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Wave Race: Blue Storm Review - Gamecube

Join Ryota Hayami, Akari Hayami, Rob Haywood, Ricky Winterborn and all your other favourite jet skiers for an updated version of the beloved Wave Race 64. Similar courses, similar control systems, and a basically identical game will have you reliving your favourite Jet Ski game from the Nintendo 64. The only big differences are the gorgeous water effects, as we all know that Nintendo love utilizing the GameCube's power when it comes to water, and a lot more speech to make the game seem more real. Read on to find out whether or not Wave Race: Blue Storm can satisfy your hunger.

Gameplay

In your standard game, you'll select a character, which all vary in skills from Top Speed and Acceleration, to Maneuvering, Stunt Skill and Strength. You'll find that as long as you know what you're doing, there's no real difference between the characters as most of the time you're being thrown around by the waves anyway, however you may find a character that you prefer. The four standard races are Lost Temple Lagoon, Southern Island, Aspen Lake, and Ocean City Harbor. They all vary immensely when it comes to scenery, but they're all around the same length and each lap takes around 30 seconds. The weather conditions vary and you can keep track of them when you're choosing where you'd like to race next.

Wave Race: Blue Storm consists of 5 main modes: Championship, Time Attack, Stunt Mode, Multiplayer, and Free Roam. The other two selections in the main menu are Tutorial and Options which will of course, help you get prepared for the main modes. Championship mode has four selections - Exhibition, Normal, Hard and Expert. Each harder circuit unlocks as you complete them one by one, and with each circuit comes a new course which you get to race in the final race of the circuit. If your Wave Race skills are still pumping from the N64 version, then you'll probably beat all 4 of the championship modes in about half an hour or so. Time Attack will see you trying to complete the course as quickly as possible, and is only really entertaining if you're trying to train up to beat your friend.

Stunt Mode is a pain to learn initially, and you'll have to be able to pull off those moves very quickly as you're going off the ramp if you want a high score. Once you've initiated the move however, you may have a rough time trying to land it to begin with as well, so you should probably check through the manual and run through the tutorial a few times before trying to beat the scores in Stunt Mode. Free Roam is self explanatory. You can fully explore any of the courses you've unlocked, which will help you to discover shortcuts and the best angles to take jumps, or avoid obstacles. Free (continued next page)