Rush 2049, the series' futuristic peak. Cars with retractable wings, a transfigured San Francisco and wild aerial acrobatics. More creative and better finished than its predecessors, with a particularly successful battle mode. Probably the best Rush: at once mad and surprisingly controllable.
Your verdict
Category
Racing1 player7+
Split screen
Description
Third Rush franchise entry projecting races into the futuristic San Francisco of 2049 with flying cars. Published by Midway, released in 2000 in Europe and North America. Cars with retractable wings, futuristic urban and off-road circuits, stunt and 4-player multiplayer modes.
San Francisco Rush 2049 review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
San Francisco Rush 2049 launches arcade racing into a futuristic San Francisco: neon skyscrapers, elevated highways, dizzying shortcuts and anti-gravity cars, in a flashy sci-fi aesthetic. The art direction favors the sense of speed and the spectacle of outsized jumps. A nervy, flamboyant art direction, the peak of the Rush sub-series.
The soundtrack electrifies the futuristic race: nervy electronic, tense riffs and rhythms that climb with the speed of the anti-gravity cars. The music clings to the sense of danger and vertigo, fueling every jump and every suicidal shortcut. A muscular, sci-fi accompaniment, built for arcade adrenaline.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Dizzying jumps over the streets of San Francisco, hidden shortcuts and even wings to glide: this race embraces a thoroughly gleeful excess. Unearthing a secret path that upends the standings delivers a sly pleasure. Spectacular, generous and packed with tracks to explore, an arcade racer that bets everything on acrobatics.
Midway North American February 2000 pressing of San Francisco Rush 2049, the last Rush arcade entry ported to N64 and the first to introduce a pronounced vertical dimension with flying cars. The US cartridge keeps the four-player split-screen multiplayer inherited from the arcade cabinet and an exclusive Battle mode. This US version remains the reference for late-N64-cycle Midway arcade-racing enthusiasts, more accessible than the PAL.
Is San Francisco Rush 2049 still worth playing in 2026?
San Francisco Rush 2049 marks the futuristic peak of the Rush series. Cars with retractable wings, a San Francisco transfigured by imagination and frantic aerial acrobatics build an arcade racer that is as wild as it is controlled. More creative and better finished than its predecessors, with a particularly successful battle mode, it is probably the best Rush and one of the most festive arcade racers on the N64. For fans of extravagant retro racers and multiplayer evenings, still an excellent pick today.
