The boats also behave differently from each other, and they perform very much in accordance to their respective handling, acceleration, speed, and air control stats.
Boats are broken up between Novice, Pro and Expert levels and the performance difference between them is pretty big.
There are around 50 single-player events in all, which is substantial, plus you’ll keep unlocking newer boats as you rack up points by winning podium places.
These comprise of standard three-lap races with 15 AI opponents Ring Master – a time trial that requires you to pass through a set of rings, where failing to pass through a ring results in a time penalty and Gauntlet – also a time trial, but with floating mines all over the place to slow you down. There are three single player game modes, and a tournament mode, which basically includes an assortment of events from the other three modes. Some of the boat physics are a little clunky and collisions feel dated, but overall, this is quite an overhaul from the PS One and N64 original, and to its credit and my surprise, it doesn’t feel like you’re playing a game that’s over a decade old. There are times when the game’s age does creep through. This is clearly not a straight port of the original arcade game, because the boats control fairly well and the water physics are quite impressive too, believably affecting your boat’s performance based on the current and the roughness of the tide. On those rare occasions that you do run out of boost, you can also use the draft option to get behind an opponent’s slipstream and slingshot yourself ahead. Short cuts are few and far between though more of them would have made the racing a lot more exciting. These will pull up ramps or break down walls to create shortcuts or alternate paths for you to take. Boost is always in ready supply and though it only lasts for a short time, there are enough boost pick-ups lying around to let you pretty much complete a race without ever running out of it.Īmongst the other pick-ups, there are the fairly useless hidden collectibles, and the rather useful short cut pick-ups.
Tracks feature big jumps, massive drops, obstacles, shortcuts, and alternate routes, so this isn’t your standard point A to B racing game. These include everything from barriers and floating mines to sea lion-like creatures and a giant dude with a big hammer. You control powerboats around some fairly imaginative tracks, where apart from your 15 AI opponents, several obstacles are laid out to impede your progress. Hydro Thunder Hurricane is essentially nautical WipEout without the weapons. Then again, this is one of the showcase titles from this year’s Xbox LIVE Summer of Arcade promotion, so it may just have a couple of tricks up its sleeve.
So it’s natural to approach the HD remake of Hydro Thunder, an old Midway coin-op arcade racing game, with a hint of scepticism. It’s why they tend to gather dust once the new ones come along. You can remake classic puzzle games, platformers and side-scrolling shooters, and they’ll retain their old school charm, but that doesn’t usually work with racing games, especially arcade racers.