The first few entries of the Cruis'n series-a heavily arcade based racing game-all followed a general trend. The games, made by the now-defunct developer Midway Games, would be released in arcades, to both commercial and critical success, before being ported to the Nintendo 64 by a handful of different developers. The console titles were never the same kind of hit with critics, but they still found their way to some commercial success, enough to justify 3 entries on the console. It was clear that interest in the titles was waning, though, and the series's third entry, Cruis'n Exotica, was only even released in North America. And upon closer inspection, it isn't too difficult to see why, as it mostly offers the same gameplay you could experience in its two prequels.

A lot of what Cruis'n Exotica has to offer is similar to its predecessors, so it's important to focus on how it distinguishes itself from them. In this case, it's the self-described "exotic" race locations. (Whether you think the Netherlands, Las Vegas, or Korea qualify as "exotic" locations is something you'll have to answer for yourself, though.) That being said, the visuals are, strangely, probably the strongest point in this game. Especially in the Hong Kong & Vegas tracks, the environmental extras added to the courses really pop out and make the better courses feel dynamic. The problem is, this game was designed for an arcade machine, and the N64 hardly had the power to produce arcade quality graphics. That results in a lot of pop in, and for all the surprisingly detailed course appearances, you hardly get any chances to enjoy them. This also makes driving the courses more frustrating in general, as you can hardly see many obstacles until they appear right in front of you.

Not that that serves to make Cruis'n Exotica much more difficult, because as it is, the difficulty is basically non-existent. Controls are very basic-the only buttons you'll need are the A button and the joystick-and even slamming head-first into obstacles doesn't stop your car from moving forward. There's also invisible walls on each track, which means if you cared enough to, you could just accelerate without even steering and still finish the race. Even for an arcade racer, it's simplistic to the point of disinterest. AI controlled cars often behave paradoxically; benefitting from some incredible rubberbanding to remain a second or two behind you when you are leading, but then becoming an obstacle magnet when ahead of you. All of that can result in some pretty chaotic driving sequences, which was likely the intent, but it's not the good kind of chaotic. Collision hitboxes almost seem random, and the only real chance you have of losing is at the mercy of the game's inconsistent physics. CE's multiplayer isn't much different; the frenzied action might prove entertaining in a "so bad it's good" way for a few rounds, but really, with how basic this game is, any more than a couple races is going to have you yearning for something else.

The Nintendo 64 was big for racing games of all kinds, and a decent amount of them have held up well today; Cruis'n Exotica is not one of them. Maybe its design was more suited to the arcade-along with the technical improvements that came along with it-as a game that can be enjoyed in short bursts of fun. But it's downgraded N64 version doesn't feel anywhere near as competent, and is lacking in just about every area that its racing contemporaries excelled in. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cruis'n Exotica doesn't offer any significant enough improvements on its predecessors to justify its own existence, and only a heavy dose of nostalgia or a passion for bad games could justify anyone booting this one up these days.