Cruis'n Exotica

When you think of the brand Cruis’n, you probably think of the ill conceived, poorly ported Wii game that came out in late 2007. Well, here’s what you should be thinking of: Cruis’n Exotica. It’s a game that came out in 1999 for arcade, and later N64. Now, selling the N64 version of the game is the last thing I want do, but everyone knows that the arcade version is the one to play. Just like its predecessor, you race around tracks set in the far corners of the world, running down setting appropriate animals as you go. (Alaska has bears, Vegas has strippers, the Amazon has dinosaurs, et cetera, et cetera. So, you basically zip around 15 different tracks, passing you opponents with ease and speed touring the world’s hotspots.

If you were born around the same time I was, the first racing game you played was probably real 3D and didn’t require coins to operate. Therefore, you probably don’t even know what this game is, besides what I’ve already explained (racing, arcade, strippers). Well, the game is basically you; a 3D car, racing against other 3D cars in a restrictive, colorful, very 2D environment. By today’s standards, the graphics are atrocious. The steering wheel is basically a two button switch, and the sound effects vary from humorous to sanity defying. 

Right about now, you’re probably wondering why the hell anyone would want to play this game, when things like Need for Speed Most Wanted and Burnout Paradise exist. Well, here’s the answer; Cruis’n Exotica is a fun, enjoyable experience that is more than worth the fifty cents you pay to play it. You get to race around and experience and zealous, crazy slice of the world. With the kind of driving games available today, it’s both refreshing and comical to drive a Hummer around Las Vegas at 290 MPH, viewing the entire thing through a tiny, dirty television mounted in something that looks like it was used to stalk an elephant in Africa for about a year. It’s a quick, fun, and funny experience that is completely worth the quarters.