Cruis'n USA (N64)

Cruis'n USA was probably a big hit when it first hit the arcade back in 1994, but the 1996 port to the N64 fared badly. Many people complained as the game was a direct port and therefore received no enhancements even though it was produced 2 years later on a console with more power.

That was probably the main problem, 2 years later and no upgrades, not to mention with the game being designed for an arcade system it's laid out in a coin-op way, you almost feel as though if you don't win the race (which you always do win by the way) it'll ask you to insert 50p to try again.

The game delivers quite a dull experience, you'll often find yourself driving ahead of the pack and not seeing another driver for a couple of minutes, the best remedy for this is playing in the 2 player mode, although that doesnt make it much better.

A few cars are available to drive, with various upgrades as you beat the USA tour with them. One good point for the game is that it has a good number of tracks, as you drive from the west coast of the USA to the east coast, these tracks are also fairly well designed.

In the end i think you'd be better off buying Cruis'n World, its a bit more expensive, but it was rated the best Cruis'n Port, it features better music, graphics, more cars, secrets to unlock, 3 and 4 player modes, It was also set out more like an N64 game than an arcade game, you would never have guessed it was an arcade game previously, whereas with Cruis'n USA, its dreadfully obvious it was a coin-op game.

The worst part about this game is that you have to pay £3 for it, and when you finish the game in about an hour, you might as well travel back in time, find a coin-op machine, insert 50p and beat the game in one go.