Why all the hate for Cruis'n USA N64!?

[Kevincal]

I have always enjoyed this game even though it was consistently reviewed as garbage (less than 50%...pfft)...Sure, it's not arcade perfect, but it's still a lot of mindless fun imo.

[DigitalSpace]

No hate here. It's definitely been bettered by World and Exotica, but if you like racers it was one of the best in the oversaturated arcade racer selection on the N64. I remember staying up late one Saturday night when I was in high school trying to get all the way through the game. Good times.

[Emuaust]

well probably because there where better arcade racers on other consoles at the time, seems pretty clear cut to me.

[badinsults]

I enjoyed it. There are worse racers out there.

[AMG]

I've always liked the game.

[Mark30001]

I preferred the San Francisco Rush series (mostly Rush 2 for N64 & Rush 2049 for the Sega Dreamcast) than Cruis'n USA.

[madman77]

I thought Cruisn USA was one of the worst home racers of its time. The graphics were horrible, the fog and pop up made the experience unbearable. Tons of better racers on the PSX and Saturn.

[fishsandwich]

I thinks it's pretty crappy. The music drives me crazy and they took out the roadkill. There are so many better racers on the N64, including the sequels. Did they add anything special for the home release? I remember finishing the entire game is less than one hour.

I suppose it got so much negative press because it was the first N64 racer, one from a "Dream Team" developer that were supposed to deliver only A+ titles and it wasn't as good as several Saturn and PSone racers already available at the time.

[bangtango]

well probably because there where better arcade racers on other consoles at the time, seems pretty clear cut to me.

What he said.

By the time it came out on N64, other racing games on competing systems had raised the bar.

It doesn't mean Cruisn' USA is a bad game, in fact I like it. It just means it was deemed "outdated", compared to the competition, by the time it came home on N64. More or less.

[Greg2600]

SF Rush, particularly, Rush 2, much better. I liked Crusin USA, but I agree there was something wrong with the graphics. My eyesight is fine, but then and now, I simply have a hard time seeing what is going on, on the screen. Very odd, something I have no problem with on any other game. In fact, Cruisin World (never got Exotica) is fine. I think they just plain botched the graphical portion of the game, when transferred to cartridge. That is very odd, given the arcade game was based directly off the N64 hardware.

[Push Upstairs]

I think it simply looks like ass on the N64.

But I really liked the arcade game, especially when you got to play in the full "car" machine.

But I did find "World" and to some extent "Exotica" to be better.

[Kevincal]

I understand the criticisms of the game. However, after a quick search online, you'll see many scores of 50% and below which I think is absurd, especially considering the game controlls like a dream...

[jajaja]

I didnt know this game was hated. The reviews, are they made when the game was new or in later time?

[fishsandwich]

I think they just plain botched the graphical portion of the game, when transferred to cartridge. That is very odd, given the arcade game was based directly off the N64 hardware.

The arcade game was not running on N64 hardware. It was supposed to (and rumored to) run off actual N64 hardware but it really ran off a Midway V Unit arcade chipset. Main CPU : TMS32031 @ 50 MHz, Sound CPU : ADSP 2105 @ 10 MHz.

I've seen it written that the N64 framerate was actually a bit higher than the arcade original.

[Kevincal]

I didnt know this game was hated. The reviews, are they made when the game was new or in later time?

They were written when the game was new. I guess the fact that the game was delayed a couple times coupled with the fact that the graphics weren't arcade perfect really clouded the minds of most reviewers and they couldn't look past this and actually realize it was a decent game! Sorry for the run-on sentence! :P

[GrayFox]

I paid full price for it on day one.

That game isn't worth $70, that's why it deserved the reviews it received.

[kedawa]

I've never played the arcade game, but I had the N64 game at one point. I think a friend gave it to me or something. I definitely didn't pay $70 for it.
I always thought the game was laughable, but still somehow fun to play, sort of like Pit Fighter for Genesis.
It's so cheesy that I couldn't help but love it.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I remember seeing the arcade and being blown away in 1994. Several years later I tried the N64 version and it was just plain aweful, the music sounded like it was from the SNES and the graphics were aweful, every stage looked like the last and there was hardly any detail at all. I was bored quickly and yes there were way too many better racers out at the time released even earlier than that game.

[Tron 2.0]

Played it in the arcade pretty much mindless fun.

Can't say i gave the, N64 one a good run didn't own one then.

[cyberfluxor]

I understand where people are comming from not liking Cruis'n' USA due to the lack of certain features and visual effects. Personally though I have no problem with the game and love the racing. It's just fun and the tracks are interesting with all the turns, bumps and secrets. It was a good alternative to all the fighting racers that were out on the system and for some reason a lot of the PS1 games I play the handling isn't as enjoyable, same goes with Dreamcast games, just don't know why.