Review #682: 64 Memories - Cruis'n World

 Bigger. Better. Faster. The framerate still tanks though.

 Part I: The Flashback
 Nothing to see here! I played the first Cruis'n earlier this year, so, if you wish, consider this the unofficial fifth part of 'Unfulfilled Dreams' or something.

 Part II: The Review
 Cruis'n USA but better, that's how I'd describe Cruis'n World. It follows the same formula of racing from checkpoint to checkpoint before time runs out, but instead of being confined to USA, you get to explore multiple countries.... although Cruise the World ends, fittingly, in USA, capping the whole ordeal with a track in New York and another one in Florida. Beating Cruise The World also unlocks a 14th track, the Moon. Needless to say, going outside USA worked wonders for the game, as there's a ton of variety in the tracks. For instance, I was particularly fond of Egypt and China, not to mention that Kenya's interweaving roads were fun to race through. The CPU feels tougher in this game, even on the easiest difficulty setting I found myself retrying a few tracks. The game is pretty fun, and I'm pretty terrible at racing games, so I didn't mind, and the fact that you can progress through the game as long as you make it at least to the third place made it pretty lenient.

 There's a new racing mode, 'Championship', in which you can play more traditional lap-based races, which simply loop the existing tracks. There's also a practice mode. The game can be played with up to four players, which is pretty neat. What's not so good is that the framerate is still pretty bad. It feels more stable than it was in USA, but if the screen gets too crowded you'll find yourself driving underwater. Colliding against other cars is pure jank, and it never works quite as you'd expect, so just try to avoid collisions. Lastly, you can now perform tricks by double tapping the A button and holding different direction on the analog stick before a jump. It adds a couple of seconds to the timer and it adds little of value to the game, but it's there if you're feeling fancy.

 It's good. It's really good. As a matter of fact, it's better than the first game, thanks to its expanded car roster and more varied racing tracks. The soundtrack isn't as good as the first game's and I think crashes worked a little bit better, if more inconsistent, in that one too, but as far as raw gameplay goes, this one is cruise you want to take.
 8.5 out of 10