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Digital Foundry || Cruis'n Blast on Switch: A Riot of Superb 1080p60 Arcade Mayhem!

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ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

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Oct 25, 2017
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Oh, and 720p60 in mobile mode ;) Remember Cruis'n USA on N64 and in arcades? Of course you do! Many sequels have followed and a new one has just launched for Nintendo Switch. And guess what? It's riotous, crazy fun - and here's John Linneman and Alex Battaglia to tell you all about it
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no article so summary in a bit
  • directed by Eugene Jarvis
  • 90s as fuck
  • SO MANY COLORS
  • feels like a modern Dreamcast game
  • it's a PC port (from my own finding, the arcade board is running on a GTX 1050)
  • docked is 1080p, handheld is 720p
  • targets 60fps, hits it a majority of the time
  • alpha effects drops the frame rate (the switch's poor memory bandwidth strikes again)
  • the nitrous drops framerate to below 50fps
  • nitrous effect is full resolution, could have been lower res or removed
  • otherwise, framerate can dip to 57-58
  • a lower res might have helped
  • 2player is unlocked, ~45fps
  • 4player is also unlocked, ~30fps, can go lower
  • portable mode has less drops due to less stress on memory bandwidth
  • splitscreen on portable too (for some reason), ~30fps
  • John recommends the game to people who enjoy Mario Kart
  • much more mechanically refined than old Cruis'n games
  • very small credits list, fewer people made this than expected
  • this isn't a review code, John brought the game for himself
 
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ShinUltramanJ

ShinUltramanJ

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,949
Wait, this is an actual port of a Cruisin Arcade game by actual Midway employees??!

Holy shit, I just thought it was a spiritual successor. Oh, I'm in for a copy now.
 
Kingpin722

Kingpin722

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Oct 28, 2017
1,028
I loved the sheer joy you can hear in John's voice describing his experience with the game lol. Rare to hear, especially nowadays.
 
beelulzebub

beelulzebub

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Oct 25, 2017
4,578
Eugene Jarvis directed this? That's rad as fuck.

I can race as a fire truck, unicorn, hammerhead shark, and triceratops. GOTY 2021
 
lexony

lexony

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Oct 25, 2017
2,518
Lol only saw the low review scores, but this game actually looks really fun. It seems to have not a lot of content, but that is not a deal breaker for me.
 
jett

jett

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Oct 25, 2017
44,646
Have no idea how well it might play but it certainly looks like a fun crazy time lol.
 
thepenguin55

thepenguin55

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Oct 28, 2017
11,793
This looks great. I still wish they would bring H2Overdrive to something like Switch. I want my Hydro Thunder spiritual successor to come home!
 
catpurrcat

catpurrcat

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Oct 27, 2017
7,789
lexony said:
Lol only saw the low review scores, but this game actually looks really fun. It seems to have not a lot of content, but that is not a deal breaker for me.
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DF (John specifically) seems passionate about even obscure retro inspired stuff so we are getting a true enthusiast perspective rather than a critical review
 
prodyg

prodyg

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Oct 28, 2017
2,196
Am I the only one that thinks this looks like a mobile game? Like Asphalt 9 and those type of games. Its a great game and I like a lot of the crazy stuff thats going on but Im not surprised this is running at 60 on the switch.
 
lexony

lexony

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Oct 25, 2017
2,518
catpurrcat said:
DF (John specifically) seems passionate about even obscure retro inspired stuff so we are getting a true enthusiast perspective rather than a critical review
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I gathered that yeah. But this was actually the first time I saw the game running (outside the E3 direct). I expected that it would had a lot of performance and visual issues. I just read some reviews and the main point seems really to be the lack of content. But otherwise the game looks like a lot of dumb fun.
 
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ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
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Oct 25, 2017
61,987
prodyg said:
Am I the only one that thinks this looks like a mobile game? Like Asphalt 9 and those type of games. Its a great game and I like a lot of the crazy stuff thats going on but Im not surprised this is running at 60 on the switch.
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saying "it looks like a mobile game" lost its meaning as soon as mobile games started to surpass 360 and PS3 level of graphics
 
Ridley327

Ridley327

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Oct 25, 2017
14,453
Georgia (the state, not the country)
I feel like someone should tell Dark1x and Dictator who owns the IP, since they sound so excited about the prospects of a PC port that's assuredly never going to happen as a result.

I love the term "adventure racing" being applied to this style of arcade racer, and I'm sure everyone knows where John got that from in the first place, since you really do find yourself just in awe of the stages themselves as you race through them that they kinda threaten to be the star of the show! Seems like a really damn solid port to Switch as well, which I imagine was no easy task considering how much the game is pretty much one chaotic set piece after another.
 
fiendcode

fiendcode

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Oct 26, 2017
24,903
SiG

SiG

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Oct 25, 2017
6,485
fiendcode said:
After TW101 Remastered I feel like we should never say never, even though it's really unlikely.
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That depends if they're willing to buy the entire IP directly from Nintendo....and if they're even willing to sell it.

Also it was likely Platinum sold the rights to Astral Chain completely to Nintendo in return for acquiring TW101 100% (plus Hideki Kamiya's close relations).
 
Ridley327

Ridley327

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Oct 25, 2017
14,453
Georgia (the state, not the country)
ILikeFeet said:
unlike W101, Nintendo wholly owned Cruis'n since day one
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Yeah, and there's also the whole "Cruis'n is a genuinely successful IP" thing it has going for it that W101 didn't.

Clearly, Jarvis and the rest of his team have been very happy with their arrangement on the series that's lasted past Midway's death, so I don't see them being interested in potentially rocking the boat like that.
 
captmcblack

captmcblack

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Oct 25, 2017
5,058
Badass, think I'm buying this for that OG arcade racing action. I'd love this to succeed and then other companies do arcade racing revivals...
 
Skittzo

Skittzo

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Oct 25, 2017
41,037
I might have to pick this up if there's an eShop holiday sale or something. I'm not the biggest fan of arcade racers but I love the zaniness I've seen in this.
 
fiendcode

fiendcode

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Oct 26, 2017
24,903
SiG said:
That depends if they're willing to buy the entire IP directly from Nintendo....and if they're even willing to sell it.

Also it was likely Platinum sold the rights to Astral Chain completely to Nintendo in return for acquiring TW101 100% (plus Hideki Kamiya's close relations).
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Yeah, W101 was sort of a special case but we've also seen Nintendo loosen the exclusivity strings a bit for other 1st party produced games (Lego City Undercover, Fatal Frame V) although they didn't own those IP.

ILikeFeet said:
unlike W101, Nintendo wholly owned Cruis'n since day one
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Not day one but it is now. Midway co-owned the 90s games in much the same way some Nintendo games are co-owned by the devs (Kirby, Pokémon, Starfy, Fire Emblem, Earthbound, etc).
 
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ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
fiendcode said:
The IP yes but Midway still held rights over the game itself. After they folded everything reverted to Nintendo.
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in either case, Nintendo would prevent the game from going anywhere else because of the name. I guess they can always rebadge the game to something else like they did Fast and the Furious
 
fiendcode

fiendcode

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Oct 26, 2017
24,903
ILikeFeet said:
in either case, Nintendo would prevent the game from going anywhere else because of the name. I guess they can always rebadge the game to something else like they did Fast and the Furious
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That's true but honestly I doubt Raw Thrills will bother. If they want to port games beyond Switch they have plenty of other games to do it with.

I sorta think this might be a one and done for them on console in general unless it does really well, and even then I'd expect them to do more on Switch over moving elsewhere (online mode, maybe additional DLC, Cruis'n Collection, etc).
 
julian

julian

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Oct 27, 2017
16,726
Fine fine. I bit the bullet and ordered it. I get the sense they didn't make a lot of copies. Best Buy has them for store pickup but for a later date. They don't seem to have any in stock.
 
.exe

.exe

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Oct 25, 2017
22,205
Not much of a looker, but the performance does sound good and it seems decently fun.
 
Ariakon44

Ariakon44

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Nov 17, 2020
10,166
I forgot this came out! I don't have the money for it right now but I'm glad to hear it performs well and will definitely pick it up in the future.
 
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