Hydro Thunder

Genre: Racing	Number of players: 1 or 2	Memory space:
Release date: Dreamcast launch title	Publisher: Midway	Developer: Midway
Compatible peripherals: Standard Controller

An editor at DREAMCAST.IGN.COM has had the chance to play Hydro Thunder. Here are his first impressions (pics at the bottom of the screen).

"Set to make its debut alongside NFL Blitz 2000, Mortal Kombat DC, and Ready 2 Rumble at Dreamcast's U.S. launch this September, Hydro Thunder is Midway's latest offering to the arcade-style racing genre. Unlike the hugely popular San Francisco Rush, however, its first arcade to Dreamcast conversion take place not within sprawling cityscapes, but instead on top of wild waves in a number of far-out locations across the globe.

Running on proprietary 3Dfx-based hardware in the arcades, Hydro Thunder is a thrill-a-second experience from beginning to end. Players choose from one of 13 high-performance super boats (nine selectable, four hidden), then take to the water on 11 courses, ranging from the Arctic Circle to a post-apocalyptic New York City. As with the boasts themselves, there are hidden courses to be found, three in all.

Specific levels include: Lost Island, Thunder Park, Arctic Circle, Greek Isles, Lake Powell, Far East, Venice Canals, Ship Graveyard, New York Disaster, and Nile River.

Central to Hydro Thunder's gameplay is a Newtonian fluid physics model, which strikingly reproduces the bouncing and bobbing of waves, swells, waterfalls, and flumes. Each track features a different degree of rapids, waves, and currents, but they all have several things in common – mammoth jumps, hidden shortcuts, and plenty of power-ups. One power-up in particular is especially useful: the turbo boost. Picking one of these up unlocks your boat's turbo ability, which is activated by pressing the "turbo" button on the throttle.

We recently has the opportunity to play the coin-op version of Hydro Thunder, and, to put it lightly, we had a blast. The game is incredible fast and fluid, the track designs are to die for, and, as a multi-player experience, it's highly entertaining. Midway has yet to divulge what additions will be made to the Dreamcast version of the game (it's expected to be a flawless conversion at the very least), but even left untouched, it's safe to say that the game would make for a very solid U.S. launch title. It's known that a four-player mode is in the cards, but Internet play has already been ruled out.

Hydro Thunder will start making its way into U.S. arcades this April, so you won't have to wait much longer to take it for a spin yourself.