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| Wave Race: Blue Storm |
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easy to learn, hard to master...
this is a really great game. a lot of people will say that "this is a rubbish game," and "you cant control the racer," but thats because they dont understand the concept of the game. youre not controlling a car on a flat road surface, its a wave race (hence the name, "wave race"!) Of course its going to be bumpy and hard to control, thats the fun of it. when you play on the hard settings with the storm conditions, the waves get so big and strong they throw your racer about its a lot of fun to play, as is multiplayer (up to 4). make sure you have a big tv though, as multiplayer works in splitscreen. in championship mode (the main mode of the game) there are 8 locales, each with about 3 variations and 5 weather settings, making for 120 different races! theres also time trial, free roam, and stunt modes, as well as the fun multiplayer! there are also many secrets and hidden routes to unlock. so this game will last you a long time. it has good graphics, with some brilliant water effects, and a constantly smooth frame rate (ive never seen it drop, even in multiplayer). the commentary can get a little tiresome, although the sfx make up for it. the music isnt bad. overall a great game. if you want a good (and different) racing game for your cube, then this is a good choice
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Wave Race Blue Storm splashes down on Gamecube!
WAVE RACE BLUE STORM SPLASHES DOWN ON GAMECUBE. IS IT AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL OR, LIKE MANY CONVERSIONS, A QUICK GRAPHICALLY ENHANCED REHASH?
Despite being one of the launch titles for the Nintendo 64, Wave Race 64 remained one of the consoles most innovative and graphically astonishing games. Its water effects were like nothing seen before and the game provided a refreshing change from all the endless driving titles out there. Well, if you thought the graphics in WR64 were good - you aint seen nothing yet!
Those of you are not familiar with the WR format; WRBS is a jet-ski racing game where, like in any other racing game, your objective is to beat your opponents round various circuits. But racing on water means every race is different due to the unpredictability of the waves and varying weather conditions.
Red and yellow buoys are situated around each course, which must be passed correctly in order to keep your speed up and complete the course successfully; red buoys must be passed on the right and yellow to the left.
If you miss five buoys you are forced to retire from the race. This forces you to only miss buoys if you really have to (for example on the last few corners of the last lap).
Fans of the original will feel straight at home. Playing WRBS is like rediscovering an old friend. The game is very arcade orientated making it instantly playable with responsive controls, fitting the new controller perfectly.
There are five modes of play on offer: championship, time-trial, practice (free roam), multi-player and stunt mode. Championship mode provides the most fun and challenge following the same pattern as the original with three difficulty settings (normal, expert, hard), with more tracks being unlocked the harder the difficulty.
Most of the tracks are actually based on their N64 counterparts in all but name. For example, Artic Bay is basically Glacier Coast, Aspen Lake is Drake Lake etc. This could be seen as both good and bad. Good, because all the original tracks were very well designed, but you cant help but feel at least a little short-changed.
To be fair, most the tracks have been improved with new features and sections (not to mention graphically enhanced although this comes expected) but others, like Southern Island, remain virtually unscathed. There is no reverse mode this time round as well but some of the tracks are reversed in expert mode anyway.
The route you take around each track, weather conditions and buoy location changes each time the difficulty increases. This means, in a sense, there are three different versions of each course but they arent different enough to argue the game has twenty-one tracks.
There are two brand new tracks: La Razza Canal and Strongwater Keep. La Razza Canal is inspired by Venice, while Strongwater Keep is set in and around a Castle. Despite a beautiful setting, La Razza Canal represents something of a missed opportunity for me being the WR equivalent of the Monaco grand prix with too many tight turns (esp. on expert) spoiling what could have been the games best track.
It features some nice touches (like the little short cuts - smashing through tables and chairs) and with lots of practice becomes slightly better, but should have been the games highlight. Strongwater Keep works well with touches of Marine Fortress and Port Blue evident although is perhaps a little short. As with all racing games, some tracks work better than others and the hard ones require lots of practice, which never hurt anyone.
A new Mario-Kart-style turbo feature has been added which can be used when your max power metre is full (after every five buoys passed successfully). It provides you with a short two-second burst of speed. Knowing when and, more importantly, when not to use it as your jet becomes hard to control, can be the difference between winning and losing.
Its a nice addition as you can leapfrog from the back of the pack to finishing in the top three on the last straight, earning valuable extra points.
Another new feature is the improved interaction with objects around each course. In the original, hitting a wooden stump would result in your rider falling off his ski - losing you valuable seconds. But now many off-track obstacles can be smashed through becoming hidden short cuts.
The original was criticised for only having four characters to choose from and race against but this problem has been eradicated with new faces Serena del Mar, Nigel Carver and from 1080 Snowboarding fame, Rob Haywood and Ricky Winterborn. With old favourites Dave Mariner, Akari Hayami, Ryota Hayami and Ayumi Stewart, this brings the total of characters to a respectable eight creating a greater diversity of characters.
New tricks for Stunt mode have also been added including the Motor cross inspired Superman, Cowboy, Bullet, Flip Sub, Nac-Nac and Heel-Clicker.
All in all, WRBS is a highly enjoyable racing title with realistic water physics. But with only seven courses its lastability is questionable, especially if you owned the original. It does its intended job of showing off the Gamecubes graphics but has been rushed a little one feels to meet the Cubes release date. A few more (new) tracks isnt too much to ask...is it?
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Best racer on the Cube
This is the first game I got for my Cube, and its perhaps still my favourite. Obviously I love racing games; if you cant stand them, then this isnt going to win you over. In fact, the main criticism thats been levelled at this game is that its inaccessibly challenging, putting off more casual race game fans. This might have some truth in it, particularly for the younger gamers, who have been brought up on easier games. For those who choose to stick with it, the game is incredibly rewarding. There is a massive amount of depth to the handling of the craft, and it is possible to become a real master at the game. The difficulty curve is perfectly pitched as well; Expert setting takes some real time and commitment to crack, and theres a real sense of achievement when you finally polish it off. Theres also good scope for time trialling, once the championship is beaten. A potential downside is that there is nothing in the way of secrets to unlock; you have to be happy playing a game solely for the sense of accomplishment that comes with overcoming a tough challenge. Also, there are only seven different environments to race in, although they are very varied, all but one have multiple routes for the different difficulty settings, and most become unrecognisible under the more extreme weather conditions. Some of the weather effects in the game are truly spectacular, and they make a massive amount of difference to the way the game plays. Presentation is of a high standard; the much vaunted water effects are truly amazing, and the sound effects are fantastically atmospheric, particularly when running through decent speakers.
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GameCube RGB Scart Cable
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I bought this cable only to find that its not true RGB. Only 8 of the Pins are wired, it would be better to look at another make of RGB cable, as I found out but too late...
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Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
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Tired of snow and skateboards in your search for extreme-sports entertainment on the PlayStation 2? Then why not switch to a (slightly) more conventional form of transport--the BMX bike--with Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2? Mr Mirra--the Tony Hawk of the bicycle world--and a host of his professional chums have given their names and likenesses to a game which manages to be extremely tricky and highly entertaining, offering eight unique parks to play in and more than 1500 different tricks to ma..
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Legends Of Wrestling
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When Acclaim lost the extremely lucrative rights to produce the official WWF game, they invested in the WCW licence--which promptly went bankrupt. Without another recognisable federation to back, they produced a game featuring ex-wrestling stars. Legends of Wrestlings presentation lacks the polished sheen of WWF SmackDown. Character selection and in-between bout screens are basic and static affairs. This lack of polish is highlighted by the pre-bout introductions, where the wrestle..
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Crazy Taxi (GameCube)
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The arcade version of Crazy Taxi was a massive hit, with its high speed driving and pounding soundtrack. Creators, Sega, ported it over to the Dreamcast where it sold by the bucket-load, and now its available for the PS2, the Xbox and the GameCube. And its superb. The aim of the game is simple. Drive a ludicrously fast taxi and make oodles of cash as quickly as possible--easy! Choosing from one of four drivers, each with their own skill set, the player needs to locate and pick up pote..
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Burnout (GameCube)
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Like your racing games fast, furious and full of spectacular smashes? Youre in luck. With Burnout, Acclaim remove all pretence of going for a serious simulation and instead serve up a delicious dish of pure arcade fun. There are two key selling points to the game--the speed the action runs at and the spectacular crashes. To facilitate these, the set-up couldnt be more straightforward, with the simple aim to be first past the post. You can increase your chances of this by driving more dang..
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