When the original Wave Race debuted on the Nintendo 64, it became an instant hit. The game received acclaim from almost everyone for its great physics, tight control, and awesome visuals. Zap ahead to the GameCube launch, when Wave Race: Blue Storm finally arrived, the long awaited sequel to the N64 classic. Everything about Blue Storm has been beefed up and the game easily follows in the wake (pun!) of its predecessor. Wave Race Blue Storm was surely one of the best games available at GameCube's launch.

The Nintendo Gamecube's first racer is nothing short of a solid, fun ride. Riding atop the wonderfully dynamic waves is a dream, especially with the different weather patterns used in the game. The way everything is put together in Blue Storm, the graphics, the control, the gameplay, they all make it a stellar title.

All the modes from the N64 version of Wave Race have made it into Blue Storm. Championship, Time Trial, Multiplayer, Stunt Mode, Free Run, the tutorial mode, it's all there. Championship mode is the main pull of the game, allowing players to race in
Normal, Hard, and Expert circuits against seven other racers, weaving through buoys and launching off ramps. The harder the difficulty level, the trickier the buoy placement becomes. CPU intelligence is also pumped up on harder difficulty levels, creating a much more difficult challenge.

Championship is there for a challenge, but if you want to ride for recreation, Free Run is the mode for you. You can literally spend hours just playing around in Free Roam mode, performing the many tricks never gets old, and Free Run also a great way to master the controls and familiarize yourself to the different tracks.

Wave Race: Blue Storm is much more than a shallow jet-ski racer. Each track in the game will change depending on the weather setting. A clear day setting will leave many levels with low tides and shallow water levels, whilst rainy settings will raise the water level and wave height, making each track unique with every different setting. Higher water levels may reveal short cuts, and vice versa, bigger waves make for harder maneuvering, different weather patterns affect racing conditions in major ways. It's easy to overlook how deep Blue Storm is; but after playing the game extensively, it becomes apparent that this game is much more than a simple racer on Jet Skis.

Blue Storm features eight different environments, almost 20 different track layouts, and five different weather patterns. With all those different variables, there are tons of unique settings for playing this game. Some changes may seem to be insignificant, like say, a light drizzle, but every alteration in the environment and weather forces the player to rethink strategies and how they control their character.

Controlling the Jet Ski while riding atop turbulent waves is perhaps the biggest challenge Blue Storm has to offer. Precise control is needed to correctly catch and ride the sometimes-massive waves; every swell and crest will affect the watercraft in some way. Even almost unseen currents moving through the rendered water can push your craft.

The controls of Wave Race: Blue Storm take some time to master. Learning to turn sharply without falling off the Jet Ski can prove a great challenge to beginners, but for those who've mastered the game, it becomes second nature to use the L and R buttons to perform tighter turns. The A-button is used for acceleration, while the X or Z buttons can be used for turbo boosts, which are only available after successfully navigating through buoys. The turbo boosts are an integral part of winning races or performing big-air tricks, and they can even prove helpful for getting out of sticky situations (a la stuck between a boat and a cliff side). The B-button is used to crouch, which can help players keep control in rough waves.

Now lets talk about the multiplayer mode. Up to four players can compete against each other, via split screen, in the competition mode. Most gamers would accept the fact that in a four-player, split screen race, there would be pretty large compromises in the graphics department. Not so in Blue Storm, the game still runs at a silky 30 fps, and hardly loses any graphic detail. There is also a two-person split screen mode; which is much more forgiving to those of us with small television sets.

The graphics in Blue Storm are a bit of a mixed bag. The water effects are amazing, but the heavy use of bright colors and the lack of texture effects on the racers tone down the mood of the more realistic environments. On the upside, the different weather effects are quite amazing. Seeing dark, moody clouds in the sky and individual ripples on the water's surface from raindrops can be truly breathtaking. Not to mention every mode in Blue Storm, be it Championship or Multiplayer, runs at a solid 30 fps.

The music in Blue Storm is quite a step up from its predecessor's. All the songs are CD quality, and they range from l33t techno beats to straight rhythm and blues, to of course the pure rock n' roll sound. But it's not all good. The narrators of Wave Race Blue Storm are pretty mundane; some fans may even prefer the over-the-top narrator of the last game. Phrases are often repeated, and within the course of a few races, it gets old. The voice samples are pretty weak, this is perhaps the worst feature of the whole game, and turning down the volume can easily solve it; or you can instead vouch to switch off the narrator voices.

Overall Wave Race Blue Storm is a very solid and enjoyable title, with only a few minor problems that can get in the way. This game is definitely one to consider purchasing, especially if you're looking for a great water-based racer, since it's the only one available for the GameCube right now. Don't forget your towel.