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Wave Race: Blue Storm
OVERVIEW
The N64 launch title sensation dares to do it again on the GameCube. I never played the N64 version, but if it was half as good as this I wish I had. The developers didn't attempt to attach a tacky story to the game, it's simply a water based racer and that's it.
Anyone who played Beetle Adventure Racing on N64 would be familiar with the type of layout to the sequence of races. (I use this example only because it's the only game I have played that uses this technique). In BAR, the easy difficulty featured 3 or 4 races to be completed. You then unlocked the next difficulty in which you repeated the first races (with harder opponent AI) and there was a new track at the end.
This became very frustrating when you had to repeat the same tracks over and over. Wave Race for GameCube uses a similar style, except that the races you have to repeat are set only in the same worlds, the layout of the track changes on each difficulty setting. Additionally the races, with the exception of the unlockable new track, can be played in any order. This adds a lot to the gameplay as you won't have to always repeat the same tracks only to fail on the second or third one.
GRAPHICS
The water and waves are beautifully animated. There are no lighting effects in the game, though this is more than compensated with by the weather effects. The rain and volumetric fog are superbly done, and it's playing in these conditions that make the game so unique and fun - and all with no noticeable drop in frame rate.
The character models get the job done, but are nothing to rave about. In truth they probably lack a little life.
SOUND
The sound effects are all superb. From the crashing of the waves to your jet ski motor to the environment effects such as birds and thunder from the weather. The music as you race also fits in very well with the theme of the game and is not something you would turn down for your favourite CD.
The let down is in the narration and voice samples. Each of the 8 racers has their own narrator telling you what you're doing right or - more commonly - wrong. This gets pretty repetitive and annoying pretty damn quick.
GAMEPLAY
The controls are intuitive and simple to use. You control your racer with the analogue stick and the A button is your accelerator, with no need for a break button because letting go of A for more than 2 seconds will cause you to stop dead. B/Y crouch your racer and reduce the effects of waves. I found this button did nothing and actually completed the hardest difficulty without using it. Z/X use turbo when you have it, the C-stick controls the camera angle and L/R is conjunction with the control stick will perform a tighter turn.
With the exception of B/Y the controls are incredibly responsive. The difference between a racer with tight or loose turning is incredible, and it is almost like learning to play the game again with a new character. Your best bet is to pick a level of control you feel comfortable with and stick with it, because changing around a lot will make things much harder for you.
Additionally, the way your racer responds to the environment is incredible. You will find yourself cursing when in tight places, the waves from the other racer's jet skis have you losing control of yours.
At first you will have to do the practice run on Dolphin Park. Simply come top 3 here to open up the Normal difficulty level. Here there are 5 races that must be raced, 1 each, over 5 days. Weather conditions vary from day to day, and you may choose which order you race in, with the exception of the last race - which must be raced on day 5. At the end of each race the racer's receives a set amount of points determined by their positions. After race one you must have at least 3 points, after race two 10 points, race three 20 points, etc.
The next difficulty setting has 6 races, 6 days and the last 7 races, 7 days.
The gameplay isn't incredibly difficult. Once you learn the tracks it's simply a matter of getting those turns down right, not missing any buoys and timing your turbos right.
LASTABILITY
The one problem with a complicated racer is that your friends can't pick it up and play. An experienced player holds such a huge advantage over a beginner it isn't funny, and add to this that missing 5 buoys results in disqualification and you won't be having too many multiplayer matches with your Xbox loving friends.
The only use for the 4 player mode was if you had 4 people who owned the game, or at least played it enough to be competitive.
Fortunately the single player offers a fair amount of replay value. Getting those times down on each track is plenty of fun, especially if you challenge yourself with the harder weather effects.
Additionally, there is a trick mode in which you complete 1 lap of a track of your choosing and try to gain trick points. I imagine some would find a great deal of replay and fun in this, though I moved on to Rogue Leader and Smash Brothers and haven't really gone back to it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Personally I really suggest anybody hires any game before they buy it. It simply isn't worth the $100 risk when people's taste in games are so varied. Having said this I highly recommend this game. The gameplay is as deep as it gets for racing games, and this one is completely unique with the waves and weather effects and other riders effecting gameplay significantly.
All racing fans should own this one, and even people who hate racers should give it a hire.
| GRAPHICS: |
18/20 |
| SOUND: |
16/20 |
| GAMEPLAY: |
20/20 |
| LASTABILTY: |
17/20 |
| OVERALL: |
19/20 |
| TOTAL: |
90% Gold Award* |
Reviewer: Tribal
* Rating System
Screens From: Gamers Logik
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