Introduction

Back when the Nintendo 64 was first released N64 owners didn’t have much to look forward too except Nintendo’s own efforts. Never was dependence on Nintendo a bad thing, everyone had their eyes on Nintendo to deliver the goods. Soon after the release of Super Mario 64 gamers got their hands on a title known as WaveRace 64. WaveRace 64 featured realistic water effects that were unlike anything gamers had ever seen and mixed with that Shigeru Miyamoto touch the game became an instant succes. WaveRace 64 captured the hearts of millions of gamers and has left them clamoring for a sequel ever since.

At SpaceWorld 2000 Nintendo unveiled its Nintendo GameCube to gamers accross the globe, along with revealing their new gaming machine they previewed demos of games to come. One of those demos was a sequel to WaveRace 64, WaveRace : Blue Storm.

This time around WaveRace was not developed internally at EAD at the hands of master game desingner Shigeru Miyamoto instead Nintendo felt confident to pass the next installment in the franchise over to one of Nintendo’s second parties. NST ( Nintendo Software Technology) had a lot riding on their shoulders to deliver the experience gamers felt many years ago.

Presentation

WaveRace : Blue Storm presents gamers with a more tropical style than in the original. The menus are nothing special and are pretty simple so you can get started with racing right off the bat. Loading times are minimal and to make them seem slower than they already are you can play around with the cursor causing ripples in the water, the load screen also warns you about the weather conditions (Example: If you’re about to enter a race during a storm , it will start to rain on the loading screen and you can see each droplet of rain hit the water)

Graphics & Sound

Graphics:

The visuals are nothing short of amazing but they don’t really push the GameCube either. The game is locked at 30fps sporting up to eight players on screen at once even during 4-player split screen. Like the original WaveRace:Blue Storm presents gamers with the most advanced water effects and physics to date which are unrivaled. To make the water effects look even more spectacular, weather effects are added to cause some massive waves .

NST went all out with the with watercraft/water interaction. This is obivous because you can see every tiny particle effect from the back of your Jet Ski and during a storm water droplets hit the screen. The tracks aren’t to impressive though but they are completely overshadowed by the games water.

Sound:

WaveRace:Blue Storm sports an amazing soundtrack. I myself would turn down all other sound effects down and just let the soundtrack blast. Something which I found extremely cool was the fact that each track’s music changes according to the weather conditions, the more intense the weather conditions are the more intense the music is. Most tracks in the game contain a tropical musical theme but a heavy metal beat can be found here and there, also each character has their own theme to define their personalities somewhat.

Enough about the music what about the sound effects and voice overs?

Well, basically the sound affects are pretty much what we should expect, the loud hums of Jet Ski motors, the splashing of water, and the thunderclap of lighting. Also, each character has his or her own announcer. Many people tend to find the announcers annoying and irritating but I have no problem with them at all.

Gameplay

I’ve heard from many that it was very difficult to learn to control the Jet Ski like a pro, but for a WaveRace 64 veteran like myself it was a piece of cake.

In the original the gamer controlled the Jet Ski with the analog stick and the accelaration button, and to make sharp turns you would would pull the stick down and point it in the direction you wanted to turn to, basically that was all. In Blue Storm there has been a few alterations and additions.

To gain more speed without gaining a Turbo you can hold the B button which allows the racer to ride lower as well as lean foward to gain more speed. To make turning more precise the L and R triggers are used for leaning left in right so players can cut through waves on turns with grace and percission, many people seem to not understand this concept thus finding the game uneccesarilty difficult.

The original allowed players to perform a miniscule amount of stunts during stunt mode and in during the races themselves , the sequel adds a few to satisfy us daredevils. To refine your skills as a stunt racer you are able to perfect your stunts in training mode and to test your skills you can enter stunt mode to get the top spot.

During a race you must direct your self left and right of bouys to succeed, miss five bouys and you retire from the race (something you don’t want to do). A reward for passing 5 bouys without a miss is a turbo boost, which is needed to finish first in most races. Along with the bouys you are presented with more obastcles such as the waves, ramps, boats , your opponents and even the track themselves with their odd desings.

The difficulty level is somewhat varied. Every selectable character (8 all together) has his or her own difficulty level which applies to the talent of the gamer. Even though the same seven courses repeat themselves they alter in appearance at each difficulty level (normal, hard, expert) , presenting themselves as a differenting course every time. The new improved AI doesn’t make winning races easier either...

Some gamers might find themselves struggling alot with the games learning curve and difficulty levels other with barely struggle.

Lasting Appeal

What sucks about this game is that there aren’t enough tracks to keep gamers satisfied for a long period of time. Some gamers might be able to finish first on every course the day they purchased it. WaveRace:Blue Storm is extremely enjoyable though, and will often have gamers coming back to if for some more wave racin’.

Conclusion

WaveRace:Blue Storm is a must buy for fans of the original but it’s somewhat of a love it or hate it kind of game. Sadly, some gamers are just too stubborn to learn how to play the game and immediately shun it. WaveRace doesn’t have a strong lasting appeal because the championship mode is rather short in result of the lack of courses but you’ll find yourself coming back for more every so often. I suggest that gamers unfamiliar with the original give this game a rental.