The Fast and the Furious (2004 video game)
Arcade racer based on the Fast & Furious films.
The Fast and the Furious is a racing game developed by Raw Thrills and released in arcades in 2004. It is based on the Fast & Furious franchise and was later ported to the Wii under the Cruis'n brand. The game was led by Eugene Jarvis, who had overseen the original Cruis'n arcade titles.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Raw Thrills (arcade); Just Games Interactive (Wii)
- Publisher
- Raw Thrills (arcade); Midway Games (Wii)
- Designer
- Eugene Jarvis
- Series
- The Fast and the Furious; Cruis'n
- Platforms
- Arcade, Wii
- Genre
- Racing
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game features 12 tracks and 16 cars, with point-to-point races set in real-life locations. Players avoid hazards like oncoming traffic and construction zones, and can use nitrous oxide for a temporary speed boost. Cars can be customized and upgraded with spoilers, decals, neon lights, ground effects, and engines, purchased with money earned from races. The arcade version uses a PIN entered on a numeric keypad to save player data and upgrades.
Development
Raw Thrills was founded in 2002 by former Midway employees after Midway left the arcade market in late 2001. The Fast and the Furious was the company's second title. Eugene Jarvis, who had overseen the original Cruis'n arcade games at Midway, led development. The arcade version was released in Japan by Taito as Wild Speed. In 2006, Midway announced a home console port. Just Games Interactive was hired to port the game for the Wii. After being refused the Fast & Furious license for home consoles, Midway branded the port under the Cruis'n series with a license from Nintendo. The Wii version was released in North America on November 27, 2007, in Australasia on February 14, 2008, and in Europe on March 27. In 2023, Arcade1Up released a replica stand-up version including the original game and its first sequel.
Reception
The Wii version received poor reviews, with an average score of 25 out of 100 on Metacritic. Reviewing the Arcade1Up version for Popular Mechanics, Hunter Fenollol praised its faithfulness to the arcade original's graphics, sound, and gameplay, and the inclusion of seven additional tracks from Drift. He expressed disappointment about the more limited car selection due to licensing issues and the inability to access all tracks simultaneously.
Legacy
In 2006, Raw Thrills released The Fast and the Furious: Super Bikes, an arcade motorcycle racing game using the F&F name but with no other connection; its sequels omit the name. The following year, Raw Thrills released The Fast and the Furious: Drift, an updated edition partly based on the third film, adding seven new tracks set in Japan and a new car line-up. In 2011, Fast & Furious: SuperCars upgraded the game to high-definition graphics, introduced 10 different cars, and added tracks from Super Bikes. Both updates were available as new units or upgrades to existing cabinets. After Raw Thrills' Fast & Furious license expired, a revision renamed the game to SuperCars. In 2017, Raw Thrills released Cruis'n Blast under license from Nintendo, which received a Nintendo Switch port in 2021. Raw Thrills later regained the F&F license and released Fast & Furious Arcade on October 7, 2022, featuring mission-based gameplay.
More in Taito Games of the 2000s
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