Hydro Thunder Hurricane

The arcade revival that many racing fans were waiting for since 1999, Hydro Thunder Hurricane brings back the high-speed boat races that made the original game such a massive success in the arcades. This time, however, the experience is a bit different than how fans might remember.

Much like the original Hydro Thunder, Hurricane is a boat racing game that features some of the faster and more F-Zero-esque racing boats we've ever seen. Although the game is a bit light on content, its fun gameplay and satisfying controls are more than enough to keep racing fans hooked for a good while.

Learn to Turbo

The game's controls are quite simple to learn: all you have to know is that there's a button to accelerate, one to brake, and one that gives you a turbo boost. This last one will soon become your best friend, as learning how to administer your turbo is the most crucial part of racing in Hydro Thunder Hurricane.

Unlike some other futuristic racing titles, like F-Zero GX, turbo here is limited by the number of power-ups you pick up during a race. Soon, you'll find out that the secret to winning races in Hydro Thunder Hurricane is memorizing where all the turbo pickups are located on the map, taking shortcuts if necessary to get them.

Boating Issues

Unlike some other racing games, like Mario Kart, the boat you select in Hydro Thunder Hurricane vastly changes your maneuverability and overall racing proficiency. That's why it's so important to unlock new boats as soon as you can, and what makes experimenting with the different boats so fun in the first place.

Boats aren't just different from a visual point of view: many aspects of their handling and turbo capabilities vary wildly between models. However, not every unlocked ship has to be necessarily better than the more basic ones: skilled players might feel more comfortable using some of the basic boats that boast slightly more control than some of the speedier late-game ships.

A Huge Splash

Considering the age of the original Hydro Thunder, it's needless to say that Hurricane has much better visuals overall. Boat models look pretty detailed, featuring some nice textures all around.

The same can be said of each racetrack. The dynamic tracks change with each lap, which ensures a ton of gameplay variety, even though the game only has eight different tracks.

Just like the original, each level has some quite interesting secrets to find scattered all over the place. From Viking statues to sea monsters, there's never a dull moment in a Hydro Thunder Hurricane race.

If you've never played the original game before, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a great way to get you into this series. Though the amount of content might leave you wishing for more, the amount of visual and gameplay upgrades are enough to make this one an even better recommendation than the 1999 original for newcomers to the franchise.

Pros

• Good visuals (and fancy water physics)
• Great variety of boats to choose from
• Highly-detailed levels with tons of secrets

Cons

• Could use a few more tracks
• Late-game challenges come with a significant spike in difficulty