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Zelda Gaming Online gives 3 Thumbs up

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 31
Date: October 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The best import release I've ever played.
This is the game I really couldn't wait to have. I played this game first (and last) at E3 and Spaceworld. I actually picked up the N64 rumble version of Wave Race this year in Japan since it was never released here. For a lot of people, Golden Eye and Mario Kart are institutions, and personally I like those games too, but Wave Race is my true bread and butter. For anyone who liked the original, Wave Race: Blue Storm will definitely not disappoint. I've logged in around 12 hours with the game so far, and it's really hard to pull me from playing more.

Wave Race 64 was actually a tech demo that led to a game. WRBS was the same way. It's a great game that can show what the GameCube can do. The water effects are truly breathtaking. WRBS took the water physics from the N64 version and improved on them considerably. The waves that I've seen so far have just utterly blown me away, as well as chewed me up and spit me out. Chop is nothing. Ripping around massive waves is something you'll now have to master. And it's not easy.

All of the track layouts and environments are excellent. Sure, there are throwbacks to the original, but there are so many things added that it's like a new course altogether. There are some really cool short cuts, like blasting through an ice covered wall to making jumps over walls and rocks, and diving under piers. I haven't finished the game, but according to my boy Ravi Hiranand (yes, ex-N64HQ), there are 8 environments to race in, with 19 tracks total, not including stunt tracks.

Here is the line up and amount of tracks per environment. Dolphin Park (1) + Ethnic (3) + Southern Island (3) + Aspen Lake (3) + City Harbor (3) + Cool Ocean (3) + Aqua Maze (2) + Victory Gate (1) = 19.

On clear days you can see everything that is going on under the water. Depending on which course you're racing, you'll see fish, dolphins, and even whales. If it's under water, NST put it in the game. Water is not the only thing that is beautiful in this game. The surrounding environments are also richly detailed. Too bad you really won't notice until you watch the replays.

Racing with 7 other racers on the course makes the game a lot more fun, but a little more difficult because there are that many more racers you'll have to take on. They will get in your way, knock you around, and make you miss buoys. It gets a little crowded sometimes, not that that takes anything away from the fun. The AI is challenging, but decent. You will see other racers wipe out or run into things just like you will. I would almost say that the AI cheats ala' Mario Kart, but I can't really tell. It might be the fact that I'm still trying to get better.

There is a learning curve in this game. I would have to say it's on par with its predecessor. It takes a while to get used to handling the "personal watercraft" (they aren't Jet Ski's anymore). Even though I would consider myself an expert in the original, I still had to re-learn everything for this new game. Picking the right racer is the most important thing to success. I was getting my butt kicked all over the place until I began racing with Nigel Carver. His handling suits my racing style the best, even though he's a little slower than average.

The turbo is an excellent addition to Wave Race. It can help or hurt you. Depending on who you race with, you may not want to use the turbo because it lessens their top speed so badly, even if you use it you'll eventually slow down enough to get passed again. I think it all depends where it's used. I usually turbo where I can blast by enough buoys to regain my top speed. The turbo is also great in the stunt mode. Airtime baby! Word.

Speaking of which, the stunt mode is back, and with more tricks than you'll believe. I haven't counted them yet, but I think there are at least 20. I barely played this mode, but I will say this, the triple flip has already been accomplished and I'm going for four. I'm not really big on the stunt mode yet because I'm more into the racing, but it's there, and fun. I love the new look of the rings.

I don't know what more I can say about this game. This is my THIRD set of impressions for Wave Race Blue Storm. My only complaint is that I wish there were more tracks. Sure, with difficulty you'll get different variations of the same track, but I wanted more new tracks -- and the old ones added for flavor. 8 environments is sort of weak. Unfortunately, there are no secret levels like...and I had been dreaming about. At least, they haven't been found yet. Sorry ... no lava level yet. It's also not online compatible, which was another dream of mine. SEQUEL! Other than that, I can't complain. Wave Race Blue Storm is an absolutely phenomenal game. It takes what made Wave Race 64 great, and improved on it. If you liked Wave Race 64, get ready. This game will make you laugh, cry, and of course, fill them depends. Even with some minor complaints, Wave Race Blue Storm completely and totally rocks.

SO I GIVE THIS GAME 3 Thumbs up.

Wave race a game you cant live with out!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Did you like the 1st wave race? Do you like intese action, killer waves and amazing speed? Well then you better get your hands on this jet ski racer. With mind blowing graphics as well as tight control you will be weting you pants everytime you play this game. Order it now! [....]

Sean O'Neill

Fun Game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 18
Date: October 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The game is very good. I played the Japenese verson. The graphics wre not the best. I have seen better. Maybe because it was the Japenese version. Don't know.

Not as good as Waverace 64

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 14 / 27
Date: October 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Let's begin by stating we love the N64 version of Waverace. In our opinion it's the greatest racing game ever made, surpassing even Gran Turismo (and equalling SNES Mario Kart). It has everything, perfect controls, sublime tracks and an unparalleled sense of `being there, doing it'. While Gran Turismo is excellent, the structure of the game becomes tedious, especially when you have a good car and can drive well. The challenge leaves the game and it turns into amassing cash to buy more cars. Waverace 64 requires ultimate and constant skill to negotiate the variety of games involved, whether time trial, stunts, race or multiplayer. In short, it's arguably perfect, and would've easily gained 5/5.

Now, onto the NST Gamecube version. Well, quite simply, it isn't anywhere near as good. It doesn't have the sense of fun the N64 version has. The controls are stiff, unresponsive and sluggish, especially when compared to the previous game. At first we thought it might be a flaw in the design of the Gamecube controller or something getting used to the game would cure, but this isn't the case. While visually and aurally it's great, the game just hasn't got `it'. Another problem, the new courses. They really aren't very good, and are annoying. In Waverace 64 it was as if every inch of each course had been meticulously designed and redesigned, until the perfect form had been found. In Blue Storm it feels as if they've been thrown together after a night out.
The Gamecube now allows 8 racers on screen, but they all have no personality and feel computer controlled, totally unlike the original where you felt you knew the character of each of your opponents, almost to the extent of anticipating the way they would race each track. Along with the lack lustre tracks this makes the single player game a mundane experience. A special gripe has to go out to the commentators who are the dullest, most annoying people on the planet. They are so bad that you have to turn them off. This removes a huge amount of atmosphere from the game, but it does save you smashing up your controller!
The stunt mode in the N64 version was excellent, but left a great opportunity for improvement. We were hoping for Street Fighter type combos and the ability to chain stunts together making new manoeuvres, something NCL said they were interested in if an update was developed, but alas NST have seen fit to downgrade this section. The stunt mode is probably the weakest, and most infuriating, part of the game. Whereas the N64 game allowed you to pull the next stunt on the controller while the first was happening on screen, making it fluid and organic, Blue Storm insists you wait for the stunt to be completed until you begin the next. This is very poor.
The multiplayer game now allows four, but is not much fun to play and soon becomes boring.

Graphics 4/5
Fantastic waves, fluid animation and incredible effects but the game has lost some of the rawness of the N64 version, making you feel like your watching a CGI intro. We never thought we'd be saying this, but it's too slick!

Sound 4/5
Great music and effects, and superb surround sound. But oh, the commentators, they're so bad they're offensive to the ears.

Gameplay 3/5
Not great, and not as good as Waverace 64. Stiff, sluggish controls, poor tracks and unresponsive stunts. The more we play it, the less we like it.

Overall 3/5
Obviously Nintendo (and we mean NCL) are struggling at the moment to get the releases out and are currently heavily developing titles, otherwise they would have updated this game themselves. But that still doesn't give them the excuse to let this onto the market. It's not as good as Waverace 64 and really has no worthy upgrades. Perhaps NCL should have left this title on the back burner, updated it themselves and released it in a couple of years, because we'd have much rather waited than have the memory of one of the greatest games ever spoiled.

NO FUN GAME....GRAPHIC SORRY

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 57
Date: October 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

WHAT IS SO FUN ABOUT 6 LEVEL THAT YOU CAN WATER JET SKY ON. THIS GAME IS NOT THAT FUN AND IS NOT COMPLETE. PLUS THE GRAPGHIC OF GAMECUBE are sorry. GAME CUBE IS NOT SO POWERFUL....PLUS PS2 will be more power when the hhd and expansion bay come out and xbox is already more powerful than the gamecube. XBOX FOREVER...XBOX...THE FUTURE OF GAMING!!!!!!!!!!

Great Launch Title

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: November 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

For a launch title, this game is really pretty impresive. I've played it, and the first thing that struck me was the water effects. The glare looks real, and when you see the rain I'm sure you'll be as impresed as I was. Second, the physics are pretty true to real jet skiing, which is always a plus. Overall, the game is a fun little racer and definately better than the previous title on N64.

Avoid this rehash

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 27
Date: November 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Only if this game could have lived up to what it could have been. It seems that this is the trend with the majority of the games being released on the GC, they have the potential to be great games, but due to lack in innovation they are bad ports of their N64 counterparts. This game is no exception. To start off on a good note, the graphics on this game are decent. The water looks real, but does not come close to the realism found in games on other consoles. But the gameplay and lack of levels and modes leaves this game in bad shape. The controls are incredibly stiff and the lack of levels, count 'em 6, boggles the mind and leaves you wondering whether the GC is really a next gen console or simply based on technology from the past century.

Easily great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Wave Race: Blue Storm is everything Wave Race 64 was, and more. It features twice as much of everything. Twice as many tracks (8 new tracks, 8 remakes of the originals with new hidden shortcuts, so fans of the original won't be dissappointed.) Twice as many racers (Again, 4 new, 4 old, no dissappointment.) Twice as many players (4 players in multiplayer; the original was only two player.)
Weather conditions are an important part of this game. You can have anything from smooth, flat water, to pouring rain, to giant tsunamis! And conditions are typically random in tournament mode and controllable in multiplayer or time trials. Again, this one tops the original, which was a great game in itself.

Beautiful, realistic and fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 18 / 22
Date: November 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Two things about this game stand out above everything else:

- Control. Right out of the gate you should know that this game has a big learning curve in controlling the jet-ski. Some people who play the game for 2 minutes put the controller down and complain of stiff steering, but guess what? A real jet-ski can't turn on a dime either, and neither should these. What you have here is truly realistic jet-ski racing, and if you stick with it and learn how to control your racer, you've got a really rewarding experience ahead of you.

- Graphics. The game's water looks simply amazing. They really went all out in creating the wave physics in this game: the waves ripple, ebb and flow just like real water. It's not perfect: sometimes the water seems too crystal clear, and it lacks enough reflections on the surface to make it totally photo-realistic. But it is truly a thing to see, and the important thing is that the wave physics make the racing experience all that much more realistic.

If you enjoy racing games, don't pass this one up. It's the best water racing game I've played on any of the three systems.

Best Racing Game EVER!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Once you play Wave Race:Blue Storm,you will be blown away by the amazing graphics.The water effects are amazing.The new levels will have you playing for hours and hours.There are many different modes of play, including 4 player racing.All the characters look great.If you loved Wave Race 64,you'll love Wave Race:Blue Storm!!!

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