San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing

by Nintendo

Product Features

• Nintendo

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002STHX
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Game Cartridge
• Release Date: April 1, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,852 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

San Francisco has been synonymous with action-movie car-chase scenes for decades. The steep hills and winding streets, it seems, were created specifically with the genre in mind. It was only natural for someone to create an arcade racing game built around the city. Atari Games has done just that, and Midway is bringing it home.

Based on the original physics model of the meticulously realistic '80s coin-op racer Hard Drivin', San Francisco Rush brings the game up to date, packing a lot more horsepower. The original arcade game - with eight different cars and four distinct handling characteristics (from beginner to full simulation), lush 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics-based visuals, numerous hidden shortcuts (from subterranean sewer runs to over-the-rooftops building jumps), and three fairly hilly tracks - clearly made an impact, even though being a realistic racing simulation clearly took a backseat to arcade-style fun.

In November, Atari Games released a new version of the game, San Francisco Rush: The Rock Alcatraz Edition, featuring four new tracks, a variety of different shortcuts, and more. Midway's Nintendo 64 rendition is a composite of both previous games, including extra cars accessed by acquiring the six to eight keys hidden throughout each course.

In essence, the home version of San Francisco Rush can't truly compete with the behind-the-wheel experience the arcade machine furnishes - not even with a Rumble Pak. But the console system does score in the variety of options it offers. You can select the total laps in a race, the number of computer-controlled opponents, and whether the course should be reverse direction or a mirrored version. You can choose how foggy or windy a run should be, how difficult the computer is to defeat, if cars should be disqualified after they crash, and if some or all of the gauges (such as the speedometer and race position) should be turned off to give a better view of the screen - a great help in the split-screen, two-player mode, since you lose half the screen to your opponent.

It's to the game's credit that you can customize your race so easily, as these options really play up the title's replay value and fun factor. The two-player mode also dispels the need to link together two $7,000 arcade machines in one living room. To simulate the force-feedback steering wheel of the arcade game, the title supports the Rumble Pak, though differently than most previous Rumble-ready games. Instead of shaking only when the vehicle hits an obstacle, the device vibrates the pad harder and harder as you move more deeply into a turn, simulating drag on the tires. It's probably the best use of the peripheral I've seen or, I guess, felt.

Of course, the N64 hardware isn't as capable as that of a full-fledged arcade unit, but visually the game stands up to its coin-op counterpart fairly well. Quite a few polygons were shaved off the cars and backgrounds (and some buildings and trees just had to go), but these measures don't detract too much from the game's look. Overall, the game's main drawback is the soundtrack, which runs the gamut from grating to awful. Admittedly, the more strident tracks pick up a laughable and unmistakable camp quality after a while ("whoa oh oh"). Music aside, the developers have done as good a job as possible translating SFR to the N64, but, in perhaps unfair comparison to the arcade version, there's just something missing - it doesn't quite measure up to the experience of sitting behind the wheel of the coin-op. When it comes down to brass tacks, it's a decent port of an excellent arcade game. While it's a little disappointing, the game is, nonetheless, well worth picking up. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Product Description

This is the game San Francisco Rush for the Nintendo 64. This is cartridge only and is used or preplayed. All of our N64 nintendo games are cleaned tested and guaranteed to work. We stand by our products and offer a 60 day guarantee. If a game does not work within 60 days from the time you receive it we will gladly exchange it for yo

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whoa, the jumps are awesome, November 13, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing (Game Cartridge)

Race as fast as you can over 7 tracks set in San Fransisco. Jumps, crashes, and secrets galore! Outrageous physics that will send you flying in the air with the slightest of excuses. The most fun to be had in a racing game.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent home conversion of arcade game., October 10, 2002

By 

Jon Folkers (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing (Game Cartridge)

As a package, SFR is one of the best arcade conversions ever -- plus a lot more for the home player. The programmer, Ed Logg, is a prince of the arcades. His previous games include Asteroids, Centipede, Gauntlet, Steel Talons, Hard Drivin', and the original San Francisco Rush. I'd love to see more of this kind of work on the more recent consoles.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best racing games out there!, July 5, 2003

By 

R. Chambers (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing (Game Cartridge)

Rush is one of the original street racing games and by far one of the best out there. On this particular version of Rush, you get to race through the streets of San Francisco and take shortcuts through famed places like Chinatown and climb the hills that San Francisco is famous for. You can chose from easy areas to race in, to very hard ones and change from downtown races to racing through the countryside. Definitely a great game. It is more than just a racing game however. A feature on the game involves hidden keys that when you get the keys, you receive new cars such as taxi cabs and hot rods. These keys can take hours to get in a particular level. Sometimes jumps have to be hit at the EXACT angle and with a speed that can only vary 1 or 2 miles per hour. This is one of the things that sets this game apart from other racing games. Also there are hidden areas such as the stunt track hidden in track 6 that makes this game more enjoyable.