Cruis'n USA (Game)

Cruis'n USA

GAME » on November 1994

Arcade (Platform)Nintendo 64 (Platform)Wii Shop (Platform)

Tour the continental United States coast-to-coast in this over-the-top arcade racing game by Midway and Nintendo.

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Overview

Cruis'n USA is a 3D arcade racing game developed by Midway and released by Nintendo (Company) for arcades in November 1994.

The first installment in Midway's Cruis'n trilogy of over-the-top racing games (and Midway's first game with real-time 3D graphics), Cruis'n USA has players racing in highways (scattered with various landmarks) across the contiguous United States, from San Francisco (Location) to Washington, D.C..

While the original game was advertised by Nintendo as running on Ultra 64 hardware (alongside Killer Instinct (Game)), it was instead run on the unrelated Midway V Unit system (which would later power its sequel, as well as Off Road Challenge (Game) and War Gods (Game)).

The game was later ported to the Nintendo 64 (Platform) by Williams (and published by Nintendo) on December 13, 1996, adding split-screen multiplayer and new secrets while adjusting certain parts of the game (such as removing billboard advertisements and a less-revealing outfit for the trophy girl). This version would later be digitally re-released for the Wii (Platform) (via Virtual Console (Concept)) on March 31, 2008.

Vehicles

The game includes seven total vehicles to choose from, each differing in maximum speed, acceleration, and handling. Some cars specialize in knocking vehicles away (most notably the School Bus), while some are very effective when driving off-road (most notably the All-Terrain Vehicle).

While only the first four vehicles are shown in the Choose Car screen, inputting a hidden command switches the first three cars for the three hidden cars. Completing the "Cruise the USA" mode in the N64 version unlocks new color schemes for vehicles based on difficulty completed (with higher difficulty colors upgrading the max speed and acceleration).

'63 Muscle Car (based on the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette C2 Sting Ray)
La Bamba (based on a pastache of 1930's hot rods, mainly the '32 Ford.)
Devastator IV (similar to the Jaguar XK220)
Italia P69 (based on the Ferrari Testarossa)
All-Terrain Vehicle (based on the Jeep Wrangler (Object))
School Bus (Object) (similar to a Carpenter conventional school bus)
Police Car (Object) (based on the fourth generation Chevrolet Caprice)

The N64 version of the game has special cheat codes, one that allows players to perform nitro boosts after each checkpoint and one that toggles flashing lights and sirens for the School Bus and Police Car vehicles.

Tracks

The game includes 14 total tracks to race, most of which can be raced individually (usually in an attempt to get a record time).

In addition to the Quick Race options, players can choose "Cruise the USA" mode, a marathon where all 14 tracks can be played in a specific order (including the last track, which cannot be raced individually). Progress is shown at a map of the coast-to-coast route (from San Francisco (Location), through parts of U.S. Route 101 and Interstates 40, 25, 90, 80, and 70, to Washington, D.C.). If the player does not get in first place for a race in the Arcade version, they must add additional credits to continue the mode.

Golden Gate Park (easy) (can be raced individually with a cheat code)
San Francisco (Location) (expert) (can be raced individually with a cheat code)
US 101 (easy)
Redwood Forest (expert)
Beverly Hills (medium)
LA Freeway (easy)
Death Valley (medium)
Arizona (Location) (easy)
Grand Canyon (expert)
Iowa (medium)
Chicago (Location) (expert)
Indiana (Location) (medium) (can be raced individually with a cheat code)
Appalachia (medium)
Washington DC (unknown) (cannot be raced individually)

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