And now, today's episode of "Wait, Microsoft Owns THAT!?"

I've always really liked Hydro Thunder's aesthetic. It's arcade feel and exaggerated depiction of boat racing gives me almost an unintentional sci-fi vibe, imagining what kind of technology could allow boats to do these things and still work. Such cartoonish approximations of speed boats that they make Star Wars' podracing seem quaint and realistic. While the more modern rendering techniques of this sequel give its environments an obviously 7th Gen appearance, I think it still carries enough of the old arcade spirit in its colorful boats and outrageous set-pieces.

Initially the game seems dead simple. You steer, accelerate, and boost, but the real complexity comes from the fact that you can jump only while boosting. Jumping typically allows you to reach power-ups and paths that you couldn't reach otherwise, and there are tons of paths to find. The depth comes from a combination of learning the tracks, managing your meter, knowing the particularities of how your boat handles, and the precise execution of timed jumps. At a certain point it feels less like a racing game and more like a platformer with particularly unique controls.

Hurricane is a surprisingly beefy single player experience; there are only 8 tracks, but their use is pushed to the limit (perhaps beyond). Races and time trials are pretty standard, and while any class of boat can be used the pro and expert classes will offer more points. Points will unlock new boats and tracks, with the difficulty slowing ramping up. While the player is able to grind, simply playing each event as they unlock is usually enough to open the next.

The bulk of the game's single player events are "Ring Master" levels, which could be uncharitably compared to Superman 64's flying segments. Their real utility comes from teaching the player where the alternate routes, shortcuts, hidden power-ups and secrets are. Additionally, the reason there are so many of them is that each of them requires that you use a particular class of boat, meaning that they can also help you adjust to the particular eccentricities of each vessel.

The championship events are by far the weakest, being comprised of several previously completed challenges stitched together and requiring a high cumulative score to pass. At times the degree of high performance required to beat later stages is frustrating, with small mistakes typically prompting a retry, though at least the championship events will restart you from the beginning of the same track rather than the start of the entire cup.

It's genuinely odd to think this is a Microsoft game. Obviously Hydro Thunder was a multiplatform arcade conversion but I can't help but think of it as tied to the Dreamcast's launch lineup. It's a shame they've sat on it for so long, but at the very least, if this is the end of Hydro Thunder it went out with some dignity.

Um jogo bem arcade e nada mais

Escolha o modo de jogo, selecione o seu barco e vá correr. Tem opção de corrida normal, checkpoint entre anéis, desafio de tempo e campeonatos.

A gameplay flui muito bem e alguns cenários são bem legais e geram um desafio legal. Jogar contra deve ser a parte mais divertida desse jogo porque a CPU não oferece muito desafio, então sozinho cansa rapidamente.