The Biggest Game Project on this Planet

Bortlog #2: Waverace 64

WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVERACE!

Man, I love that announcer dude. BANZAAAAI!
Stupid ass.

I should point out here that there's only a handful of genres I generally don't play. I'm a HUGE gamer with a VAST amount of games, and I play practically every genre, except for the following 2:

1. Sports Games. Hate 'em. Don't see the point in 'em. Very much like with actual sports as a matter of fact, which explains why I can cut myself severely on a smooth plastic ball. This includes games that only Nerds consider sports, like Chess, Go, Shougo and American Football. I have never ever enjoyed games like this, not even with cute mascottes, like Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, or the criminally insane Megaman Soccer. Can't stand 'em.

2. Racing Games. Don't hate 'em, but don't really see the point in them either. I need some kind of quest in my games, unless I'm playing a puzzle game, just having to race to win a cup is not interesting enough. Normally I only enjoy non-serious racing games, like Mario Kart and Wipeout, which is where today's game comes in.

Waverace 64 is a racing game in the vein of games like Gran Turismo.
Only without cars or realism.
So actually completely different.
I need to think my comparisons through next time.

Basically, your goal is to do what you have to do in EVERY single Racing Game on earth, which is to score loads of girls and get as drunk as possible. And avoid hitting the sand along the road (pun intended), like the brilliant Jos Verstappen, only not.

The main difference though, is that you're not racing on turf, asphalt or Poker Tables but on WATER (hence, the waves) which looks pretty cool.
In fact, if I'm not mistaken this game was rather a big hit and spawned a bunch of crappy wannabe games on other consoles, that also featured water racing in some way or other.

The question is though: why was it such a big hit?
Upon playing this game after a LONG while (I think the last time I played it was in the year it was released, ie 1996!) I can still account for its entertainment value, but it's really not that special gameplaywise.
The graphics were unbelievable for their time though. And I'm not talking about the crappy character models, but about the fantastic water effects and wave physics.
Nowadays it's not so special anymore, but for that time the waves were incredibly realistic, and I'm going to rate it by the standards of that time.
The waves are not so impressive to look at anymore, but Drake Lake still looks very nice with it's quiet waters and misty environment.

The great thing is that the water is actually used to full effect. Every stage has several weather conditions (although most of them can only be accessed through the time trial and 2P mode, and not in Championships), but conditions may change as you race, as may the water level and other things, opening up shortcuts and alternative routes for faster lap times.

And that's all the game has on offer, the challenge for self-improvement. There's hardly anything to unlock, except for harder difficulty and 2 new stages. As it is, the game is not very hard anyway, so its only real problem is that it is far too shortlived. Even in Stunt Mode the amount of point you have to gather for top position is very low and broken in no time, so the only lasting appeal of this game lies in your own desire for self improvement, which in my case is not too high, since I'm already so marvellously fantastic at everything I do, and even at most things I don't do.

The idea was original enough and good use is made of the concept of racing on water, but it's simply too easy and short-lived to be of interest for long, even in 2P mode.
It deserves an 8.0 just for effort.

posted by Ingen! @ 8:36 PM