PixlBit

It's somewhat astounding, but it has been longer than I can even remember since I have had the opportunity to sit down with a solid arcade racing title. Hydro Thunder Hurricane has allowed me to fondly recall a time when the only thing players need to concern themselves with is finishing the race in first place. It's almost liberating to not have to worry about anything else, especially after playing so many titles that make players worry about so much more.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane is the follow-up to the classic arcade title, Hydro Thunder, a game in which players navigated super-powered speedboats through exotic tracks complete with shortcuts and boosts around every turn. Hurricane is no deviation from the original formula, players are simply treated to a new set of boats, tracks, and goals, as well as some more impressive visuals and water effects.

The game is comprised of a few different modes, all of which task players with either coming in first place amongst a group of 16 racers or making it through a succession of rings in the fastest time possible. As players clear races and challenges, they are awarded credits which unlock a variety of things in the game, from races to boats, across each of the modes. Even after players complete any of the challenges, they can be replayed to earn more credits, essentially allowing even the less experienced player to unlock all eight of the unbelievably unique and interesting courses in the game.

In addition to these single player modes, players have two great options for multiplayer. Local four player multiplayer has been included, something that we rarely see this generation, as well as your typical eight player online multiplayer. Both offer players a great way to enjoy the game with friends, either through Xbox Live or on your living room couch. Leaderboards are also offered, allowing players to see how they stack up in the world and against their friends.

All of these constructs merely provide players a way to get in a boat and race, and this aspect of Hydro Thunder Hurricane is simply unquestionably spectacular. The high speed races, while simple in their goal structure, are quite complex in navigating the track in the fastest way possible.

While racing through any of the tracks in the game, players must keep a sharp eye for possible shortcuts, and the shortcuts are plenty. Some provide huge gains while others might actually slow you down. In passing through these shortcuts, players will also want to take note of which ones contain boost pick-ups, and understand how those might enable them to reach a different more difficult to reach shortcut up ahead.

As you might imagine, some serious thought was put into the design and creation of each track. While the game only features eight unique tracks, after many playthroughs, it's likely that players will still be finding new paths in the levels. Furthermore, all of the tracks are extremely interesting and themed around a singular concept. All of the levels have moving parts and these have an effect on both the race and how players pilot the waters.

Everything that moves in the water will affect the wave structure, which in turn modifies how players steer through the level, and in some instances might cause a path deviation unexpectedly. As such, it becomes critical for players to get a good feel for their boat and exactly what it's capable of doing. This adds a whole new layer of complexity to the equation that is almost entirely transparent to the player. As players make their way through the various courses and modes, they will figure out which boats they like the most, and which are suited best for a given level.

The inherent goal of any race is to obtain a gold trophy, but Hurricane subtly provides a secondary goal to all players after they have made it through a challenge once; beat your friends. During each race, the HUD will tell you at each checkpoint in the level how far behind or ahead of one of your friends you are. For me this created some weird alternative challenge, that pushed me to not only win the race, but to also find the fastest route to beat my challenger. Thankfully, even after overtaking a friend's time, the game flashes some other faceless Xbox Live challenger to overtake in the leaderboards. This simple concept had me trying to find perfect route and race the perfect race to claim top dog on the leaderboards, which is not something I often find myself doing.

Part of Hurricane's success is the simple goal with a complex track, as well as the typically short race times. In a matter of just a few minutes, players will rip through an entire race and be ready for the next one. With a low barrier of entry, players can hop on at any time and try and race through a track faster than they have before. If not that, players can simply traverse the tracks looking for spinning tokens that are scattered throughout the levels. I'm not quite sure of their purpose, but they are still fun to find and collect.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane has provided a great step back in time to the arcade glory days. Thankfully the whole world has the opportunity to play, so the leaderboards that were once localized to a single machine are now spread out to all who play the game. Players who enjoy racing games with a simple purpose and a high level of replayability will find themselves enjoying the fast-paced, addictive qualities of Hydro Thunder Hurricane. If you don't see yourself pushing through tracks multiple times to achieve the highest score possible, Hurricane might have some seriously limited appeal, but your first run through should still be a blast.