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What is called the best wave racing game ever, Wave Race 64, is jumping
from the Nintendo 64 to the GameCube in Wave Race : Blue Storm.
Although WR:BS is widely based upon the Nintendo 64 version of Wave Race
64, it still has some exciting new features. It also has a new, more difficult,
learning curve. Join me as I dissect Wave Race: Blue Storm, to see if the
Wave Race franchise can hold onto the title of being the King of Wave Racing
games.
Gameplay wise, you are one of eight riders, each with his or her own unique abilities, racing for the finish line across realistic waves, and changing scenery and weather. But, new features have been added over the Nintendo 64 version to keep the experience fresh. One such feature is the weather. Now you can choose the weather you want to race in, like Sunny, partly cloudy, stormy, among others. Each effects the waves size and power, creating a whole new experience at the course. Most of the time, you wont just start out with the weather scheme you selected already occurring, it will slowly grow in size lap by lap. You can use waves and weather patterns to your advantage in getting the best time or score. Now onto the courses where you use these weather features at. This is one of the areas of the game that is disappointing. Most of them are the ones from the old one, but look completely different. Basically the only thing that remains the same from the N64 to the GameCube version is the theme of the course. And most of the courses are pretty good, and offer a real challenge. But the fact that there just aren't that many really lowers the game ''longevity''. While the path that you race changes slightly on each difficulty, usually the course doesn't. But when the course does change around, it almost gives you the sense of another course. Now we move onto the area of much talk, the control scheme. Many say that turning is much more Tricky in Wave Race : Blue Storm, I had no real problem. In Blue Storm there are turns that force you to use the newly added lean, using L or R to the respected direction, along with turning with the control stick. It doesn't work to good for a small turn to the left of right, but it comes in useful on larger, and tighter turns, where your not given much room to perform the turn. Veterans of the Wave Race 64 shouldn't have much trouble adjusting to the new scheme, as I didn't. But to a newcomer to Wave Race, it may be quite challenging. And by the time they have it down well, the game might already be over. Another new addition to the scheme and gameplay of the game is the new turbo meter. In Wave Race 64 you would go faster as you passed more buoy. But in Blue Storm you have a Turbo Meter where it goes up by one every time you pass a buoy or perform a trick. And when you hold a stunt, such as a handstand for example, the meter goes up more the longer you hold it. Wave Race : Blue Storm contains a Championship mode, where you compete against the computer for the gold. A Time trial mode to see, compare, and rank your best times. And a Stunt mode, where you show off your best stuff by performing great moves and going through rings. Another exciting new mode is the new four player mode, compare this to the 2 player mode in Wave Race: Blue Storm. The four player mode allows four people to race at once, with little, or no, slow down or breaks in the frame rate. Graphically, Wave Race: Blue Storm, as you can tell, as excellent water effects. But when it comes to areas such as the backgrounds and what have you, you'll find there not very detailed, and in some levels, not even in 3D. Also, Blue Storm doesn't run a 60 fps, instead it runs at a constant 30 fps. But it's still a very fast paced game, you can hardly tell it's not at 60 fps. More on the disappointing side is how unrealistic the racers look in Blue Storm. They were all designed with a very bright color scheme giving them more of a fake cartoonish look, classic Nintendo move. Many parts of the game are like this, but it's not to major of an issue. Sound wise, there are over 45+ songs in Wave Race: Blue Storm, which are more of remixes of a main 10 or so songs. In Wave Race 64, the narrator was repetitive and annoying. And now in Blue Storm each character has there own narrator, and there are all new annoying, repetitive phrases, which will drive you crazy. Since they usually say something after every buoy, you'll find yourself getting annoyed at the narrators fast, and turning up the games music tunes in favor of the overused voice samples. Other effects like rain drops, splashes, and forest noises sound good, but can sometimes be drowned out by the loud noise of your motor. Overall, Wave Race : Blue Storm is an fair game. The game has kind of a difficult learning curve, and by the time you have it down, the game is over. Bringing up the other point of how short it is. A rent may be in order to see if you'll enjoy playing the game after you beat it. Wave Race : Blue Storm is 1 - 4 players and is currently available. MY RATING: 8.3 Screen Shots:
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By : Alex Zman |
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