Cruis'n Blast (Nintendo Switch)
For years it’s blown my mind why Nintendo have never released this awesome arcade racer on any of their home consoles. Finally someone from Nintendo listened to my cries, but is the home conversion worth the wait? I’m Kutski and this is my review of Cruis’n Blast for Nintendo Switch!
The Cruis’n series started back on the N64 with Cruis’n USA. Cruis’n Blast is the 6th game in the series released as an arcade exclusive in 2017.
Ever since I first played this in the arcade I knew it would be the perfect fit for Nintendo Switch. It’s not overly demanding technically, and fits perfectly for Nintendos family fun approach to gaming, but as the years passed it felt the the window of opportunity had passed. But after a surprise reveal in a recent Nintendo direct we finally have the home console port.
The best way to describe this game would be to think about Forza or Grand Torismo… and then think what the absolute polar opposite would be and that will be pretty close to Cruis’n Blast!!
It has far more in common with the like of Mario Kart with it’s turbo pads, drift-boost mechanics and stunts. In fact it feels like a throw back to the early 2000 Sega arcade racers like 18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker where the absurdity of the track locations, staged events and ridiculous vehicles is the appeal of the game as much as the racing. Each track feels as much like a roller coaster as it does a race track.
Cruis’n Blast has several different modes, arcade, cruis’n tour, time trial and multi player.
The arcade mode, as you would expect is the original 5 races from the arcade set at exotic locations around the world each lasting around 2 minutes of chaotic action each.
Cruis’n Tour is the expanded version of the game featuring 6 tours including 4 tracks in each. The game claims to have 30 tracks but the reality is the additional tracks are new routes and variations of the original arcade tracks, with some of them taking only around 1 minute or less to complete. They are all still visually stunning and uniquely rememberable.
Time trial is exactly what you would expect, but multiplayer is the only disappointing part of this games offering. Locally it’s great, 2-4 player split screen and option for wireless adhoc multiplayer for people in close proximity with multiple Switches and copies of the game, but the lack of online mulitplayer feels like a gaping hole in the package to me.
I understand this isn’t a full price game and online modes are not a trivial addition, but even indie racers like Hotshot Racing offer a robust online mode for an even cheaper asking price.
In short I love Cruis’n Blast. It’s almost everything I wanted it to be. You’ll know by now if this game is for you or not. It’s not the deepest game for the launch asking price of £35. To finish all the tracks and unlock all the crazy vehicles might take you around 5hrs I’d guess? But the game is so fun to pay this won’t stop me returning to the game regularly when friends are over!!