California Speed

Developer: Midway Games (Port), Atari Games (Arcade Original) Publisher: Midway Games

Released: March 18, 1999 Rated: E 6/10

California Speed, like its cousin, Off Road Challenge, is a Midway racing title that is best not referred to as another Cruis’n game because five Cruis’n releases would seem excessive, both on one console and in arcades over only a few years. It’s also probably better to not call something Cruis’n California after you’ve started with the whole country and later the whole world, but sometimes dialing the scope down a bit allows for a little bit more creativity, as California Speed definitely aims to do with each of its tracks and I do commend the developers for this, if only to figure out how much actual interesting content you could get out of the California concept.

Yes, that is distance fog. You were expecting competent programming in this port?

Oh please, that’s your solution to everything, to move under the sea — well it’s not gonna happen!

With a decently sized garage and the ability to explore a solid variety of locales, even though another Midway/Atari release had already laid claim to The Golden City with San Francisco Rush, California Speed is constantly fighting to justify its own existence by throwing ideas at you. I’d say it’s keeping you on your toes, but anyone familiar with the actual track design of the Cruis’n franchise is probably already aware that there aren’t many curveballs on that front, and that most of the stimulation offered is purely visual, catering to the few quarters of the arcade player first, as it is wont to do. It may very well come across as dull if you’re not a fan of the franchise and its simplistic driving mechanics, but like a dark ride at an amusement park, the fun is in the spectacle if you’ll give it the time.

Oh baby, everybody loves the golf cart. I think this might be California Speed’s biggest claim to fame. The damn golf cart. But it’s no forklift — you don’t even have to be certified!

Customizable vanity plates would have been an extremely appropriate little feature for the California-based title, if we’re being honest.

The almost frantic nature of starting on highway, to driving along the shore on a white-sand beach, to a homestretch along the cart path on a lush green golf course (sometimes in a golf cart, sometimes an off-roading baja truck), or from waterfront docking district right onto the bright red rails of a classic wooden roller coaster, or even the trippy imagery of driving through various computer parts in Silicon Valley definitely gives California Speed a decent identity and its own set of memorable moments, but none of it makes it essential viewing, even for fans of the style. It’s not difficult to get a lot of the same laid back, turn-your-brain-off driving therapy from other racers on the system, and while it’s easily on par with its cousins, its obscurity by comparison means you’ll likely end up with USA or World first, and have a hard time feeling like another serving of the style when the racing genre is so deep on the N64.

Additional Information

Saves: Cartridge and Controller Pak

Players: 2

Compatible with: Rumble Pak

Print Guides: None

Aggregate Critical Reception (GameRankings): 43.50%, based on 9 reviews

Other releases: North America Only

My Streams

Commercials and Print Ads

Gameplay Trailer (some wobbly audio in this rip)

Featured in Nintendo Power Volume 118 (March 1999)