Customer Reviews

Hydro Thunder

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dont believe the negative reviews that this game received in the Video Game magazines and websites. Hydro Thunder is a fast paced Boat Racing game loaded with short cuts and power ups. The levels are challenging. The gameplay is fast paced and will have you coming back for more and more. The graphics are not the best you have ever seen on the playstation but they dont take away from the gameplay. THe sounds, when cranked up on a stereo are great and real add to the feel of the game. Buy this one....its worth it!

Crunching an over-the-top arcade rocket-boat simulator onto a PSX disc can't be easy -- look how badly "San Francisco Rush" missed the mark -- so it's a pleasant surprise to find Hydro Thunder so true to the arcade original.

Tweaking the arcade game slightly to squeeze out some more replay value, you begin the game with your choice of three easy boats and three easy tracks. Finishing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd (in a field of 16) on these tracks opens up the medium set, where you need to be second or better to move onto the hard tracks.

The graphics are a wildly mixed bag -- some races have patches of incomprehensible blur and pixelation (most notably the first portion of the "Arctic Circle" track), while at times you'll be stunned by surprisingly good reflection and other water effects.

The developers also did a great job of keeping in all the "look ma!" cutesies of the arcade game, such as police boats and tour guides chasing you down the river (sample audio: "the tracks in Hydro Thunder were constructed from thousands of tiny triangles... oooh!")

The knock against this game is the agonizing difficulty level. You won't win a race without finding significant shortcuts and getting most, if not all, of the "boosts", which often require a special "hydro jump" technique to blast out of the water and into the air. I'm all for getting more than five hours of playability out of a disc, but in HT, it seems you have to run the same track 30 or more times to get the perfect run that places you high enough to move on. It's grueling, and when all's said and done, I think the shortcut-crazed novelty-racer might do better to play "Sled Storm" instead.

But if you absolutely loved the arcade game, the PSX version is a worthy adaptation.

This game isn't really as good as the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast versions, I'll admit, simply because the Playstation is an older machine than either of those other ones. However, I'll give credit where credit is due, there's plenty of enjoyment to soak in here. The game does feature pretty good graphics and very tight gameplay, as well as some modes not present in the other home versions. Stick with it and you're bound to have a good time racing for first place.

Very tough to play at first. I played the arcade version and fell in love with it. When I bought th PS version I was blown away by the consistant quality of the graphics and the handling changes for each different boat. Once you win the first race, you'll be hooked.

this game is so sweet racing through the water at 100mph hitting boats and hering people scream but your not hurt.

I had been wanting this game for sometime but didn't want to pay the high price...This game took me less than 2 weeks to finish. The graphic are good and the boats are cool but rather hard to control at first...

It's fast paced, great for two players for fun competition. Love finding the shortcuts...Just wish they had a go your pace mode to really explore where those shortcuts are ;)

This is the best of all boat racing games.I love this game!!

This game is good, their is a good challang in the game but it is possible. their is also 4 bouns tracks and boats. My favorit boat is call "Bannshi" their are 13 tracks in all but you'll have too 1st get 1-3 in the "begginer" tracks. 1-2 in the "intermidate" tracks and get 1st in the "expert" tracks. (you can do this in arcade mode).
Over-all this is a fun game

This game is the best! If you like racing games or don't this still is the best game ever! The plot is fantastic.