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Wave Race: Blue Storm

Developer: Nintendo Software Technology (NST)

Publisher: Nintendo Of America

Console: GameCube

Genre: Racing

Number of Players: 4

Released: November 14, 2001

Memory Card Blocks: 12

Introduction

Here comes the sequel to the classic launch game for the N64 back in 1996. I absolutely adored that game. I rented it 8 times in the past 5 years and regrettably never did buy it. So when Wave Race: Blue Storm was announced for launch with the GameCube, I was overjoyed! I was a little worried to learn that Nintendo gave the Wave Race game engine to there own internal US development team NST. Meaning NST didn’t have to start from scratch to make this game. So I wondered if it would be too similar to the original? With the power of the GameCube, I was expecting 20+ levels, improved sound and the best water graphics ever seen. Did this game meet my ungodly expectations?

Graphics: 9.5/10

Wave Race 64 had the most beautiful water graphics when it was released and was never toppled until now. Sometimes water splashes onto the screen and then drips down off. This is very realistic looking and awe-inspiring. It makes you feel like your actually riding a jet ski in real life. The water itself is so clear, you can sometime see all the way to the bottom. You will see coral reefs, dolphins, schools of fish, penguins, sea turtles, killer whales and sharks all in high detail. On occasion a fish will jump out of the water and you will see the splash. Very cool. The water reflects all the surrounding trees, buildings, and clouds. The water moves and affects your jet ski just like it would in real life. The wake that the riders in front of you leave is very realistic. It can cause you to lose control and crash. The one and only problem with the water is that it doesn’t have the shimmering effect seen in Splashdown for PS2. The different levels feature different buoys and starting lights to make them look more like the scenery. The characters look pretty good too, but their not the best character models ever. The animation is top notch. As the players do their stunts and celebrations, it looks very authentic. The player’s reflections however are not very good.

The above ground environments are also quite detailed although not as strong as the underwater environments. The people that are on the sidelines are mere cardboard cutouts. Some of them do animate though. There are moving objects in the background though. In Ocean City Harbor you go under a bridge and you can see trucks and cars driving on it. There is also a crate suspended in the air that will fall into the water causing a great big wave. If you play this same level on Expert, there are two crates that fall and there is an awesome firework show going on as you race the course. In Lost Temple Lagoon normal difficulty there is 2 elephants along side the course both animated. When you play it on hard, the elephants move to a different location. If it rains the elephants will take shelter. In Arctic Bay there is numerous polar bears roaming the hills. As you are racing along a big chunk of ice will fall into the water. Causing a big wave to move across towards your jet ski. Freaking amazing! On Expert you get to break through into a cave and there are 50+ penguins on a hill. As you go by about 10 penguins will slide down the hill into the water.

Perhaps one of my all time favorite gaming moments occurred in Aspen Lake. On the hard difficulty level, set it to stormy weather. On the third lap you will be driving along and then you will see a big lightening bolt strike a tree right in front of you! The tree falls onto the water and creates a splash just as you are going over it! Absolutely stunning. This leads to what sets this game apart from the others. The sweet sweet weather effects. There are 5 different weather conditions: Sunny, Cloudy, Light Showers, Rainy, and Stormy. Each weather condition changes the way you play the game. On cloudy, sometimes there is thick fog and it eventually fades away by the third lap. By far the best effect is stormy. The rain pours down and you can see each rain drop splash into the water. The lightening causes the clouds to light up and big flash of light goes off for each lightening bolt. The waves get up to an amazing 9 feet in stormy weather. My personal favorite weather condition is light showers on Aspen Lake hard difficulty. The first two laps it’s lightly raining and cloudy. On the third lap the clouds go away, the rain stops, and at the end of the race you see a beautiful rainbow! The weather effects are simply gorgeous and are the result of the mighty power the GameCube holds.

Sound: 9/10

I’m glad to say the sound is greatly improved over Wave Race 64. The music is pretty good. Featuring an impressive 49 music tracks. I think some of the tracks are just remixed versions though. All 8 characters feature their own announcer! Some of the announcers are quite annoying, but never to the level of annoyance of the Wave Race 64 announcer. And the characters also have voice, but its not used that much except for at the character selection screen. The sound effects are the most impressive part of the sound. The sound of the jet ski as it glides over the water kicking up waves is very loud. You can hear seagulls flying above, geese scrambling out of the way of the jet ski, and sheep grazing on a hill. Also there are bears overtaking a campground and the bears are even trying to catch the jumping fish on Aspen Lake. There are police sirens, helicopters flying around, and even a little waterfall will spill into the body of water causing a very loud noise. Very well done.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

Wave race features 6 different modes of play. There is Championship, Time Attack, Stunt, Multi-player, Free Roam, and Tutorial. In Championship you get to race against 7 other racers in 8 different environments. There are 4 difficulty levels: Exhibition, Normal, Hard, and Expert. Each difficult level adds a new environment for you to race on and new weather effects. To make things even harder you have to successfully go on the right side of the buoys. The buoys even change positions for each difficulty level making the level a different experience. This is not an easy game. The weather effects really affect the levels also. If it starts to rain it is harder to see ahead of you and its also gets darker. The weather could start out as sunny, but as you get to the last race it will be pouring down rain. The water level also changes as you are racing. They unveil shortcuts that you weren’t able to access when the water level was higher or lower. You can even sometimes use the waves to jump over obstacles and find a shortcut. You can get some big air in this game. Worth noting is the great rumble feature applied in the game. You will feel everything, from a wave to going off jumps. NST truly did a great job with the rumble.

Time Attack allows you to race for time in all the tracks you have unlocked except for Dolphin Park as its only in Free Roam mode and Championship. You can also choose whatever weather condition floats your boat. Stunt mode allows you to perform tricks while trying to pass through all the rings scattered about the level. Multi-player features impressive 4-player action, but I will talk about that in the replay section of this review. Free roam basically lets you try out all the levels without the buoys in your way and only allows you to select sunny weather condition. Tutorial allows you to learn all the stunts and basics of the controls. Definitely worth going through to make it easier then just jumping into Championship and if you complete it you get a trial mode unlocked. Even though it appears that there are only 8 different levels, the weather conditions and buoy placement make it seem like there are more then 150 different tracks! There are 8 different characters in the game. 4 from Wave Race 64 and the other 4 are from 1080 Snowboarding.

Controls: 9/10

The controls take a little while to get used to. A is the gas, B is the brake, and X and Z is for turbo. Turbo is a new feature, after you pass 5 buoys correctly your turbo meter is full. The control stick controls your racer and you can tip the jet ski forward or backward. The L and R buttons are used to lean into to turns and allows you to get around the buoys easier. The B and Y buttons can be used to crouch so you can go a little faster or so you can break through waves without getting big air. The C-stick controls the camera. There are 4 levels of zoom available and you can tilt it left or right. All the stunts return from the original and there are new motorcross-style tricks like can-can’s and heel-clicker’s. I do have troubles doing the stunts when you have to hold down the b-button and rotate the control stick. It just feels awkward.

Replay: 8/10

The worst part of this game is the replay value. There is no motivation to complete the game with each rider (It’s not going to stop me though) because after you unlock the different weather conditions for Time Attack Mode there is nothing else to unlock. No secret character, no secret levels and no un-lockable movies. The track total is still lacking. Only 8 different tracks, but the weather effects do help them a bit, but still not the 20+ levels I was expecting. The track layouts change for each difficulty level and the water levels also change making for new experiences. There is a secret password screen that will allow you to enter competitions to win stuff from Nintendo. Each month Nintendo will post a new competition password. There is one currently going. Click here to receive the password. Multi-player sports a 4-player mode with no slowdown what so ever. Very Impressive. The problem with multi-player is that you can’t just race against your friends who aren’t that good at Wave Race as you will leave them in your splash. It’s lacking pick up and play. If you have 3 friends who are as good at Wave Race as you, bump the replay to 10 out of 10. As there is almost no sacrifice to the game except for draw distance! You can even play in stunt mode with 4 players.

Conclusion

Wave Race: Blue Storm is definitely one of the best racing games ever created. It still turned out to be more of an upgrade rather then a whole new experience I was hoping for. The water effects are really pretty but are lacking the lighting affects that would make it look even better. It just feels more of the same and it certainly wasn’t worth the 6-year wait. The weather effects really make this game worth it though. The waves are also the star of this game as no other water based game features waves quite like these. It still comes highly recommended for Wave Race fans and anybody else who remotely likes racing games. It definitely should be a part of everyone’s GameCube library. Lets hope we don’t have to wait until Nintendo’s next console to get another Wave Race game!

Pros Cons

GameCube exclusive Lack of tracks

Highly detailed environments Too similar to Wave Race 64

1-9 foot waves Controls take a while to get used to

Changing water levels

5 different weather conditions

Final Score: 9.25/10, 93%, A

Reviewed by: Eric Brown on June 2, 2002

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