Originally an arcade machine, Cruis'n USA was then released for the Nintendo 64. The game asks players to choose from four vehicles to race in a variety of courses throughout the USA —based on real locations, their names are: Golden Gate Park, US 101, LA Freeway, Arizona (easy mode); Beverly Hills, Death Valley, Iowa, Indiana, Appalachia (medium difficulty mode); San Francisco, Redwood Forest, Grand Canyon, Chicago, Washington, D.C. (expert mode). Various pre-race options included are the choice of automatic or manual transmission, various controller configurations, as well as background music selection option.

Players take control of the vehicle from a third-person perspective, and while avoiding various hazards along the way, must beat the clock as well as the CPU-controlled rivals to achieve first place.