Switch version really pales compared to the arcade machine unfortunately -
Missing a lot of assets, effects, shadows, lighting, and just the vibrancy of the arcade machine. Those static cube map reflections look dreadful on Switch.
Its quite annoying that the devs think this wont sell on Xbox, Playstation, and PC. We need those to do the game justice.
First of all I am not sure Nintendo would let them, I thought they had exclusive rights of the IP outside of the arcade or something. Might be wrong.
Second, and perhaps most inportant they are a tiny tiny studio budgeting a cheap game and maybe if they had other studios like Panic Button ok board to help re-write the game code and redo all assets they would have been able to dial the graphics presentation up a notch.
Also, the target price ($35) it is again a big problem for indies / small studios (had they been able to charge say $50-60 again there would have been a higher budget to afford more people working on it/push for higher targets).
The arcade they ported the machine from had tons more memory to play with as well as CPU power.
This is a small studio, with a low $35 target price, that decided to push for the port during a pandemic (so, no, they did not spend 4-5 years making it) because with the arcades being closed they feared not making the next pay check. I would say let’s be less jaded in this case and enjoy the still awesome results.
Third, framerate, crisp visuals, and multiplayer were a target that they felt was core to the experience of the arcade more than some of the additional graphics touches: sure a sub native and dynamic resolution and 30 FPS target would have raised the frame time ceiling a lot higher, but they might make loca multiplayer much more difficult if not impossible on Switch. 30 FPS without excellent motion blur (costly and again we were factoring sub native resolution and dynamic resolution too… so quite blurry visuals). Panic Button, with Id’s help and a lot more time and budget too, ported DOOM Eternal to switch but severely cut resolution, effects, and framerate (unstable 30 FPS) of an engine heavily designed already around scalability.
Fourth, this tiny small team spent quite a bit of time giving players quite a few new bits of contents, tours, racing modes, and racing tracks (even though some are variations of others).
I was playing it last night in handheld mode and it was a blast to play, really great looking, no pun intended, the game is plenty busy visually on screen, tons of shit happening left right and centre, and there is a lot of detail in the environment with the game staying very crispy and mostly sitting comfortably at its smooth 60 FPS target.
Remember Cruis'n USA on N64 and in arcades? Of course you do! Many sequels have followed and a new one has just launched for Nintendo Switch. And guess what? It's riotous, crazy fun - and here's John Linneman and Alex Battaglia to tell you all about it.
