After a monumental leap from arcade obscurity to the forefront of Xbox LIVE Arcade's Summer of Arcade, Hydro Thunder Hurricane splashes down on the service starting tomorrow. Per
our interview with Vector Unit Creative Director Matt Small, it seemed things were shaping up quite well for fans of the original Hydro Thunder. A month has passed by since the interview and the title is now in our hands and, thankfully, it appears this series still has some gas left in its tank.
Midway floundered with the concept for a bit, unleashing Arctic Thunder and Off-Road Thunder into arcades, but it appears the series has been laid in capable hands with Vector Unit. You can tell Hurricane was crafted by developers that were big fans of the original because everything that you liked (and for those who couldn't get into the series, I guess, you hated) about Hydro Thunder has made the transition to homes with a shot in the arm to boost the amount of content and presentation the title has up its sleeve. The ride isn't perfect, but anyone looking for a quick-fire arcade racer or a trip down memory lane should enjoy buying a ticket and readying their sea legs.
The first aspect to note about the title is the fact it takes place on water - this will require a little of adjustment and will no doubt lead to some frustrations when the difficulty cranks up, but Vector Unit has handled this aspect very well. The water looks crisp, animates well and, while slightly exaggerated, wakes and displaces as it should. This becomes further hectic when explosions, natural disasters and other happenings throw your boat around, but seasoned players will learn how to avoid being tossed asunder. Players can take to these seas through eight different tracks on ten different watercraft (including the classic hidden rubber ducky!) through a number of modes that include arcade races, slaloming through gates, time attacks through paths of exploding barrels and circuits that combine the aforementioned race types. With the option to tackle the game solo, up to four players locally, up to eight players online (with the option to take your local four players online on the same system and an extra team-based online mode), there is plenty to do in the title that will justify your $15.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/UjquQpFccGI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/UjquQpFccGI&rel=1</a>]]> Of course, modes wouldn't mean anything if the game didn't play well and, while it does, the title still might not be for everyone. The single player mode has the player racking up credits to slowly unlock more vehicles, tracks and modes, which keeps the player coming back for more. While out on the track, players have the staple Hydro Thunder controls at the helm - although the mighty hull attack has been removed and the jumps are easier to pull off, any adjustment merely hones the title toward a more enjoyable experience. The controls are nice and tight like any quality arcade racer and different play styles are accentuated by different vehicle types. With one trigger accelerating and another used to break, the simplistic nature of the title allows just about anyone to pick up and play the title. When you factor in turbo usage, shortcuts, jumps, hidden items, leaderboards and more, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is one those titles that meets the adage "easy to learn, hard to master."
The H20 looks fantastic and most of the other items in the title hold up respectably. When you break into the expert boats and turbo beyond 200 MPH, the motion blurring gives the sense of speed the game needs and the small touches like splashing the screen with smears of water after a jump are nice touches. Some of the environments feature less detail (presumably because most of these elements are viewed from a distance) such as the crowd in the Tsunami Dome, some of the darker, cave-style environments are harder to navigate your first couple of times through and you will see the occasional "disappearing wall" when you clip against a few objects, but, overall, Hurricane looks great. Audibly, Hurricane doesn't match up to most current titles, but I get the feeling the audio is trying to appeal to the arcade fans. The music is pretty straightforward generic stuff, but I get the vibe of late '90s arcade from it. You also get the standard sound effects, but most of what will pass through your eardrums is the blaring of the boat engine and the voice of your navigator, which, again harks back to the original title. While the sound isn't spectacular and, I admit, the beeping of your near-empty turbo gauge gets annoying after a bit, it definitely gets the job done and it should give '90s arcade buffs something to reminisce about.
While the title has strong legs to stand on, Hurricane will no doubt lose some players through the long run. Once a player has all of the vehicles and tracks unlocked, the long grind sets in as players scoop up 1,000 points or so at a time (if they can keep up with expert) to build toward the 100,000 credit achievement and the final few unlockables. After about 30,000 credits, the motivation wears off and it becomes apparent how thin the single-player mode is in the long run. Also, the difficulty balance is quite brutal. Most players will have quite a bit of fun on novice and pro, but once the expert series rolls in, most progress at this level requires near perfection and it gets extremely frustrating, especially for me in the gate-based ring mode. Furthermore, there is basically nothing to A.I. in the title. In true classic arcade racer fashion, the other boats in the race serve to do nothing more than get in your way, eliminating the true feeling of a race unless you have local or online human competition. While you're racing, some of the collision is also fairly spotty. You'll definitely have a share of "are you kidding me?" moments as your boat explodes from a mere knick against a wall, non-racer emergency vehicles shove you off course, your boat slowly flips out of your control or you miss a time attack ring by a pixel.
In the grand scheme of things, Vector Unit didn't mess with much. It took a sound arcade concept and gave us an updated, fresh experience. It's titles like these that put the "Arcade" in Xbox LIVE Arcade and while it isn't perfect, it just exudes a fun factor that is missing from most racers on the title. It doesn't try to be realistic and it doesn't take itself seriously - the same formula that made Hydro Thunder an arcade staple in the '90s. The turbo boosts, huge jumps, shortcuts and more are still here. If you're a rage gamer, you might want to stay away from this title (or at least the expert difficulty), but if you can calmly handle "Blue Shell Moments" and like your racing loose and crazy, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a good bet for those looking to escape the summer sun. Much like the racers of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, Hurricane will let you and three friends race shoulder-to-shoulder from your couch and the online features and unlockables will keep you going. There are a handful of nagging issues to the title, but if you consider yourself a fan of classic arcade racers, there's a lot to like in Hydro Thunder Hurricane.
Score: 4 out of 5J2Games was provided a review copy of Hydro Thunder Hurricane by Vector Unit.
Time spent with Hydro Thunder Hurricane: 7 hours
Check my achievements on Hydro Thunder Hurricane with the Gamertag "nestlekwik." Also, feel free to ask me for a multiplayer race.
Note: Due to playing the game prior to its official release, I was not able to find players for the online Rubber Ducky team-based mode, thus, this review does not take this mode into consideration. We do, however, plan to follow up on the mode when public players are available.
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