Hydro Thunder Hurricane Review

Jul 27, 2010

There’s nothing like playing a racing game in an arcade and in 1999, Hydro Thunder was released and arcade goers everywhere were able to play against each other in four-player action or solo. The environments were interactive and even tried to stop you as you tried to go for first place. Instead of racing on asphalt, Hydro Thunder allowed you to race on water while in high powered boats. Midway and Sega brought this game into the home the same year for the Sega Dreamcast and a year later for Nintendo 64 and Playstation.

Plans for a sequel were talked about but never became a reality. Once Midway went under, hope for a sequel started to evaporate. Then Microsoft picked up the rights for Hydro Thunder and on March 26, 2010, Hydro Thunder Hurricane was announced.

Now developed by Vector Unit and published by Microsoft Game Studios, this exclusive XBLA arcade game is just one of six games to be released this summer, part of Xbox Live Summer of Arcade 2010.

I couldn’t have picked a better arcade game to be released, especially in the summertime. Hydro Thunder Hurricane gives you the feel of playing in an arcade in the comfort of your home. Racing on water gives you a feeling of wanting to go to a water park to demand this as an attraction.

As soon as you start up the game, a familiar voice is heard and the music plays. Straight away it feels like the original with updated graphics.

You can choose to play it alone and in order to play new tracks and get new powerful boats, you must place in first, second or third. Similar to the arcade since you had to play to unlock new areas and boats as well. In single player, you can choose between four types of play. Race is just that, race to win and earn credits. Ring Master is a slalom course where you can rank up boost by going through the rings and challenge yourself on the course.  If you miss a ring you will lose your boost completely and depending on your time that will determine your score and how much credit you will receive. The gauntlet is just your boat and barrels set to explode it. Avoid the barrels but watch out for the waves for they set them off as well.  Lastly we have championship mode. Each championship has its own parameters that you must follow. This can be anywhere from a simple race to ring master or any of the other games that Hydro Thunder Hurricane offers.

Multiplayer allows you for a quick match, search for a match, create your own match, play split screen with a friend or host your own Xbox Live party. All offers you the chance to beat your friends or random people and rank on the online leader boards.

Play alone or with friends, either way you’re going to have a lot of fun playing Hydro Thunder Hurricane. The music is spot on and the graphics are beautiful. The water physics are amazing especially when they kick up and hit the screen. You can really lose yourself in the environment of each course and forget that you’re racing to win. Each course has a theme and it is executed very well. From an X-Files type theme to driving a rubber duckie, there is never a dull moment with Hydro Thunder Hurricane.

Hydro Thunder is 1200 Microsoft points and well worth the price if you’re a long time fan of the series or playing it for the first time, you will not be disappointed. Very fun and I’m very happy to admit it feels like playing the original but update for today.

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