WaveRace Bluestorm after thoughts

[Supergoal]

I bought my copy for about 2 pounds and it has to have been the bargain of a life for me!!

Everything is so competitive and every race really is different
I know some people would never even look at this game now let alone touch it

It's as good as if not better than f zero GX for its sheer playability and challenge.

Your thoughts please

[H-Man]

Is still one of my fave CG games

[yosai]

I got a Japanese copy cheap from EBay a while ago and to be honest I haven?t played it for more than an hour. It's one hard hell of a hard game and I always had something else to play so I haven?t got round to it yet.

Looks pretty, needs dedication. Better than F Zero, imo, No.

[Supergoal]

got a Japanese copy cheap from EBay a while ago and to be honest I haven?t played it for more than an hour. It's one hard hell of a hard game and I always had something else to play so I haven?t got round to it yet.

Looks pretty, needs dedication. Better than F Zero, imo, No.

As you said yourself you only played for an hour or so, thats why its so hard doh ...I have f zero also, both great games although im finding f zero alot easier....shorter life span maybe, I still play waverace to this day

[charlesr]

I really wanted to like this. I played it all the way through (I found it fairly easy ) and just didn't think the controls were as spot on as the N64 version. I only ever use one craft - the rest seem useless. Other than that, it's pretty good. Nice track design, although the alternative routes could have been more interesting. Oh and the only other letdown was the monsoon mode (? was it called that?) It was only available in this tiny little area off shore - completely pointless. Why wasn't it available in race mode?

[SharkAttack]

Charlesr I think the controls were as good as the N64 version but I think they decided to up the physics anti to make it harder (and different). For instance when in shallow water near land the craft begins to drag in with the tide. When trying to do a silly turn off of a wave your craft capsizes and probably rightly so - In the old version I could have probably span on the spot for 10 revolutions while moving along with a 15 foot tidal wave. Would that have made the controls better? No. But the realism less? Yes!

[SharkAttack]

Oh and the only other letdown was the monsoon mode ?

Tsunami? Yeh that should have been a full game mode. I think that area was just a test area for developers sadly. The storm mode was great. The weather effects in Blue storm were just fantastic full stop. I love it when you can virtually no longer make out the course anymore due to the dark skies, huge waves and driving rain. My only sadness (as always) was the odd total lock slowdown when lightning struck at certain points on the lost temple course.

[Commander Marklar]

I love Blue Storm, although it has been a while since I played it. In my personal opinion, it was the best launch title - I certainly spent the most time on it

As mentioned above, the way the physics work are a little different and going into it from the original was an odd experience. It doesn't take long to get over the differences and it wasn't long before I was taking advantage of some of the wave and obstacles nuances that I'd been avoiding. Another thing that got me was the control - I found that the rider appeared "disjointed" from the action on screen. This can be rectified by having the camera in close, where the rider goes transparent. I also found that this enhances the game as you're right in up close to all the action on screen; weather effects, splashes, etc... brilliant.

Some of the later course designs are rock though, much harder than the original game and you really need to be a Jedi, shifting the Jet Ski around with pin-point accuracy. I really enjoyed them though, although it can get frustrating as the other riders can be a bit brutal... just give 'em a taste of their own medicine... ahem

I really liked the music and sound effects to, along with some of those over-the-top announcements, especially the British guy

[bungle]

I agree with Charlesr here, I never found the controls to be as good as the N64 version. And in comparison, I felt they hadn't changed enough of Blue Storm to make really interesting.

[Adam Stone]

I absolutely adored this, the only game I brought on US Release which I was still playing months and months and months after. But I stupidly sold it. Why, I don?t know. I miss it like mad.

A lot of people were put off by the at-first tough handling, but that gave me a bigger incentive to play more and to master it. So many hours went into this game and I enjoyed it more every time I played. It was extremely satisfying watching myself improve. One week I couldn?t get past half way through Expert Mode, the next, I was coming first on every single race.

I am not a fan of racing games. Not really even F-zero games. But Bluestorm i love. I spent hours on the Time trails and even found myself in a few magazines with my times. I also created a Times Challange on ntsc-uk before... sadly it isn't there now as it was the old forums.

Also I loved the music. I read a few reviews where they said one of Cons was poor music, however I disagree. IMO it suited the game perfectly, was catchy and I just generally liked it. It was a nice touch they included all the level tunes in the options Oh yeh, and i loved the commentary!

The graphics were a little mixed I thought. The water looked great (however it could have looked even more impressive if it had the SMS-like light reflection on the surface) but the character models were a bit stiff and unrealistic. Also some of the backgrounds seemed to be pieces of cardboard. Yet, the good overwhelms the bad and overall it looked great. There was so much detail underneath the waves too. Fishes, shakes, dolphins and even Turtles could be seen swimming. There was even wildlife on the land which I liked. Bears, penguins jumping in the water, elephants, and birds flying to safety from the disturbed water.

Definitely one of my all time ?I wish I didn?t sell that? games. Loved it.

[Commander Marklar]

And in comparison, I felt they hadn't changed enough of Blue Storm to make really interesting.

I was gonna say that, but I didn't think it necessary. It is the same as the Moto GP > Moto GP 2 discussion, the first was practically perfect and it is only motorbike racing... er, applied to Wave Race of course, with Jet Skis...

[SharkAttack]

Someone said that you have to unlock every weather type individually per course. I think I remember that once you complete each championship mode you unlock EVERY weather effect for every course in that difficulty setting. Am I right?

[badgerpie]

I really enjoyed it, but consider it more of a one person title than a two player title due to the difficulty. You had to spend a fair bit of time with it to get the best out of it. Subsequently you could never play with a newbie cos it would be impossible for them to keep up.

However the great things about forums like this is it can reignite your passion for a game. I remember getting to second place in the expert tournament, but due to other games I stopped playing it. Maybe it's time to fire it back up again.

[Adam Stone]

I had some great two player experiences with this. I was surprised that my Brother actually liked it. He usually hates anything that takes a little time and patience to get to grips with, but he loved this. I obviously had more practice, but it was always fun playing against him anyway.

His friend Jody (again, surprising he liked this whereas i thought he would have been put off) also played in 2-player often and as my brother and Jody were pretty even they had some great races.

I always found that Wave Race was a game where we planned to play it for no more then 5 mins or so.. but continueous "Okay.. one more go to decide who wins" meant 5 minutes lasted for a couple hours. Great times.

[Treble]

Its flaws were: courses too similar to the old game and handling not as precise or with as good a learning curve as the first. Basically, the first was so good, it meant the sequel had to be everthing the first was but superior in every way. What we got was a tame rehash with less charm and less still in terms of originality. Not a bad game as such, just a pretty inconsequential one.