 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2018) |
| Cruis'n | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Developer(s) | Midway Games, Eurocom, Gratuitous Games, Crawfish Interactive, Graphic State, Just Games Interactive, Raw Thrills |
| Publisher(s) | Midway Games Nintendo (USA/World; N64) Raw Thrills (Blast) |
| Creator(s) | Eugene Jarvis |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Switch, Wii |
| First release | Cruis'n USA September 1994 |
| Latest release | Cruis'n Blast January 2017 |
Cruis'n is a series of racing video games originally developed by Eugene Jarvis for Midway Games and published by Midway and Nintendo. The series distinguishes itself from other racing games with its over-the-top presentation and fast-paced gameplay, featuring a wide variety of vehicles and tracks based on a number of real world locations. The series debuted in North American and European arcades in 1994 with the release of Cruis'n USA, which, along with Killer Instinct, was advertised as running on Nintendo's Ultra 64 hardware. Two sequels followed, Cruis'n World and Cruis'n Exotica, which featured new vehicles and tracks. All three games were released for the Nintendo 64 as well, with Exotica also being released for the handheld Game Boy Color. The next game in the series, Cruis'n Velocity deviated from the traditional arcade gameplay of the series and was released for the Game Boy Advance.
After Midway exited the arcade business, Jarvis's new company Raw Thrills released the arcade game The Fast and the Furious, which was based on film of the same name and shared gameplay elements with the Cruis'n games. The game was ported to the Wii by Midway with all aspects of the film license removed and released simply as Cruis'n.[1][2] Raw Thrills licensed the Cruis'n name from Nintendo for a new arcade machine, Cruis'n Blast, released in 2017, before being enhanced and ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2021.