Cruis'n Blast | Switch | Crazy racin'! - "stupendously entertaining, infectiously energetic racer" - EG 8/10

Last edited by jawaX on Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:34 am, edited 2 times in total.

Detail

Title Cruis'n Blast
Format Switch
Launch 14 September 2021
Developer Raw Thrills
Publisher GameMill Entertainment

Case artwork

Background

Cruis’n makes its triumphant return to consoles with Cruis’n Blast! Cruis’n first hit arcades in 1994 with Cruis’n USA, and was followed by Cruis’n World and Cruis’n Exotic to quickly became one of the best-selling arcade racing series in history. The racing classic hasn’t seen a new console entry for more than a decade, but the 2017 arcade hit Cruis’n Blast is finally bringing the series back into the home on Nintendo Switch!

In Cruis’n Blast, you choose between 24 different cars to race across 29 different tracks across 6 cups, vying for first against changing weather conditions, alien invasions, police chases, and even up to three of your friends.

Game chat

> Nintendo Life interview with Eugene Jarvis, 29 Aug 2021: Click

Screens / artwork

Links

> Nintendo UK website: Click

> Official Twitter: Click

Videos

> Official announcement trailer

> Official Tracks Showcase trailer

This looks like the kind of obscure game that I'd have found hidden in a corner of a seaside arcade and loved for half an hour, never too see it again in my life.

I can't decide whether it looks terrible or amazing :lol:

Corazon de Leon

That's exactly what Cruis'n is/was, so it's true to the source. I'll probably pick this up if it's cheap, if only to say I own the PAL set. It looks...bad. :lol:

Apparently this was originally developed for medical use, as the first stage of acclimatisation therapy for people who have been in a coma for the last 25 years.

Yeah, Cruis'n Blast *is* an arcade game :-) . It was released in 2017 and this Switch game is an updated version.

Eugene Jarvis, interviewed by Nintendo Life wrote:What makes the Switch version of Cruis'n Blast superior to the arcade original? Have you made any tweaks or improvements for this edition?

Console and arcade experiences have a lot in common, but since home players have the time to really max out a game quickly, you need megatons of content. So we went from five tracks and 12 cars to - get this - 29 tracks, 23 cars, dozens of secret shortcuts and new hidden vehicles. Plus we got lots of new “turbo ramps” with cash rewards and 87 keys to unlock all these goodies. In short, it’s a whole lotta Cruis’n going on!

Well look at that! I'm impressed with myself.

Zilnad wrote:Well look at that! I'm impressed with myself.

. Yeah, it does have that arcade look n' feel. I enjoyed Cruis'n World on the N64 and I'm hoping that, by adding lots of tracks and vehicles to this arcade port, it'll deliver in terms of lastability.

It's the only game that I have on pre-order right now.

rinks wrote:Apparently this was originally developed for medical use, as the first stage of acclimatisation therapy for people who have been in a coma for the last 25 years.

I hope this is as good as Hotshot Racing and Horizon Chase Turbo as loved those on the Switch. Will probably pick this up in a sale.

This looks bloomin' great... *so* exuberant! A unicorn :slol:

.

Under one week until launch! NintendoEverything has confirmed that the game will run at 1080p 60 FPS in docked mode and 720p 60 FPS in portable mode during a single player game; with 30+ FPS in multiplayer mode.

This performance would seem to be pretty impressive after checking out the hectic action in the preview vids. I'm hoping that this arcade-styled, over-the-top racer will turn out well.

Zilnad wrote:This looks like the kind of obscure game that I'd have found hidden in a corner of a seaside arcade and loved for half an hour, never too see it again in my life.

I can't decide whether it looks terrible or amazing

Those arcades were the best :wub:

.
Whack a nice cabinet down and a game like this and watch as the cash rolls in.

At the seaside with friends and it's 100% satisfaction guaranteed :wub:

.

Corazon de Leon

jawaX wrote:
Zilnad wrote:Well look at that! I'm impressed with myself.

. Yeah, it does have that arcade look n' feel. I enjoyed Cruis'n World on the N64 and I'm hoping that, by adding lots of tracks and vehicles to this arcade port, it'll deliver in terms of lastability.

It's the only game that I have on pre-order right now.

I played both Cruis’n games on stream earlier this year and thought they were awful, but admittedly I was between 23-25 years late to the party! :lol:

Corazon de Leon wrote:I played both Cruis’n games on stream earlier this year and thought they were awful, but admittedly I was between 23-25 years late to the party!

The N64 ones are a mixed bag; Cruis'n USA wasn't a great port from the arcade version but I liked Cruis'n World (and the soundtrack was ace!). There was also a poorly-received GBA game and also a mediocre Wii game (a slight update of the Fast & Furious arcade game but re-named Cruis'n due to licensing issues).

The 2017 arcade version of this has a pretty good rep, though, and it looks like the game has been significantly expanded - so hopefully it'll be fun.

Just had confirmation from ShopTo that my pre-order is being prepared. It's the first pre-order I've done in ages and I'm excited!

Gettin' ready to cruise!

A guy in Germany was able to purchase the game ahead of release. Other vids covering different tracks are available on his YouTube channel. He had recorded these using his phone whilst playing in handheld mode so obviously they're not great quality... but it is still cool to see this early.

Some folk have highlighted that this Switch version doesn't seem to have an announcer as per the arcade version... but I still like the look of the crazy, over-the-top racing action.

A few more copies seem to have got into the wild early; this is the first docked mode footage that I've seen.

The docked mode footage did not look good.

Drumstick wrote:The docked mode footage did not look good.

I'd thought it was decent - the pace seemed solid, it was very vibrant and the (faked) reflections looked neat. I'm interested to hear what reviewers think of it :-).

rinks wrote:Apparently this was originally developed for medical use, as the first stage of acclimatisation therapy for people who have been in a coma for the last 25 years.

There are genuine medical applications for games like that so I read this seriously about 3 or 4 times :lol:

Cruis'n Blast | Switch | Crazy racin'! - "stupendously entertaining, infectiously energetic racer" - EG 8/10

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