California Speed

Platform	Nintendo 64
Genre	Arcade Racer
Release Year	1999
Rating	⭐⭐⭐⭐⚝
Added	2026-Feb-26

Midway made a bunch of arcade port racing games in the N64 era. This one is no exception. California Speed exists as a sort of Cruis'n USA 1.5; it lacks all the additions of Cruis'n World and Exotica but feels nicer to handle than USA.

California Speed takes place in, surprise, California. It seems designed by people who had at least been to California once or twice; I recognized some locales in the tracks. They're given a distinct Weird Factor though. Alien UFOs, aquariums with sea monsters, strange billboards, etc.

The weirdness gives it charm though. Otherwise it'd just be a very region-limited Cruis'n game. The difficulty is weird. You'll drive entire multi-minute races with the AI tight on your tail just to take one turn slightly wrong, your speed dip 5 MPH more than it could have, and get passed. The game expects perfection.

It's cute though. You get to see a dev studio's weird take on California. It's full of whimsy, and it's a solid Cruis'n game to boot.