The first road-based racing game on the N64. I remember this being panned in magazines, but surely not much can go wrong with something as simple as a racing game, especially one that Nintendo themselves published?

Unfortunately, there is a lot to go wrong. Almost the entire game feels exactly the same: driving along the same four lane roads, dodging the same few cars, and turning over the slight bends – hoping that your car doesn’t decide to swerve too much. The handling is dreadful and everything just feels floaty, even collisions. The only distractions are the different backgrounds (which you can see loading in), and this is not enough to stop the game from becoming stale before you’re half way through it – which is an impressive feat when the game is less than 30 minutes long.

There was one level that stood out: a redwood forest level. Most of this is two lanes, with the roadside visuals up close, and some large trees to drive under. In most racing games, it wouldn’t be a good level, but in Cruis’n USA, it’s the best by a long way.

If you really want to, you can complete the game on harder difficulties with different cars to unlock faster versions, but the first playthrough is so dull that there’s really no reason to do so. I can see this being fine in the atmosphere of an arcade, spending a few quid on it, but for a home console release, this is just bare bones.

The Cruis’n series had a few games on N64 and there’s even a new game on the Switch, so hopefully this series improves as it goes on.

Worst

Granted, February would appear to be a disappointingly lean time for PAL N64 owners but surely, in the name of decency, there’s no need for this.

Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #13. Review score: 24%

Remake or Remaster?

While I think the game is horrible, a collection of the arcade games (plus the Wii game) would be nice for the sake of preservation.

Official ways to get the game.

There is currently no official way to get Cruis’n USA.

Re-releases:

2008: Wii Virtual Console