We’re just 30 years away from this being real life, so we’ve got that to look forward to.
San Francisco Rush was a regrettably short series of high-octane arcade racing games by Midway. The series was a pretty big hit towards the end of the 90s arcade revival. It also should not be confused with the Toronto Rush:
This iteration of the series, San Francisco Rush 2049, imagines a cool, futuristic world where Dickies and Slim Jim are the only brands left. The Dreamcast version, which we’re talking about this week, is also significantly different from the arcade version – it has one less regular track, in favor of some extra “stunt mode” and multiplayer stuff.
If you’ve played an arcade racing game or two in your lifetime, you should have a good idea of what to expect here – high speeds, tight turns, cheap AI, and so forth. Rush 2049 does all of this pretty well – it’s fast, there’s an acceptable variety of cars and tracks (with more that can be unlocked), and while the AI cars are pretty unforgiving, it’s still really enjoyable. Plus, since it’s set in San Francisco, you can expect lots of cool Bay Area scenery, including cable cars, big hills, and uh…windmills?
Weird. Rush 2049 also switches it up with a weird stunt mode that I quite enjoy. It’s not especially robust, completely lacks the depth of a Tony Hawk or other extreme sports game, but it’s functional and extremely goofy. It also makes use of the game’s “car wings” feature, which you can use to attempt to increase hangtime, slow down landings, and so forth. It’s the definition of dumb fun.
I always enjoy when a game really appears as a product of its time, and it pleases me to say that everything on the back of this game’s jewel case fits that description perfectly. Just look at this thing:
Scream through the tracks! Lock and load! Adrenaline cubed! So radical. I asked Wolfram Alpha what “Adrenaline cubed” meant, and it wasn’t helpful.
I assume that by 2049, it’ll all make sense.
If you enjoy 90s racers, this is a great one to check out. Outside of the arcade version (which itself has a couple of variants), a version of Rush 2049 was also released for the N64, with a similar feature set to the Dreamcast version. The racing-oriented compilation Midway Arcade Treasures 3 also includes this version of the game.
For the next Retro Roulette, we’ll be checking out a true classic, on a console that’s only come up a couple of times in this blog’s history. It weirdly has a bilingual title. What could it be?! Come back next week to find out.