California Speed

California Speed is a racing game released for the Arcade and Nintendo 64 that takes place across different parts of the state of California.

Nintendo 64

Arcade

Overview

California Speed is a racing game first developed by Atari Games in 1998 for the Arcade. It was later ported to the Nintendo 64 in 1999 by Midway Games with five extra levels exclusive to the system. The N64 versions included support for the Controller and Rumble paks. The arcade version could be played with up to four players at once, with each cabinet linked together.

Gameplay

California Speed is an arcade racing game, much similar to games such as Cruis'n USA, and San Francisco Rush. The arcade version had a total of 14 different levels, three not included in the N64 version, while the N64 version had five levels not included in the arcade version.

Each level had its own difficulty - easy, advanced, or expert, along with its own unique music track. Certain tracks would have unique traits, such as bombs dropping from a aircraft, or a mall that had pedestrians that could be run over. Multiple tracks would have shortcuts, and would also have traffic that would have to be avoided. After picking a track, several cars were available to choose from, as well as the option to pick from manual or automatic transmission.

A timer would run throughout the entire race, and going through checkpoints would extend time. The arcade version would award a free game for coming in first place.