Hydro Thunder

Although I beat the PSone version of this game on my PSP on the plane, the overwhelming majority of playtime for me on this game took place on the Dreamcast over 10 years ago. March 13, 2000 represents my favorite of all of my brother Ryan's birthdays as it represents the day he obtained a Dreamcast. It also represents a day in which my dad was feeling exceptionally generous as he not only bought my brother a Dreamcast and 2 games, but also allowed my other brother Andrew and I to pick out a game to share. While Ryan went with Sonic Adventure and Trickstyle, Andrew and I decided to go with a game we had played in the arcade before and loved Hydro Thunder. My life was never the same. Although I have spent hours driving Tidal Blade and Miss Behave atop the waters of Lost Island or Castle Von Dandy, I hope to spend hundreds of hours more. In fact, I plan to one day own the Hydro Thunder arcade game (totally worth 2 grand). However, despite my love and admiration for a game that is easily my favorite racing titel of all time, it was not until a few days ago that I finally managed to complete the game (no one said I was good at video games). To move on in the game, you have to complete the three tracks of a given difficulty level, which in turn unlocks the next three tracks for the next difficulty level. There are only 9 regular tracks (3 for easy, 3 for medium, 3 for hard) and you complete a track by placing first (well easy only required top 3 and medium requires top 2). Way back in 2000, I unlocked the hard tracks without too much trouble. However, I was never able to beat the three hard tracks. First place in New York Disaster, Venice Canals and Ship Graveyard never seemed attainable until I busted it out and played it on my PSP. Although it took about 50 straight attempts on each track, I finally captured first on each race and now consider this game beaten.

The key to this game really lies in knowing when to use your booster, what jumps to take and what shortcuts to take (as some are pretty long cuts). If you see a waterfall, chances are you can drive right through it and end up better off on the other side. If you see a hole in a mountain, chances are you should jump through it (yup, you can jump by holding brake and then hitting turbo). On hard, you need to be perfect to take first place. You have to get all the boosts while taking all the necessary shortcuts. You can't win just by handling your boat well. The competition also does not play to your level like on Mario Kart. Although it can be frustrating at times, it makes first place so much more rewarding.

I love this game. My biggest complaint is that there was no sequel. I wish someone else was into this game so we could compete on times. Try to touch my Lost Island time. Try.