Hydro Thunder Hurricane Review and Gameplay Video

It's crazy to think that Dreamcast games are already rising to the ranks of classic gaming. It seems like I was just playing Hydro Thunder on the now defunct console, and boy did I have some memories with it. Can you believe that was 11 years ago? Man how times flies when you're having fun, eh? All those fond memories came rushing back to me when I learned that Hydro Thunder Hurricane, a sequel to the Dreamcast and arcade classic, would be making its way onto the Xbox Live Arcade as one of this year's flagship Summer of Arcade games. Fast boats? Lush visuals? Adrenaline pumping jumps? Check, check, and check. Everything sounded perfect on paper, and thankfully, these components translated particularly well to an entertaining and engaging game. Hydro Thunder Hurricane combines everything you've come to know and love from arcade racers: speed, thrills, and tight controls. Competitors recklessly navigate each thrill ride of a level in an attempt to win that gold medal, and more importantly, their due fame. The game focuses on successfully picking up and using boost to gain the lead and fight your way to victory. Gathering boost isn't just there to be practical. It also transforms your ride into a larger than life variant of the one you started the race with. The key to mastering this game lies in getting your lines down, and knowing where you'll be able to pick up more boost. Find hidden routes within the level to pick up the elusive red boosts that provide you with significantly more bang for your buck. The concept behind the game is undoubtedly simple, but certainly not to a fault. Rather, it creates a more accessible game than some of the more complicated racers out there.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane's level design is what sets this racer apart from others in its category. It's easy to compare the game's tracks to a thrill ride at Universal Studios. Events you'll encounter while racing range from the improbable to the impossible. One track might end in a giant monster rising up from the water, or an even larger Viking throwing a tantrum as he throws debris in your path. It's exciting the first time around to be sure, but even if you've played each level over and over, you'll still find these little moments to be a perfect touch to an already outrageous experience. To make things even better, the game does have many hidden routes throughout each level, so even if you've gone through a race several times, you can still find and enjoy new things to help you gain the upper hand. If there's one bad thing to say about the levels, it's that there's simply not enough of them. There are eight tracks, and they are quite large. Still, more can oftentimes be better, and I think this is a perfect example of that. I suppose you can't expect too much from what many would consider a bargain title, right?

The game provides several standard modes of play to mix things up. First, you have your traditional races. The better you place, the more points you'll earn, which in turn unlocks additional events for you to participate in; and more boats for you to race with. The next mode of play centers on checkpoints. Your goal is to complete a race with the best time possible, and in order to accomplish that, you'll need to hit every ring possible. Every ring you fail to maneuver through results in one more second being tacked onto your overall time. Next is a mode of play where you try to complete a level as quickly as possible, all while doing your darnedest to dodge explosive barrels. Obviously, the more of these you dodge, the less time you'll spend respawning, and the better your overall time will be. There may not be anything here out of the normal modes of play we tend to see in arcade racers, but they're all solid and offer a different way to enjoy the game.

In a summer giving us arcade racing hits such as Blur and Split Second, it can be a little overwhelming to select the game that best fits your needs, but Hydro Thunder Hurricane is an economical choice for someone looking for the best of all worlds. Though the game is a little high on the Xbox Live Arcade price scale, and the available game modes may not be as unique as they could be, I can't hesitate in considering it a great value for the money. Be sure to check out the included video to get a good idea of how all these components come together.