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Wave Race: Blue Storm

by Max Lake - November 12, 2001, 2:23 pm EST

After a few rounds on a local GameCube kiosk, Max gives his initial impressions of Blue Storm.

For some reason, I never bought Wave Race for N64, but it was nearly the first game I bought (I wanted it but couldn’t find it; I got my N64 just after launch when the only game I could find was Wayne Gretzky’s Hockey)… Later, I never picked it up, holding out in vain for a Rumble Pak version to be released domestically. I did play it a good deal over my N64 owning years and enjoyed it tremendously & am happy to discover Wave Race Blue Storm is a great follow up to the N64 classic.

Although I’ve already seen and played the game at E3, getting my hands on the finalized game, albeit in demo form was a thrill. The game’s loading screen looks a slab of the seashore and is accompanied by the music theme that played in the background of the Japanese Wave Race commercial.

As previously reported, each character has their own announcer, who act as a coach and keep you informed as you make your way through the track. It’s a lot of speech. While I suppose it’s a bit excessive when they say something foe every buoy it didn’t get annoying as I used different characters which prevented it from getting repetitive. Not to mention I didn’t play too long…

The graphics are bright and colorful and simply gorgeous. The water effects are phenomenal, the reflections, the waves, everything. The amount of aquatic life surprised me. In the first level alone, I had dolphins jumping alongside my craft, while schools of fish could be scattering underneath the surface of the water. Then I spotted a sea turtle… And just about lost it. The amount of detail and beauty in this game is incredible.

It’s a good idea to not get too slack jawed at the graphics while playing. Blue Storm is REALLY HARD, especially keeping up in the race and working your way around the buoys playing to win. The control will definitely take some practice getting used to—it’s not bad at all, just highly involved. Working against the elements and a bunch of opponents takes a lot effort—weaving in and out between kiosks was all but impossible.

I got to try the two player with Eric of website TendoNext. For about 3 races in a row, both of us were forced to retire because we both missed too many buoys. By the 4th race, he was able to actually finish, just barely. I didn’t. This is definitely going to take some practice.

Somehow, playing for the first time, I was able to do a rolling flip as I jumped over a ramp. The feeling was exhilarating although I was unable to repeat my performance, or do any other tricks. The prospect of actually being able to finish races and do stunts along the way on the choppy race track is an exciting prospect. I know I’ll be able to do it once I get more time with it. I’m very impressed with Blue Storm and am looking forward to investing some serious playtime with it once I get my GameCube.

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Genre Racing
Developer Nintendo Software Technology
Players1 - 4

Worldwide Releases

na: Wave Race: Blue Storm
Release Nov 17, 2001
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Wave Race: Blue Storm
Release Sep 14, 2001
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Wave Race: Blue Storm
Release May 03, 2002
PublisherNintendo
Rating3+

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