What’s truly wonderful about our country is how unbelievably vast and diverse it is, which guarantees that the American experience means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Asking a farmer in rural Maine what being a U.S. citizen means to them will certainly yield a different response than, say, a banker in San Diego or a teacher in Omaha, and that’s what makes this land so beautiful. There’s an endless amount we can learn from traversing through each state and getting to know the various people we encounter. That’s why I have a particular bone to pick with 1994 arcade racing video game Cruis’n USA, because it really misses the mark when it comes to life in America.

That’s not to say the game is entirely without merit. The ability to take an Italia P69 and embark on a journey from San Francisco, past the Grand Canyon and through the midwest, culminating in a scenic trip to Washington D.C., is truly breathtaking. It just becomes painfully obvious to the player at some point during this trek that the focus seems to be inordinately placed on racing cars rather than enriching the spirit. Such a revelation is quite disheartening, and can give the adventure a somewhat hollow and vapid feel, which is a shame considering the potential this game holds at the onset.

It’s heartbreaking to think of all the missed opportunities experienced following the bikini babe’s waving of the checkered flag at the beginning of each location. Sure, putting the pedal to the metal will result in a first place prize and a congratulations from then-president Bill Clinton at the completion of the last race, but at what cost? How many diners were sped past, full of salt-of-the-earth people just waiting to convey their wisdom, their wants, their regrets, and their dreams? How many baseball fields were ignored, just begging to have their sights, sounds and smells of America’s pastime relished by the game’s protagonist? One can be driven into madness by the thought of what is missed, and all for some bland and lifeless trophy.

Perhaps that’s fitting, though, isn’t it? The exhausting rat race of our capitalistic system really does put more emphasis on rewards than it does experiences, and it was actually quite perceptive for the developers to mirror that in their work. However, we look to games as a means of escape, so they should not act as reminders of our ho-hum daily lives. At the very least, it may not be a fruitless endeavor to hope that Cruis’n USA inspired at least some of its audience to venture out into those amber waves of grain and discover what it is to truly live as an American, and maybe that hope is worth clinging to as we navigate this majestic 250 year experiment we call a nation.