Hydro Thunder Hurricane, like its predecessor, is an arcade racer that makes no effort to be realistic or deep. What you get is an unadulterated arcade racer that just about anyone can pick up and play. The game’s main gimmick is that it’s a speedboat racer, thus making it quite different in comparison to several arcade racers (except maybe the jet ski racer, Wave Race). Seeing as this a sequel to a game that came out over ten years ago, back when 90s style arcade racing titles were still huge, it’s a pleasant surprise that the developers chose to give Hydro Thunder Hurricance a classic 90s arcade racer vibe. The gameplay is pretty straightforward; you essentially race speedboats around a variety of courses and it doesn’t take very long to get into the swing of things. The control system is similar to that found in any racing title on the Xbox 360.
Hydro Thunder is back in style.
The main gameplay mechanic is boosting, which you have to do a lot. Scattered around each course, are boost power-ups that fill up the boost meter, which aside from giving you a temporary boost, is also useful in changing your boat’s direction mid-air. Another cool feature is the ‘Boost Jump’, which allows you to jump and this is mainly useful in jumping over other racers and making big leaps over ledges even bigger. Drafting is also an important technique, where you ride on the slipstream of the boat in front of you, and this in turn allows you to gain speed. So even though this game being an arcade racer, there are some fancy aerodynamics in place.
Being a speedboat racer, water is where all the action takes place and this really makes Hydro Thunder Hurricane play and feel different from your standard racing title. The water surface creates a very ‘floaty’ feel, similar to the Wipeout games. Also, there will be many situations where you will be up against waves, where you can ride them and use them as ramps for an extended Boost Jump. There are also sections of running water and you can ride those as well, giving you additional speed.
The game has eight tracks for you to race on, with each being unique and unorthodox. From a creative standpoint, these tracks are really cool as they have several unique elements to them. You will be cruising through sewers, rivers, temples, waterworks, glaciers, a Japanese water park and even go through a portal to land on an alien planet. Each location also behaves quite differently, offering some obscure challenges and obstructions. In one course a Viking battleship will try to get in your way, while police boats operate round the clock (apparently these races are illegal). Expect to be attacked by a bombarding plane, Viking statues and even sea monsters.
Sure has some crazy locations.
The tracks have been designed well, loaded with jump ramps, challenging turns and plenty of big Wipeout style leaps. They seem pretty simple the first time you race on them, but later you will discover plenty of short cuts and other hidden routes and locations. Also, during a race you will find ‘Switch’ pickups, and these unlock gates (which then open a new path) and bring up new ramps. The game offers nine speedboats divided into three classes: Novice, Pro and Expert. Pro boats are superior to Novice boats, with Expert boats being the best. However, the higher the boat class, the higher the difficulty of the game will be. Each boat has its own set of characteristics in terms of acceleration, top speed, handling and air control.
Leap of faith.
In terms of content, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is quite generous for an XBLA game going for 1200 Microsoft points. In single player you have your standard race mode, a ‘Ring Master’ mode where you have to drive through rings (much like the speedboat missions of Grand Theft Auto), a ‘Gaunlet’ mode where you have to complete a run while avoiding exploding barrels and finally a ‘Championship’ mode where you compete in a series of events, accumulating points as you go. The Ring Master mode is actually quite useful, as it teaches you how to navigate a track better and also points out most of the useful shortcuts. Completing these various challenges by ending up in one of the top three positions earns you credits, and these allow you to open up new challenges, tracks, boats, boat skins and other Easter eggs. Also, there are secret tokens to collect on each track, which unlocks certain bonuses like new skins for boats.
As for multiplayer, the game offers a four player offline split-screen mode which runs well. On Xbox Live, you can compete with up to eight players in a standard race or an amusing ‘Rubber Ducky’ contest where two teams compete to get their respective duck across the finish line. At the time of review, we couldn’t find many players to compete against but we were lucky enough to find a couple of European journalists to play against, and we found that the net code was quite excellent. The best part about multiplayer is that you can earn credits by finishing in the top three, which means you don’t have to force yourself to play single player just for the credits.
The Ring Master mode teaches you a lot.
Graphically the game looks fairly good and while there is nothing too cutting edge or detailed, they do the trick. It has a nice 90s arcade racer look to it, with really vibrant and colourful graphics that are quite similar to 3D arcade racing titles released by Sega. It looks pleasant enough but it does suffer from some issues like pop up, screen-tearing and frame-rate inconsistencies, which are hardly game crippling but are still noticeable and can sometimes hinder the flow of the game. Musically the game is pretty forgettable, with nothing noteworthy or special. The sound effects, announcer voice and the annoying wingmen (or boatmen in this case) are as cheesy as they can get in an arcade racer.
Hyrdro Thunder Hurricane is an extremely accessible and entertaining arcade racer with a cool speedboat gimmick that has been implemented really well, and is a game that any gamer can get into and have fun with. The game is based almost entirely on the template that was set back in 1999 with the original Hydro Thunder, and it is still as fun today. However, the arcade racing genre has come a long way since 1999, and so while Hydro Thunder Hurricane may lack the conventions, presentation, content and depth that modern arcade racers have today, you're not likely to find a better game involving speedboats than this one.
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