Hydro Thunder Hurricane (XBLA) – Review – Xbox 360

Hit the big waves and race your way through eight unique and action-packed environments from fast rapids and waterfalls to a mysterious island of monsters to the secret waterways of Area 51 in Hydro Thunder Hurricane, the first official sequel to the original Hydro Thunder arcade game. The name may sound familiar and it should; Hydro Thunder has been around since 2000 in arcades and eventually on home consoles such as the SEGA Dreamcast, PS2, N64, PC, and even Xbox via compilation discs throughout the years.

Gameplay: Like the arcade version, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a fast, action-packed, over the top power boat racer. The premise of Hydro Thunder Hurricane is to race, place, and gain points to unlock additional tracks and boats. The environments that make up each track are very interesting as you will be racing down huge waterfalls in deep ravines, driving through the canals of Paris, an island with monsters, and even the waterways of Area 51. While racing, there is so much going on in the environment around you to provide a highly action-packed experience. There will be falling rocks, helicopters dropping bombs creating massive waves, giant monsters leaping out of the water, and even police boats that will get in your way as they try to turn and slow your boat. A lot of the tracks have characteristics similar to that of the original arcade version but are completely redesigned. Each track has many hidden and alternate paths that hold secret collectables or provide a faster route to the finish line. As well, the tracks contain boost icons that will allow you to go faster and even do a boost jump to gain alternate routes, jump ahead of opponents, or reach certain floating elements. For added replay value, each track has 10 packages to collect which may be seen right out in the open or hidden in the alternate paths. A lot of the hidden paths are revealed with the Ring Master events so you shouldn’t have a problem locating them all, however, retrieving a lot of them can be quite a challenge.

The controls may seem too over the top and arcade like, but it’s actually really fun. Hitting waves will send you flying into the air but, combined with boosts, you can reach some pretty interesting areas. As well, you can control the direction of your landing which is really useful for the timed events.

The boats are split into three different classes – Novice, Pro, and Extreme. As you race and place in the top three, points will be awarded and, as you unlock the higher difficulties, more points will be awarded to speed up the unlocking process. There are four game modes – Race, Ring Master, The Gauntlet, and Championship. In race mode, the races can be played with any class and consist of 16 AI opponents on eight unique tracks. Some are long one lap races while others are short 3 lap circuit races. Of course, racing with a higher class will allow you to complete races faster but the competition is much tougher. Ring Master events are timed events that will have you manoeuvring through rings that are strategically placed on the track. Consistently driving through rings will increase your boosts but missing one will strip away the boost and add a second or more to your time depending on the class. These Ring Master events are split up by class and will have you playing 8 Novice, 8 Pro, and 8 Extreme. The third game mode, The Gauntlet, is a timed race as well, but the tracks are littered with explosive barrels. Hitting one will instantly destroy your boat and of course increase your completion time. Unlike a typical racing game, the Championship mode consists of a mix between different classed races, Ring Master events and Gauntlet tracks. The interesting thing about this mode is that, once you complete a race, you will be taken back to the main menu where you can view your progress in the championship. In most games, the Championships are one long endurance run, but in this game, if you decide to, you can go play another mode and come back to the Championship mode and continue the one you had in progress.

Graphics/Audio: Since its’ original arcade release, Hydro Thunder has of course seen a major graphical overhaul. For being a fast paced racing game, the boats, environments, textures, and especially the water are very detailed. Another thing about the water is how realistically it reacts to the boats and explosions around it. The lighting is very well done which helps provide a realistic reflection on the water. Even the water that splashes onto your screen as you crash through a wave looks very realistic. The UI is simple, clean, and very easy to navigate. To provide that authentic arcade feel, voiceovers are present on the menu and throughout the races. After a while it could probably seem annoying but you’ll soon find yourself repeating the phrases as they are said. All the music present in the game really adds to the action-packed and destructive gameplay.

Multiplayer: Multiplayer allows you to race online with up to eight people, setup a party and race with your online friends, or play locally with up to four human players against 4 AI opponents. Playing a private race with friends was the most fun as we would just goof around and try to collect the HTH packages hidden around the tracks. This made me wonder why there wasn’t a free play or arena mode where you could just drive around a track without racing against opponents. After you collect all the packages, it would likely be obsolete, but with some interesting level design and ramps it could a fun experience.

Overall: With the over the top racing controls, the familiar classic arcade gameplay is still present. With eight tracks playable on four different game modes, players will get hours upon hours of gameplay out of this game. Trying to complete all of the races using the different classes and collecting all the HTH packages will be quite a challenge but it’s really addictive and fun just like those arcade days. For some reason, the races felt very similar to the racing game Split/Second with the destructive environments, but at the same time, it felt like a downhill racing game like the SSX games. Some of the tracks surprisingly even felt like a huge waterslide winding down to a finish line below. One really helpful thing that was missing was a proper stat tracking screen which would have helped show which levels still had HTH packages to be collected. Aside from that, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is an awesome classic arcade racing experience with an HD overhaul. If you are looking for a good over the top racing game this summer, this is definitely the game to get.

Pros
-Clean and simple UI
-Fun over the top power boat racing
-Beautiful and destructive environments
-Amazing looking water
-Plenty of replay value
-Great sequel and overhaul to a classic arcade racer

Cons
-Missing a proper stat tracking screen
-Some noticeable pop in issues with reflections
-Annoying boats getting in the way that aren’t a part of the race

Overall score: 8.5/10

An XBLA copy of this game was provided to the reviewer for reviewing purposes from the publisher.

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