Cruis'n Blast Reviews
Cruis'n Blast is an endearingly earnest arcade racing time capsule, but it's also a very lean package that struggles to disguise its origins as a wafer-thin 2017 arcade cabinet.
A stupendously entertaining, infectiously energetic racer that could only have ever come from the arcades.
Cruis’n Blast is a deeply flawed game, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. It is shockingly overpriced for what you get – £35, which is nearly Mario Kart money! – and it lacks the depth or variety of the genre’s best. However, for a quick pick up and play on the bus or a bit of multiplayer fun with friends, it’s an enjoyable throwback to gaming’s past. At the end, Cruis’n Blast is the most ‘90s thing of all: a rental.
Cruis’n Blast borrows a lot from films like the Fast and Furious franchise. But as those films get higher budgets and more polished visual effects, their creators could learn from a game like Cruis’n Blast: Too much polish can conceal all the fun.
Arcade racers should be better represented on console and PC, with Cruis’n Blast ticking a lot of boxes for those who love this genre and wish that it wasn’t almost solely confined to arcade cabinets. There are few games that will pitch a unicorn in a race against a UFO, and such possibilities in Cruis’n Blast should be celebrated appropriately. However, performance problems, the absence of online multiplayer, and the lack of things to do for the solo player make for an altogether disappointing port, that nonetheless just about offers enough to warrant the attention of arcade racing fans.
I absolutely do miss those days. I can’t get on with realistic racing games, so I crave a steady diet of the stuff that Cruis’n Blast gives. At the same time, I normally rented racing games on the N64 and rarely bought them. The same would have held true for Cruis’n Blast. It’s too fleeting to really grab hold of my grey matter and make a home there. I had a lot of fun while it lasted, but now it’s time to return to the beige, carefully curated modernity.
All things considered, it took me a little over an hour or so to see just about everything that Cruis’n Blast has to offer. The Nintendo Switch racing scene has been dominated by Mario Kart and I feel like Cruis’n Blast had a chance to make a real case for bringing other classic Nintendo racers back into the scene. But if lackluster graphics and mediocre racing mechanics are all we’d get it might be better to leave our precious memories in the past. Cruis’n Blast isn’t unplayable though and would probably make an enjoyable experience for someone with kids or younger siblings. Everyone else should probably head to the arcade and hope they have a much more enjoyable arcade experience available to try out.
A completely crazy arcade game, ideal for those who want tightrope walkers, negligible for everyone else.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A must-rent if you own a Switch. A possible buy if shamelessly silly arcade-racing fun sounds up your alley.
Cruis'n Blast is as arcadey as an arcade racer can be. It has the high thrills and high stakes that are so over the top, but that's the charm of the Cruis'n series. It doesn't require so much setup to just get a few races in. If you are itching for wild thrills and quick rides, this is the perfect pickup.
Cruis'n Blast is a fun game in the short term, but lacks the depth of many other arcade racers and doesn't offer a particularly exciting multiplayer, with just a few local 4-players modes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Cruis’n Blast is arcade racing at its best. Yes, it’s buggy. Vehicles will clip through damn near anything. There is very little realism here. But none of that truly matters. For the 2 minutes you’re racing, it’s just this blur of fast and furious gameplay with wild, over-the-top set pieces and blazing fast speeds. While 29 tracks are included, a handful of those are very similar. I’m really hoping we’ll get a DLC drop at some point with a collection of new tracks and vehicles, just to add some longevity to the overall experience. A lack of online multiplayer doesn’t bother me but could be a downer for others. If you’ve played previous Cruis’n games before, you know what you’re getting into. I had an absolute blast playing Cruis’n Blast and highly recommend it for any speed junkies that need a quick, fun fix on their Switch.
Cruis’n Blast is a fantastic trip back to the past with some modern luxuries to round out the package. This is not a game for everyone. It can be maxed out in a day and the replay comes from the enjoyment of the races and tracks themselves. If you are into that though, you will be hard-pressed to find a more polished version of an arcade racing game to date. You can feel the love from Raw Thrills past work poured into this game and I hope it eventually makes its way onto other platforms at some point. Everyone should get a chance to experience the thrill of arcade racing in its finest form.
For all its faults, Cruis'n Blast does a great job of capturing the style of its '90s predecessors. Throughout its various cups and in multiplayer, there's a lot of arcade fun that's a welcome break for anyone tired of Mario Kart 8. It's easy to wish that more time went into having a variety of modes rather than tracks that can feel too similar to stand out, and the graphics certainly aren't hiding the fact that this game was first released five years ago. Still, anyone looking to relive the days of Cruis'n USA will find a lot to like by taking a whirlwind tour of what Blast has to offer.
As long as you're willing to put up with some performance hits and the fact that there's no online multiplayer, Cruis'n Blast is a hugely entertaining arcade style racer with incredible set-pieces that has us crossing every possible body part in the hope that it's successful enough to encourage more of the same somewhere down the line.
Overall, whether I'd recommend Cruis'n Blast on Nintendo Switch depends on how you're going to play it. For short bursts, it's a solid entry and you'll likely have a lot of fun with it, though you may want to wait for a sale anyway. The controls work well, and there's a lot of replayability when it comes to finding all the keys. But there's a reason these games are meant for arcades and not for home release. There's simply not enough track variety to play for an extended period without feeling like you've replayed the same courses over and over. The best parts of the game are using the wacky vehicles like a Triceratops to race, but even the novelty of that will likely wear off after a few races. If you're looking for something bigger or more long-term, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.
Cruis'n Blast is a faithful port of the arcade classic, that suffers from the straight port of the same game. It's fun, it's fast, and will keep you entertained for hours. However, unless you're a huge fan of arcade racers, you may end up putting this down and never picking it back up. There's no substance and that hurts the game in the long run.
An otherwise decent racing game, terrible AI choices, and rubber-banding cripple Cruis'n Blast. A real shame.
Cruis'n Blast is the most thrilling racing experience on Switch and the best arcade racer in years.