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Wave Race: Blue Storm Preview
Mark Simons
00/12/0000
Hands on preview of this stunning aquatic racer FROM Nintendo.
The version of WaveRace: Blue Storm that was on display at the Nintendo show was the finished version of the game and this was the first chance we had to take this for a spin. All of the levels and features were in place, however the later levels were not unlocked, as you need to go through the Championship mode in order to release them. Despite this we managed to take a look at a few of the levels and the various degrees of weather effects on offer.
Graphically things are very impressive, it doesnât appear that much has changed since the E3 showing of the game the framerate is rock solid and the detail packed into the levels is brilliant. The main star, as in the N64 version, is the water itself with the waves rolling and crashing just as you would expect, this time with full reflection and transparency as well as reacting to the riders themselves. Character animation seems vastly improved the stunts being performed smoothly and with no jumping. Even though youâre speeding over a rapidly changing surface the animation stays true with the characterâs limbs subtly moving in reaction to the waves. Little details such as ripples from rain fall and water splashing against the camera add those little touches of realism that you may not notice first time around but are very impressive.
The levels themselves are very nice and rather varied, most of them seemed to be variations on the original courses but there were some new ones on offer. A rather impressive jungle level was one of the new courses that immediately stood out; with some narrow rivers and unhelpful currents this one posed a challenge even for the seasoned racer. There was a level that weâve not seen before, it seemed like a cross between Twilight City and Port Blue, with large oil tankers and an impressive cityscape that looked quite glorious as it was reflected in the water. Sadly we didnât catch the name of this course, but it seems to be another one of the new additions and is very impressive, if again a little tricky. These seemed to be the only new courses that were unlocked, the rest that we could play were updates of the originals, Aspen Lake (read, Drake Lake), Southern Island, Dolphin Park, Glacier Coast. All of these feature additional routes and little things to keep them fresh for WaveRace veterans. It may seem a bit cheap to include the original courses, however you could quite easily argue that they are that damn good, so why not include them. The only sad thing was that we could not find an updated version of Sunset Bay, hereâs hoping that it will be included as one of the un-lockable courses.
WaveRace: Blue Storm is structured very similarly to the original game; the Championship mode is initially the main focus of the game. With a little practice mode around Dolphin Park and three difficulty levels, with only ânormalâ being selectable at first. On ânormalâ you have five races, on âhardâ six and seven on âexpertâ although we expect there is going to be a reverse mode that you unlock when all three are completed, or perhaps even a whole other new difficulty level. Sadly we did not have time to find out. One of the best things about the Championship mode is the addition of a rather more tactical element, due to the inclusion of weather effects. As each of the Championships take place over a number of days the weather is naturally different on each, sometimes it is bright and sunny other days there is a bad storm that causes rain and big waves. You are given a choice as to which courses you race on which days, meaning that you could do them in order, but by the fifth day you may be on the hardest course with the worst weather. If you use your noggin effectively you will choose the easiest courses to go with the hardest weather, unless you like even more of a challenge. These weather effects do dramatically change the nature of the course, the difference between calm waters and waves of four or five meters high is rather large.
Besides the Championship mode you have the standard Time Trial, Stunt and Multiplayer mode. Incidentally the four-player split screen looks wonderful with only a small decrease in detail, although it did look like the water was not reflective, however the frame-rate was rock solid. One new addition is the Free Ride mode where you can explore each of the courses at leisure, with no pressure allowing you to find all of the secret routes and to practice with the different weather effects.
The handling of WaveRace: Blue Storm will familiar to fans of the original yet it has been slightly tweaked so you do still have a bit of a learning curve. As a big fan of the original this writer found the game to be a little more sensitive than the N64 title. This is probably due to the increase in frame-rate, rather like the difference between Gran Turismo 2 and Gran Turismo 3, it is more refined and allows much more sensitive movement and control. Acceleration is handled by that big blue âAâ button, which feels very nice, there is no brake and the new addition is the use of the shoulder buttons. In the original you could use the âRâ button to perform if you will a powerslide on water, it was dangerous, as you would fall off rather more easily. The shoulder buttons on WaveRace: Blue Storm allow you to turn more tightly â“ personally I would have liked this to be completely handled by the analogue stick, to keep the controls minimal and precise â“ but with the risk of falling off. However, the biggest addition is the use of the turbo boost. Each buoy you ride past increases your turbo meter, as do stunts pulled off successfully, and when it reaches max you can unleash the turbo, via the âBâ button, which gives you a nice dash of speed. However you are unstable and using it on narrow sections of courses can be dangerous. This may detract from the realism of the game a little but with extended play this could become a very important feature, especially for making some of the more tricky shortcuts.
