Cruisn' Blast for Switch...

[Reaperman]

Well, it's 0900, I've taken the whole day off, intending to stream the game for a bit, and surprisingly eshop still won't let me launch it. Even after I set my alarm for 0500 and toddled out here like it's christmas freaking morning for the thing.  I initially considered a midnight stream last night, because that's when I was sure it would go live--glad I didn't bother with that attempt.

 

@Shaggy the Atarian's review goes live at 1100 (link), so I'm guessing that's when I can start this thing up?

 

Last night I played through the whole cruise mode on n64's cruis'n world to refresh my memory.  What an unfair game--thankfully what I've played of blast in the arcade it wasn't really like that (or maybe I just didn't get good enough to notice the unfair losses in my 3-4 plays)

 

In N64's 'world,' in one race a time of 1:34, for example, is good enough for first place, the next it's only good for 7th. Sometimes you'll get 'mario karted' by the canned spinout animations, and hit the same wreck in the road 3+ times before it will let you move on. but...that title song is pure magic, and that's why I chose it over exotica.

2 hours ago, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

How does the rush 2049 dreamcast version compare to the one on the Midway Volume 3 compilation on Gamecube?  I really do like that compilation of arcade racers...  Has a great version of hydro thunder too! 

Midway Arcade Treasures vol 3 has ports of the dc versions of both hydro thunder and 2049. Both are considered a bit inferior to the DC originals, which ran much better, but I recall alcatraz edition being a decent way to play that one track. I was really unhappy not to see the 2049 arcade's track geometry as even an option, and the wings are just cheating.

 

Hydro thunder on treasures 3 is sad too.  I usually do treasures 3 on PC, and there was already an older and vastly superior version of Hydro Thunder on PC which outshines even the arcade version, IMO (much higher res). There's a pc version of Rush1 as well, but no Alcatraz, and it requires a specific, and currently very expensive, graphics card (or some messy wrappering) to get working. 

 

The DC versions of 2049/hydro thunder really shine thanks to the VGA output, at something close to arcade resolution (DC has a weird aspect ratio, that really needs a CRT to squish back to correct)--be careful of hydro thunder, though.  The initial DC release of hydro thunder did not support vga-out, so you'll need a later copy. The disc and packaging look a little different, but make sure to check the disc because gamestop mixed all the versions together thanks to their trashy drawer system. Seriously, gamestop has been ruining gaming for that long.

Edited September 14, 2021 by Reaperman

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

OH yeah I remember connecting my dreamcast to a vga crt monitor a looong time ago and being like hmm okay.  i wasnt sure what i was looking for though, and i believe i had no way to play sound.  im sure it looked vastly better than the crappy lcd i was using.    speaking of dreamcast games, there were a bunch of gd roms i had that flat out didn't even work, even though they were pristine condition.  apparently some games had bad batches.

 

Sounds like a fun day.  I have friday off and im going to cram Forza Horizon 2, 3, and 4 all in one day in anticipation for FH 5 release in november.  i am so angry at myself for not giving xbox a chance (except for the OG one).  Now im playing the 360 and Xbox one all at the same time for the first time.  its especually annoying cuz now im going back to collecting racing games for xbox 360 because they look soooo much better on 4k screens than the ps3 does.  just reordered Blur and waiting for that.  Ridge Racer 6 on xbox 360 looks waaaaay better than 7 on the ps3!
 

 

[Reaperman]

Okay, the Arcade Heroes review is up, and is very much worth the view:

 

 

I just got done streaming it for a couple hours--youtube swears it will be (here) whenever it finishes processing, but I'll probably need to upload a higher quality local capture of later, since my internet is still suffering from Hurricane Ida. I golded every championship in 'normal' difficulty, and bronzed one of the 'hard' difficulty ones. (I really like this harder difficulty since I don't generally come in first)

 

My thoughts: It's the best playing Cruis'n ever, with seemingly a lot of little nods to other titles, or maybe it just follows the same stereotypes.

 

Blast runs well & plays smoothly. That's both 'technically smoothly' and 'gameplay-smoothly' by removing things like oncoming traffic and a lot of the other frustrations in the other mainline Crus'n titles. Last night when I was refreshing my memory by playing 'cruis'n world' I wasn't always having fun, since a lot of the action stoppages didn't feel like they were my fault--this game removes all of that. Hit a wall, and Blast spins you forward without stopping you, where the old games (World etc) would stop you potentially 3+ times for that one mistake that may or may not have even been your fault.

 

Awesome title. I think I smiled for that entire stream. I'll also pick up a physical cart on sale some time, but I wanted that digital eShop one so Cruis'n Blast isn't in competition for the cart slot with whatever the latest and greatest is.

 

This is the big, dumb arcade racer the world just needs sometimes. Big vertical drops, explosions, dinosaurs--wow!

Edited September 14, 2021 by Reaperman

[Parker77]

Absolutely great game. Fast, rammed with detail (a little too much at times?), controls well, runs beautifully (I installed the update before playing), plenty of content for the price, and does exactly what I wanted it to do - it's a big, dumb arcade racer in the 90's Midway style. Brilliant stuff.

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

Is there a day one patch on the physical?

[digdugnate]

here's my mini-review that I posted on a Discord server (so take it with a HUGE grain of salt):

 

I was on the fence about whether or not it's worth $40 US because I'm cheap and that's a big ask for an arcade racer, but I feel like if you like that kind of game, it's money well-spent.

 

The game runs pretty fluidly (I think I made that word up) docked, so I feel like you can ignore reviews that are pissing and moaning about 'framerates'.  In my opinion the controls are pretty tight and responsive.  It's more fun than Horizon Chase Turbo in my opinion, there's tons of stuff to do.  The graphics are pretty smooth and over-the-top, the weather effects are neat.  The soundtrack is pretty cool, and I like you can change it ingame.  You have three different 'views' for the cars.

 

Controls are decent and feel better than Horizon Chase Turbo.  It's worth noting you can use d-pad instead of the left stick if you're all the time honking the horn like me.  The AI gives you a run for your money on higher levels but doesn't feel overly cheap, especially in the beginning stages.  The flipping and stuff takes some getting used to, but it's cool, too.

 

Load times don't bother me overly, but it might some.  I think if I had two main gripes about the game it's that I can't customize the controls and the colors of the cars are awful. lol

[Austin]

I managed to grab a physical locally yesterday. A bit of a pain (most places got their shipments late, so I ended up having to drive all over the place to get one earlier in the day). That said, I clocked about five hours on it on stream yesterday and, uh.. had a blast!

 

Overall I had a ton of fun. It's fast and responsive and can look pretty decent at times. It is light on unique race tracks, but the way they change the theme on each one is a clever way of mixing things up without creating entirely new content. For instance, in one circuit you'll race a course with natural disasters occurring; on another circuit, you'll race the same course again but in a different time of day and UFOs will be all over the place.

 

It is definitely designed to be "maximum FUN", so you rarely ever find yourself stopped to a complete halt. You can even try to fall into pits and it just pushes you forward on invisible ground, haha. That said, even on Normal there was still a learning curve. It really required me to get an understanding on how the wheelie and backflips work (carried forward from past Cruis'n games). I would often have to use these near the end of a track where the AI gangs up on me. Also, doing tricks off jumps (to get extra speed and cash) is important as well, and learning how to power slide consistently is absolutely crucial. After about an hour I started getting golds on the Normal tracks, then proceeded to finish that difficulty completely and go back and pound out the Easy ones (since they are all required to unlock the higher difficulties). I managed to finish two circuits on Hard, but most races came down to the wire. Really looking forward to unlock Expert and see what that's all about.

 

For fans of late '90s Western developed arcade racers, it's hard to beat this. It shares so much DNA from those games but is even faster and more responsive. It does get repetitious, but the speed keeps it fun and the collect-a-thon aspect (getting money, experience points, upgrading your vehicles, and tracking down all the keys) adds to the replay value. Some of the unlockable vehicles are hilarious to see in action too, like the Unicorn or Triceratops.

 

I really hope there is a Cruis'n arcade trilogy. Day one purchase for me if that happens! 

On 9/9/2021 at 3:10 PM, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

I tried that one.. It was okay.  I found the color matching aspect irritating actually.  I think that's the game you are talking about..  Theres orange or blue things on the ground you have to ride over?  I found that stupid and added nothing of value to the game.  Sorry i'm hating on the Fast series so much, but I notice it's always touted as a great futuristic racer and it's really just not.  neither of them.

Yeah, I am not a fan at all of the color changing mechanic in the FAST games. If they ditched that concept entirely I would have enjoyed the game much, much more. Also not a fan of unnecessary visual effects that make seeing things harder, like rain water on the camera, or the camera pulling back when you boost. Shin'en, the developer, has always had a tendency of going for style over substance in their games, and it shows in the FAST titles, IMO.

 

3 hours ago, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

Is there a day one patch on the physical?

Yes.

Edited September 15, 2021 by Austin

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

Why is there a day one patch for this? They've had years to put out a finished product and this isn't a complex game.

[Razzie.P]

5 minutes ago, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

Why is there a day one patch for this? They've had years to put out a finished product and this isn't a complex game.

Because that's the sad, shitty norm/reality of gaming these days.

 

☹️

[Hydro Thunder]

Just make sure you don't accidentally order a game that sounds almost the same in title... 

To Cruise & Blast, or to Charge & Blast? 

That...is the question...

*picks up skull and begins soliloquy*

 

 

[digdugnate]

13 hours ago, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

Why is there a day one patch for this? They've had years to put out a finished product and this isn't a complex game.

 

13 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

Because that's the sad, shitty norm/reality of gaming these days.

 

☹️

I'd be more surprised at a game that DOESN'T have a day-one patch of some sort.

[Tanooki]

I don't mind the patch, as long as if you are in a situation where there's no internet, the game is fully there and works right without.  Doom on Switch for 1P mode was fully intact, but required the NET to download the multiplayer assets, which I didn't do.

 

Bloodstained on Switch worked fine, visuals were less than optimal but the game still worked well and can be completed despite all the whining online it didn't match the PC version, it did in time though, but it's all intents and purposes mostly fluff so that's fine too.

 

Yet you get some that are lies with 1/2 a game on the card, or stuff that's so utterly broken it should never have shipped...that's where the issue is entirely.  So if I turned off the internet would the game work great or not load, or be broken beyond enjoyment to play?

[Austin]

I've pretty much finished the core game (Gold medals on all circuits, Extreme included, and all keys for both the circuit and arcade tracks). Searching for the keys was a fun diversion but few were truly tricky to find. I was generally just able to jump into Time Trial mode and take my time looking for them (that newly added brake functionality came in handy there!).

 

I thought Extreme mode was going to be just that, but it's pretty comparable to Hard. As long as you are drifting constantly, hitting all the boost pads, doing tricks off jumps and saving your boosts for the end stretch. Like, it does absolutely require you to play well, but after having already gone through three difficulty levels worth of circuits, it wasn't hard to do that. I also found you can get 2 golds and 2 silvers in a circuit and still come out with the gold cup at the end, so a little flexibility is allowed even on Extreme. Being able to reset the course after finishing or partway through was a major help too and made it a relatively low-stress affair.

 

I do wish there was some real fanfare when finishing Extreme. There was pretty much nothing. I don't think I even got the $100,000 you normally do for finishing the other circuit difficulty levels (I did turn away from the screen so I may have missed it, but I don't think it happened). A proper ending sequence at the very least would have been greatly appreciated.

 

The initial longevity of this one is going to be short-lived for a lot of folks, but at the end of the day it is just a lot of fun to jump into and play a few races (I am about to do just that after submitting this post). The unlockables and leveling up are certainly a way to add replayability, but at its core the game excels the most when you're trying to play as intended and go as fast as you possibly can, which means boosting, drifting, dodging traffic and staying off the walls. That is where it's the most fun and thrilling.

 

Still curious to see if this does well and if they will add more content down the road.

[digdugnate]

2 hours ago, Austin said:

I've pretty much finished the core game (Gold medals on all circuits, Extreme included, and all keys for both the circuit and arcade tracks). Searching for the keys was a fun diversion but few were truly tricky to find. I was generally just able to jump into Time Trial mode and take my time looking for them (that newly added brake functionality came in handy there!).

 

I thought Extreme mode was going to be just that, but it's pretty comparable to Hard. As long as you are drifting constantly, hitting all the boost pads, doing tricks off jumps and saving your boosts for the end stretch. Like, it does absolutely require you to play well, but after having already gone through three difficulty levels worth of circuits, it wasn't hard to do that. I also found you can get 2 golds and 2 silvers in a circuit and still come out with the gold cup at the end, so a little flexibility is allowed even on Extreme. Being able to reset the course after finishing or partway through was a major help too and made it a relatively low-stress affair.

 

I do wish there was some real fanfare when finishing Extreme. There was pretty much nothing. I don't think I even got the $100,000 you normally do for finishing the other circuit difficulty levels (I did turn away from the screen so I may have missed it, but I don't think it happened). A proper ending sequence at the very least would have been greatly appreciated.

 

The initial longevity of this one is going to be short-lived for a lot of folks, but at the end of the day it is just a lot of fun to jump into and play a few races (I am about to do just that after submitting this post). The unlockables and leveling up are certainly a way to add replayability, but at its core the game excels the most when you're trying to play as intended and go as fast as you possibly can, which means boosting, drifting, dodging traffic and staying off the walls. That is where it's the most fun and thrilling.

 

Still curious to see if this does well and if they will add more content down the road.

Cool!  I'm kind of stepping through the game and not really putting a super great amount of time except here and there.  I've managed to clear through the tour mode on Easy and half of Normal and having a 'blast' 'cruising' through the content, hehe.

 

For me, once I finish through the stuff/unlock things, I'll want to just do random races for fun when I get the itch to play an arcade racer down the line.  New courses/etc would be super cool!

[Austin]

26 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

Cool!  I'm kind of stepping through the game and not really putting a super great amount of time except here and there.  I've managed to clear through the tour mode on Easy and half of Normal and having a 'blast' 'cruising' through the content, hehe.

 

For me, once I finish through the stuff/unlock things, I'll want to just do random races for fun when I get the itch to play an arcade racer down the line.  New courses/etc would be super cool!

Not gonna lie, this is the ideal "work from home" game. Offices are still locked down for us because of COVID, so I've been rolling through a few circuits here and there when I have downtime. Reminds me of about a year ago when Mario 35 hit and I was doing the exact same thing. Cruis'n Blast is perfect for that: Short bursts of satisfying fun.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Austin

[digdugnate]

2 minutes ago, Austin said:

Not gonna lie, this is the ideal "work from home" game. Offices are still locked down for us because of COVID, so I've been rolling through a few circuits here and there when I have downtime. Reminds me of about a year ago when Mario 35 hit and I was doing the exact same thing. Cruis'n Blast is perfect for that: Short bursts of satisfying fun.

I like how you put that because I'm in the same boat when I'm looking for games like that for at-home work downtime.  I went through a Diablo 3 jag where I was doing it in-between, sometimes Borderlands, and also Animal Crossing here and there. 

[+swlovinist]

Awesome sleeper hit for the 4th quarter.   My local Walmart did not have copies yet, but Gamestop did and picked it up.  Perfect fit for the Switch.   Combines aspects of Hydro Thunder, Burnout 3, Rush 2049, and keeps it light and fun.  With a budget release and on physical, this one will be a great gift option too for some.  

[Hydro Thunder]

On 9/14/2021 at 9:09 AM, Reaperman said:

Well, it's 0900, I've taken the whole day off, intending to stream the game for a bit, and surprisingly eshop still won't let me launch it. Even after I set my alarm for 0500 and toddled out here like it's christmas freaking morning for the thing.  I initially considered a midnight stream last night, because that's when I was sure it would go live--glad I didn't bother with that attempt.

 

@Shaggy the Atarian's review goes live at 1100 (link), so I'm guessing that's when I can start this thing up?

 

Last night I played through the whole cruise mode on n64's cruis'n world to refresh my memory.  What an unfair game--thankfully what I've played of blast in the arcade it wasn't really like that (or maybe I just didn't get good enough to notice the unfair losses in my 3-4 plays)

 

In N64's 'world,' in one race a time of 1:34, for example, is good enough for first place, the next it's only good for 7th. Sometimes you'll get 'mario karted' by the canned spinout animations, and hit the same wreck in the road 3+ times before it will let you move on. but...that title song is pure magic, and that's why I chose it over exotica.

Midway Arcade Treasures vol 3 has ports of the dc versions of both hydro thunder and 2049. Both are considered a bit inferior to the DC originals, which ran much better, but I recall alcatraz edition being a decent way to play that one track. I was really unhappy not to see the 2049 arcade's track geometry as even an option, and the wings are just cheating.

 

Hydro thunder on treasures 3 is sad too.  I usually do treasures 3 on PC, and there was already an older and vastly superior version of Hydro Thunder on PC which outshines even the arcade version, IMO (much higher res). There's a pc version of Rush1 as well, but no Alcatraz, and it requires a specific, and currently very expensive, graphics card (or some messy wrappering) to get working. 

 

The DC versions of 2049/hydro thunder really shine thanks to the VGA output, at something close to arcade resolution (DC has a weird aspect ratio, that really needs a CRT to squish back to correct)--be careful of hydro thunder, though.  The initial DC release of hydro thunder did not support vga-out, so you'll need a later copy. The disc and packaging look a little different, but make sure to check the disc because gamestop mixed all the versions together thanks to their trashy drawer system. Seriously, gamestop has been ruining gaming for that long.

I know everyone is excited about Cruis'n Blast so this is derailing a bit...

But @Reaperman you were very correct I gotta say.  Downloaded the PC HydroThunder, and it is NICE.  Unfortunately the menus and info (like your boost level, place in the race, etc) are all janked up, but the game runs great and looks great.

 

I also re-picked up Midway Arcade Treasures 3 for Xbox...it's not as bad as I remembered.  Not as good as the DC version but totally playable, and runs smoothly if not creating the feeling of speed from the DC or PC versions.  Plus I like BadLands   So this was worth the $10 I got it for off Ebay.

[Tanooki]

@Hydro ThunderIs it the actual Hydro Thunder or some sort of PC sequel as that's the one I usually see come up most commonly on google searches.  I'm not asking for ROMs and ISos but could you direct me to the title you actually grabbed so I can see if I'm thinking of the same thing?

 

I wanted to get Crusin' from Walmart but it like disappeared, now it's saying it's out, but also with a preorder button and their site isn't showing the usual store inventory section which is strange.  Yeah I guess I'm being cheap but I like $33 vs $40

[Reaperman]

41 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

@Hydro ThunderIs it the actual Hydro Thunder or some sort of PC sequel as that's the one I usually see come up most commonly on google searches.  I'm not asking for ROMs and ISos but could you direct me to the title you actually grabbed so I can see if I'm thinking of the same thing?

 

I wanted to get Crusin' from Walmart but it like disappeared, now it's saying it's out, but also with a preorder button and their site isn't showing the usual store inventory section which is strange.  Yeah I guess I'm being cheap but I like $33 vs $40

It's the actual hydro thunder--I think the one I use is probably from (here).

I don't experience the UI jank, but I'm also running on a 4:3 monitor on my main winxp laptop.

Being from 2001, the thing will run great on any old potato, and the one I keep copying around is fully portable--no install needed. controls are even configurable, but it bugs me a bit that I can't set the throttle to xbox 360 triggers (at least in the winxp version of xbox drivers)--I guess that's probably to be expected with software from one era, and hardware from another.

 

I haven't found a good way to get the spiritual/literal-ish sequel, hydro thunder hurricane running, since it needs windows 8 specifically (as it was an upgrade-inducement exclusive).  I suppose I could do a vm, but there has to be a cracked one somewhere, right? 

 

Now that old San Francisco Rush windows port--getting THAT going involves some ui-jankiness, especially at the resolutions higher than arcade standard. (UI keeps shrinking) Other than the UI, it seems to love super-high res modes.  Oh, and the explosion sounds are janky too, but that's been a 'forever glitch' with that pc version.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Reaperman

[Hydro Thunder]

3 hours ago, Reaperman said:

It's the actual hydro thunder--I think the one I use is probably from (here).

I don't experience the UI jank, but I'm also running on a 4:3 monitor on my main winxp laptop.

Being from 2001, the thing will run great on any old potato, and the one I keep copying around is fully portable--no install needed. controls are even configurable, but it bugs me a bit that I can't set the throttle to xbox 360 triggers (at least in the winxp version of xbox drivers)--I guess that's probably to be expected with software from one era, and hardware from another.

 

I haven't found a good way to get the spiritual/literal-ish sequel, hydro thunder hurricane running, since it needs windows 8 specifically (as it was an upgrade-inducement exclusive).  I suppose I could do a vm, but there has to be a cracked one somewhere, right? 

 

Now that old San Francisco Rush windows port--getting THAT going involves some ui-jankiness, especially at the resolutions higher than arcade standard. (UI keeps shrinking) Other than the UI, it seems to love super-high res modes.  Oh, and the explosion sounds are janky too, but that's been a 'forever glitch' with that pc version.

@Tanooki Reaperman is correct and the link he gave is where I found the old Hydro Thunder.  I would say the best version I have played at home is the Emulated DC version, using PC graphics acceleration etc.  DC emulation is pretty amazing.  Second best of course is the Arcade with the real controls and subwoofer in the seat.  Some day I will own a 2-player sit down cab of this thing.

 

As for Hurricane, I have played this on Xbox 360 / XB1.  I think it's like $15 or less now and well worth it.  Beautiful game, has much of the spirit of the original if not quite the same breathless feeling.

 

And another version to mention, the PS1 Hydro Thunder I played once on a Raspberry Pi, and was shocked that it played decently, if at a low, low framerate.  But not like, gameplay killing.  It looked a bit drab and very pixelly compared to the good versions, but my expectations (which were near rock bottom) were exceeded.

 

Now to be patient and hope that I get Cruis'n Blast for my birthday in a couple of weeks (put it on my "wish list" for family so I don't spend the money until at least then  )

[Tanooki]

Ah that explains it, UK only release not that it matters for PC.  The US got some crap version called hurricane or something, it's not the same.  Then you have the one people somewhat rip on in that Gamecube(etc) midway collection #3 of arcade games.  Sure emulation is a thing, rather just not though, if it can be had on PC and works.

 

Getting ticked at walmart, what's the deal with listing it for sale through google, but then goin gto their page and not having it for sale but preorder with no date for coming off that... it's insane.

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

I still want this even tho I don't have a switch digital foundry just put out a video about this game.  Do u think the physical is going to be hard to find ? Did anyone also test out the u patched version of this yet?

 

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

The drops in this game look amazingly stomach churning. Is there anyone in the NYC area who will meet me in public to play table top switch? That was a big touted feature of the system lol.  I'm being serious I really want to play this so bad but I just blew all my money on xbox systems and all the forzas.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

On 9/18/2021 at 9:49 PM, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

The drops in this game look amazingly stomach churning. Is there anyone in the NYC area who will meet me in public to play table top switch? That was a big touted feature of the system lol.  I'm being serious I really want to play this so bad but I just blew all my money on xbox systems and all the forzas.

You could probably meet up at the NYC Dave & Busters, where they have the arcade version, then you can play both side-by-side

 

Thanks for sharing my review @Reaperman! Interestingly enough (probably because everyone in the Nintendo YT community is reviewing the game), my arcade vs. Switch comparison is faring better in terms of interest: