa for goofing around. I loved running over the deer in that stage. And I'd always put the music as Roadkill Jam when I played. Always.
I was so excited to be able to play this at home when we got an N64. First played Chicago. So far so good. Then I played Iowa, and... where are the cows?? Did I pick the wrong level? Did I miss them entirely? Played again, but they weren't there! Also I started noticing that Roadkill Jam, my favorite song, actually really sounded like crap. I could've forgiven the port if the biggest problem was the crappy music conversion (it was a cart-based console, so memory was still at a premium) but taking the deer made me the most unreasonably disappointed I've ever been over an arcade port. It still makes me sad, thinking how much of a letdown that was.
Never played the N64 version, but the arcade version was one of my favorite in the era. Loved the little easter egg secret of pressing the different view buttons, which changed the selection of cars. Loved little details like that.
This was so fun playing at the arcades because it was so over-the-top. When I got it for N64, my friend Paul and I would have the closest finishes and it was always exciting.
My very first game ever. My mom got it bundled with the n64 when I was barely 4 years old and I played it like it was gold learning every track, watching my mom play, playing with my cousin, and my friends. I thought no game could beat this until my mom brought home my 2nd ever game super mario 64 (she bought it for herself to play though since she loved the mario games on her Super Nintendo) and I immediately fell in love with it too
such an unusual and yet interesting first game to get!
N64 Glenn Plant whoa another reply. You earned yourself a sub my friend
How dare you sir I loved the music in this game and the game itself. Great job otherwise I found you last week and can't get enough of your videos.
check out my full livestream play through of this if you're a cruisn fan - id id the whole series!
Count me among those who have a soft spot for Cruis'n USA.
While its technical shortcomings are numerous, Cruis'n USA does capture the feel of the arcade game and is still fun to just pick up and play (as you suggested). 1996 was still a time where we were amazed to have arcade experiences at home, and Cruis'n USA delivered that-- even if Cruis'n World did it a lot better.
I still go back to this game from time to time, mostly for nostalgia reasons... or sometimes to best my own records.
To me, this game is a game that I've been wanting to get so bad. I remember when I was a kid, got this game rented and I loved it. It's a vague memory, but I remember this game stood out to me. I like the 'cartoon' style graphics, it's rock n roll! This game smokes man, and about the theme song, I love the theme song! As a musician, part of the reason I play these games is for the music and I hear a lot of well written music in old n64 games. Like Rush, it's got some rock n roll tunes like "Desert Walk" that really put me in the racing mood! The graphics in this game put me in the zone actually, sometimes when I'm driving in real life, I imagine I'm in crusin usa lol. I turn my radio up, usually on 92.5 Wind Fm, classic rock, and I look at my steering wheel, put my shades on, feel the engine rumbling, smell of gas, millions of years of decayed life soul, burning in the name of the USA. In my humble opinion, this game is a definite must have on the n64. The cover of the game itself looks so rockin'!
I am consistently amused at the fact that you see Mount Rushmore in the "Grand Canyon" race, that "Golden Gate Bridge" and "San Francisco" are two separate races, that the "Chicago" race is fucking challenging as hell, that "Iowa" and "Indiana" are basically identical courses, and finally that the Gateway Arch is on the "Iowa" race. Despite geographical anomalies, I still remember this game with great love.
being british i think many of us perhaps overlooked things like that through lack of knowledge! cool to know though!
personally, I loved this game growing up, I have some good memories of playing this with my siblings.
Andria Lambert me too, always love nonsensical fun!
The music in the console port is not good but the music in the arcade port was a breath of fresh air.
This, if I recall, was advertised on the back of the box.
I got it used at a rental store and had fun with the courses.
Not a full price game, but was a solid game for $5 or less a year or so after it came out.
I've actually never played a console port of a Cruisin' game, though I did play Cruisin' World quite a bit at a local super market. I enjoyed it.
I loved this game growing up, I remember clearing every race first place and I loved to use the gold car, and then when I found out about the cheat code cars I loved using the police car =P.
I have vague but pleasant memories of playing this game with childhood friends...
Genuinely love this game, and have extremely fond memories of it; both in arcade and original N64 release.
This was the first time I had played a racing game that made me feel like I was driving on the highway. I loved it. I was 5 years old
It was so frustrating to have traffic pop up in front of your car leaving you sometimes with no time to maneuver. I did quite like the series though. It would be a treat if the series were to get a reboot. I miss arcade racing games these days
I love this game. The controls doesn't really bother as I have adjusted to the jerky controls.
The little 3 wheeler pick up could out race a sports car on crusin world. Slightly improved game I thought any plan's on a review ?
I loved this game as a kid and still do. I like that the tracks are straight lines and the crashes are awesome. Almost like a predecessor to burnout!
I like this game too. It's a game that I can just laugh at. I remember as a teenager all my friends coming over to play my N64 and we had lots of laughs trying to control the crazy cars & crashing all the time. It was actually quite a fun time. The game is stupid but not totally broken to the point of unplayable.
The hit detection makes this game a sick mess, even after that frustration, I have a special place for this game in my heart
I wonder how many people just play the game and set the radio to play redline shuffle on every race?
Only those who are f’in awesome 😎
I agree with a lot of the other post. I never considered it a bad game. Lots of fun! You didn't even mention being able to drive a school bus!
This game brings back memories one of the first added to my N64 collection.
Wow, harsh. This game is an all-time classic and is an essential part of any N64 gamer’s library. Even with games like Wave Race, Mario 64, Mario Kart, and Shadows of the Empire in our library we still played dozens upon dozens of hours of Cruis’n, unlocking all the car upgrades and beating every difficulty level. I don’t think there’s anything bad about it, except maybe Redwood Forest, the Water Temple of Cruis’n tracks.
First game I rented for my N64 growing up.
I thought the game looked quite good as other n64 racers looked muddy and dark. This was vibrant, used photography, the levels were more varied and had that complete arcade energy. I also found out that the steering sensitivity could be adjusted and that helped a lot. I found the collisions to be frustrating, yet fun, especially using the manual gear shift to get back up to speed. I also had a steering wheel for the N64 and it made things a lot more fun. The game gets a lot of hate, but it was on arcade for years and people still bought it. It can't be all that bad.
This game was a guilty pleasure for me at the time. Like I didn’t want people to know I was playing it. But I had a friend that also liked it, and I have fond memories of playing multiplayer well into the night...sigh. Yeah, so bad it’s...fun. Good review!
i still have my copy of cruisin usa. it may be a bad port but is so hilarious, that i still play it to this day
I unironically love the whole Cruis'n trilogy on the N64.
I did a livestream play through of all of them on here somewhere, such a blast playing those games
You have to look at the game in the context of 1996. The music, style and game-play were exactly what people were into at the arcades. This was a huge success as a coin-op. Everywhere I saw one there was always somebody playing it. The standard rhetoric of this review could be applied to any other game review. In trying to analyze the game like a reviewer I think the fun aspect is left out. It does not matter if the game is bad the impact that it had was enormous at the time. It was a system seller as well. And the music f-ing rocks! :-)
i always mix nostalgia with modern look at the game, but even for the time the graphics etc were out dated but they didn't care as they wanted to cash in on the success of the arcade cab and rightly so. if it aint broke don't fix it. but also remember I'm UK based and coin ops here were dead from around 1994 onwards bar bowling alleys pretty much so i have only ever seen this particular cab at shows and exhibitions, never in the flesh
i remember playing for hours on end, and trying to unlock cars. really enjoyed this game for sure as a kidd
I honestly liked this game quite a bit despite the terribly sensitive controls. I remember trying to dodge a last second traffic car popping up out of nowhere. Man was it frustrating if you hit a car right before the finish line only to lose your 1st place. It was addictive though and I ended up completing the game, which felt rewarding
I too, really like this game, despite it flaws.
Although side-by-side, it's not the best representation of the original arcade version, it really does have the *"feel"* of the original.
If you haven't played it, get a copy. I think you too will be pleasantly surprised.
redrocket763 i used to have the arcade version on my mame cab...sad times when i had to let that cabinet go
***** I remember all the MAME enthusiasts stating Cruis'n USA may never run at full speed on MAME, a few years back...
Fly's along now though...
If you're ever in need of a replacement cab, I can head you in the direction of a UK company and will get you a mahoosive discount (hint hint) =)
If I wasn't getting married in a few months if soooo have got another one now. Maybe when I move house I'll finally get a proper games room :-D
Well, gimme a shout when you move house =)
And congrats and good luck for your upcoming wedding :)
Was this the best racing game on the Nintendo 64?
Nope not by a long way but it’s still a fun arcade racer
You should definitely review the other Cruisin' games!
I loved that game as a kid. And that theme song was glorious!
I have to say Glenn, this is actually one of my favorite games on the n64, at least as a kid, I loved this game when I was younger and thought it was fantastic and I also liked the arcade, I haven't played it since so I'll try and find a copy!
I honestly enjoyed this game a bit, even though people say it's terrible. It was my first racing game, and ever since I started racing in Mario Kart, I looked back on this game as the game I got my virtual driving license from.
Playing as a school bus was always my favorite in the arcade. Such a shame they rushed this port.
I find it funny how Nintendo decided to release this game on the Wii Shop Channel back in 2008.
Love the game. It's nowhere near as bad as you made it sound here.
It’s a bad game which is so bad it’s good….watch my full play through video, it’s a fun game and the whole series is a guilty pleasure but it’s a terrible port of a great arcade game
@@n64glennplant well I agree to disagree! I love your videos man. Keep up the awesome work.
Just bought this game and I love it. It’s a dumb fun arcade game. I don’t try to win, I just have a good time and my god I love the music. The title theme for being so cheesy that it’s fun to listen to and I ended up actually liking the race music
Yeah it’s a great switch on and switch off kinda game for sure!
I agree 100%. This game has its problems, and I probably would have been disappointed if I bought this full price back in the day, but it's a fun game. I was actually pleasantly surprised playing it for the first time this week, and have spent a few hours actually addicted somehow!
It's nice and colorful, and pretty sharp looking compared with a lot of the other blurry third party N64 games. I found it to be a nice spiritual followup to Outrun.
The only major issue with this is the poor frame rate in some stages (especially San Francisco, which is supposed to be a medium difficulty track, but the slowdown on the N64 version makes it the hardest track imo).
Used to love playing this game with family and friends
I enjoyed it in the arcades but really have no memory of it on the N64 though I am fairly certain I rented it at one point.
I got this game for $3 about 2 years ago and it's hard for me to tell if I wouldn't have payed full MSRP back in the day for this game because I enjoyed it so much that I recently beat the pants off of it on every difficulty in one weekend because I simply couldn't put the game down. Especially on the normal to hard settings the game does get quite challenging so it's not a complete brain check-in considering the game defaults to easy. I think it's worth way more than a nostalgia trip IMO.
A true highlight. One of the favorite parts of the game is the flies hitting your camera view and also the weird soundtrack in which a woman is "oooh - aaah!!! (repeat infinitely)"-ing all the time... Hah, great fun upon discovery with my best friend. We had a BLAST!
Great review. I agree with the whole review and pretty much sums up my thoughts of the game. Sometimes you just have to put in this game and play it. Loved Cruisin' World too and these games always bring a smile to my face. I always felt it scrolled the track like 16bit driving game and loved it for its randomness. Best part of this game would have to be Redwood Forest popping up from know where or the dead stop at the finish line
Do you guys think this game could "teach" me "how" to drive? And I mean as a contribution, not as THE lesson itself. I'm a visual learner, and this could be safe way to know how to drive when I'm on the road (I say loosely, since my road in onscreen).
The graphics are realistically blocky is that makes sense lol ! great review Glenn, as always :-) I understand what you mean about your philosophy on why you like the game also !
Picked this up for about $5 US. ten years ago. Played the hell out of it and enjoyed it. Good simple mindless fun.
i grew up with this game and was the only game my dad liked cause he felt like he was actually exploring the grand cannon
I liked cruisin usa n64 and arcade as a kid. and still like it today.
I loved this game great track design and soundtrack as well the overly arcade controls made it fun as well as the Co op mode you didn't mention
yeah the coop mode is cool i always liked being able to play any game coop with my brother!
It wasn't a Daytona neither was it a Sega Rally or even a Ridge Racer but was definitely a guilty pleasure of mine in the arcades. The added value for me was the hidden vehicles
This is also one my favorites on the N64. I don't know what it is about it, maybe the environments combined with the music, but it's just so much fun. And as you've said below, it's very relaxing.
yeah its not got the best of anything on the n64 but when combined its just a fun game to play!
I remember trying to get through redwood forest while listening to Godsmack to get me pumped lol.
This was the only racing game I had for my n64 as a kid. I played it all the time, and even really enjoyed it!
You can sue your parents for not getting you Mario kart 64 ya know? :-) in all seriousness though this was still a very fun game
Nostalgia, I remember going to by buddy Alvins house... used to play this game all day along with san francisco Rush and NBA hangtime
I remember seeing this game being played in a video rental store and thinking it was the best graphics I’d ever seen on a console. What the hell was I thinking?
I love this game then, I love this game now, easy to pick up and always challenging, always makes for good 2 player fun, and when I need to relax and get my mind off of things, this game does the job, and for whatever reason, even if the goal is just to play a few tracks, I always end up trying to cruise all of the usa, no matter how many times, I always feel accomplished.
The game handles MUCH better if you use the d-pad to steer. The joystick works better for sharp turns.
Played this game to death as a kid. Unlocked every tier of every vehicle including the cop car and so on.
Aw, I actually really enjoyed the music in this game lol. I felt like each track set the atmosphere for the level. This game was as much a staple of multiplayer rounds in my house as Goldeneye or Killer Instinct Gold or Diddy Kong Racing.
I have good memories playing this game with one of my brother in laws. Great game
I checked-out the review video and it was very nice. I heard from other retro gamers that Beetle Adventure Racing was a real N64 gem and that is why I picked it up.