Wow. Holy. *BLEEP*
There were times where my jaw literally hit the floor while playing Crusin’ Blast.
And these moments happen all the time, often within minutes, if not seconds of each other.
Clearly the developer, Raw Thrills, knows a thing or two about their namesake.
In case you’ve missed the train on the Crusin series, Crusin’ Blast originally released to
Arcades back in 2017, and was essentially the first proper new entry the series had seen in
nearly 20 years, at least if you ignore the GBA exclusive Crusin’ Velocity--which
you should--and the Fast & Furious Arcade game that was rethemed to just Crusin’ on Nintendo
Wii...which you also should. Whether it’s racing through London while dodging an out-of-control
Ferris wheel, just before catching a ride on top of a train, or narrowly avoiding repeated
encounters with a giant Yeti by slamming through a wall of ice, or weaving around giant tornadoes
as they rip apart scenery right in front of your very eyes, Cruis'n Blast is a never-ending
cascade of incredible setpieces that makes for one of the most thrilling racing experiences
I’ve had in years...especially, when you can do so as a firetruck, or a unicorn,
or a freaking dinosaur. I could provide a few dozen examples of moments that pushed my heart
rate up to the redline, but so much of what makes the game a joy to play is the surprise of it all.
But is there enough game there for when the surprises inevitably run out? Let’s find out.
As always, Crusin’ Blast is all about a series of Point to Point races that span a variety of
locations around the world, in this case including London, Madagascar, Singapore, rio de janeiro, and
more. The core mechanics are essentially unchanged from the the the rest of the series, where it’s
all about pulling off cool looking stunts like flipping over cars, barrel rolling off jumps,
and now, even drifting around turns, in order to earn an instant speed boost and try to pull ahead
of the pack. But this time, you also have access to 3 boosts...sorry, blasts per race, that’ll give
you an extended burst of speed. And you can buy even more before starting a cup if you need them.
Aside from the boost feature, Blast can be played using a single button across any controller,
whether it’s a Pro Controller or single Joy-Con. Hold gas to go, tap it while turning to initiate
a drift, and double tap to perform a wheelie--or a side wheelie if turning. Its stupid simple--and
is far less tiring than rapidly stomping the pedal in the Arcade, although you do have the option
to press R to initiate stunts instead if you’d prefer to keep your thumb on the gas at all times.
There’s even a Mario Kart-like auto-accelerate option available on the pause menu, along with
a motion control toggle for steering--which mostly works fine, though I found the input
slightly slower than the stick controls. There is technically a brake too, but you’ll never need it.
Besides the boost feature, what truly separates Crusin’ Blast from the previous entries, are
the absolutely wild tracks design which makes even Mario Kart look more like Mario Nascart. The races
are pulse-pounding thrill rides, full of wonder and spectacle, and wouldn’t feel out of place at
Disney World...only without the 3-hour wait. And hey, the Yeti actually works here.
All 5 of the Arcade’s tracks return, along with 19 new ones exclusive to the Switch version,
making for 24 total. They’re divided between 6 circuits, each themed to something likeEscape
Sequences, Stormy Weather...or an alien invasion. By and large, the new tracks fit in well alongside
the Arcade’s, making for a largely seamless experience--even if the Arcade tracks are
still among the best. Unfortunately, a handful of the new tracks, one per circuit, are noticeably
shorter than the rest, ending in a little under a minute, which feels premature and unsatisfactory
compared to the others, like a story ending just before the climax. It’s especially annoying at the
finish line can sneak right up on you, where it’s often critical to use your Blasts
Now not every track is entirely unique, as you’ll see many of the same locations pop up throughout,
like London or Madagascar, with some reused track segments and set pieces shared between them.
It’s a fun surprise when this semi truck breaks apart the first time,
but it’s a little less exciting when you see it again a few cups later.
Some locations start to become overly familiar in the back half of the game, particularly as they’re
paired with increasingly gimmicky cup themes, like Helicopters or UFOs, which are inherently more
repetitive and limited than the broader themes and more inventive setpieces found in the front half.
Although the Arcade tracks are back and even given their own Arcade spot on the menu, they
aren’t perfect 1:1 recreations. While the overall track layouts appear to be nearly identical,
some elements have either gone missing entirely or were relocated to other tracks, like the dinosaurs
in Madagascar which are nowhere to be seen. But there is now an entire Dinosaur cup, which I
suppose makes up for it, but it’s a shame it had to come at the expense of that original track.
There have been a few other changes too: the checkpoint system is gone entirely,
which is understandable as that existed primarily to eat quarters, although the option to retain
it in the Arcade mode would have been nice. The sporadic driver commentary is also MIA--although
that isn’t exactly a big loss as it was largely superfluous.
Perhaps the biggest difference is the graphical downgrade. Because while I think it still looks
pretty great on Switch, in a slightly dated sort of way, there have been some definitive
downgrades when comparing the two head-to-head, like less impressive particle effects such as when
racing through dirt, along with some rather flat looking water that lacks reflections.
And then there are missing details, like the passengers hanging off the cars in Madagascar,
or the road-kill-to-be--sorry--livestock, that once littered the racetrack. Now to be fair,
I didn’t notice moste of these differences until I
went back and compared it directly to the arcade version, but it is
a little disappointing that those 5 tracks aren’t closer to Arcade-perfect, especially
since there’s an entire option dedicated to them featuring the arcade cabinet and all.
On the upside, the game’s entire presentation hits all the right nostalgic pleasure centers
of my brain, from the cheesy but supremely catchy theme song that blasts on the main menu,
to the simple and clean interface that wastes no time in getting you into the action,
as well as the overall style. Engines scream as you tear around the racetrack--perhaps
even a little too loudly at times, a volume control would have been nice--and it all runs at a
mostly steady 60 frames per second, with periodic mild dips, but never anything too drastic.
In the heat of the moment, the overall art direction can look pretty stunning,
though a closer inspection will quickly reveal some low-polygon models, blurry textures,
and occasionally rough animations. But when you’re flying by at 150mph,
it’s hard to notice or much care. The game’s car physics can also feel a little,
shall we say, wonky at times--but that’s almost part of Crusin’s charm at this point.
There are plenty of unlockables to hold your interest, liek over 20 different
vehicles to obtain. But doing so requires finding 3 keys scattered around each track,
which you can cash in for the cars you want. Given the limited movement inherent to Crusin’ games,
tracking down the keys isn’t especially difficult, though a few do require some special maneuvers.
And I generally enjoyed the process, but I’m a sucker for collectibles when the rewards are fun.
Furthermore, beyond the ability to repaint your car...or unicorn,
each vehicle can be leveled up by winning races, which not only increases its status,
but also permits access to further purchasable upgrades like decals, a bigger engine, a body kit,
and even neon lighting--and yes, you’d better believe it works on the Dinosaur too.
Crusin’ Blast is not a deep game. Hell, that’s arguably a big reason for its appeal, as it’s
accessible to almost anyone. Partially because the game doesn’t really believe in punishment--you
don’t have to worry about wrecking your car since it’s invincible, although you can destroy the CPU
racers, which is awesome--nor do you need to worry about veering off course, as invisible
walls ensure you stay on the track. Heck, you can’t even turn around. True to its Arcade roots,
Crusin’ Blast is entirely focused on offering a spectacle and making sure you’re having a good
time. Perhaps to a fault. The gameplay is overall fairly shallow, with most races being determined
within the final few seconds, usually coming down to a well-timed boost. Beyond performing as many
stunts as you can, and boost management, there isn’t a whole lot of depth to the core racing
experience. And for the most part, that’s okay, because Crusin’ Blast puts on one hell of a show.
But over time, I began to realize that while it is like a show, it’s more like a magic show.
In that it presents an illusion that tricks the player into thinking they’re in danger,
when they almost never are. There’s no fear of being sucked up by a tornado or being run over by
a out-of-control ferris wheel, as they’ll always be just out of reach. But like with a magic trick,
you can still be impressed by it even if you know the secret...it
just might not be quite as fun as when you were being fooled.
And to an extent, this extends to the multiplayer too, which is playable for up to 4 players,
either locally with multiple Switches or on the same TV with splitscreen--which is great to see,
and really took me back to the classic N64 days. Sadly, there is no online option at all.
In any case, 2 Player split screen runs at around 40fps with the full slate of 10 competitors,
though 3 and 4 player splitscreen is understandably reduced to just 30fps,
but sadlky with all CPU competitors removed, making for a slightly lonelier experience.
In any case, multiplayer runs well overall and was a real blast in my experience,
especially with 2 players, with nearly every race being a nailbiter up until the very last second.
Seriously, we nearly almost always finished within the very same second...and as it turns
out, that’s mostly because of the crazy amount of rubberbanding being deployed.
To the point that even cars that weren’t being controlled at all--as in, we put the controllers
down--would automatically start driving themselves once another player got too far ahead.
And get this--sometimes they won. Yeah. And yet, despite knowing this, I still had a lot fun--I
just wish you could tone down the rubberbanding for when you want more serious races.
Crusi’n Blast knows exactly what it is and isn’t ashamed about it. It’s a balls-to-the-wall
arcade-focused spectacle that’s all about racing from Point A to Point B and seeing some damn cool
shit along the way. And although the thrills and surprise factor may wear off before too long,
it doesn’t change that I had an absolute blast the first few times I experienced most of them...even
if my enthusiasm dampened slightly after discovering the truth behind some of the
magic. But for all its faults, like lack of depth, reused track themes, a few missing elements,
and overzealous rubberbanding, no other racing game has achieved the
sheer level of thrills or spectacle that I experienced at Crusin’ Blast’s best.
So while I probably wouldn’t call Crusi’n Blast a great game...it is a pretty freaking awesome one.
And sometimes that’s all you need...and that’s why I liked it a lot. Just make sure to turn off
your brain, turn up the sound, lean forward and just enjoy the ride. Plus hey, it’s only $40!
So there you have it, our review of Crusin’ Blast for Nintendo Switch.
Let us know if you plan on picking it up in the comments below. And with that, thanks for watching
and of course stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Crusin’ Blast and everything else Nintendo Switch!