Why I bought it: This is the sequel to my favorite racing game of all time. At $10, I consider it a steal.
Thoughts: When I first started playing it, I dismissed it as not worthy of its lineage. However, after playing it for about 5 hours this morning, I can honestly say it's a worthy successor. The basic formula is the same. You race through a bunch of levels everywhere from the Arctic to tropical islands. There are many secret passages and boosts to be found along the way. As the races go on, they get much more difficult. The last 5 races I had to institute a strategy of quitting anytime I messed up. Pretty much the only way to win the harder races was to memorize the location of every turn, shortcut and boost. It doesn't hurt to run your competition into walls, just make sure not to watch them as they explode or you are bound to hit a wall as well.
The big difference between this iteration is that the graphics are much better and the addition of stormy weather to each of the levels. As you get farther into each race, the sunny skies turn grey and rain and win and waves screw you up pretty badly if you aren't careful. This game has some cool effects (splashes hit the screen and when you get going really fast everything becomes a blur) and a pretty awesome announcer calling the race. Also, there's a lot to it. Although I consider this game beaten because I golded each of the 8 races, there are several other modes including a ring challenge and a gauntlet mode. There are tons of things to unlock (including new skins for your boat and a shirt for your avatar).
Did I mention you can race as a rubber ducky?
Should I have bought it: Did I mention you can race as a rubber ducky? Yes.
Any interest in this spin-off?
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Thunder
http://kotaku.com/5979310/end-the-shame-commit-to-four-in-february
ReplyDeleteI think this is something we should all do. Just "beat four video games in February." That's one a week. Even here in our record-setting month of January, only 13 of our 75 posts have been video games. I know the month isn't over yet, but we're 27 days in which is basically where February would end.
Stan - 2 (one of which took five hours, the other about two)
Sween - 4 (and three seemed like legitimately long efforts, with no disrespect to Steel Diver)
Keith - 3 (none of which seem like they could have taken more than 10 hours - forgive me if I'm wrong)
Brian - 2 (posted on the 2nd and 5th of the month - meaning they were probably primarily played in December or previously)
Webber - 2 (one of which was a very long Final Fantasy game)
Trevor, Dee, and Marissa - nothing!
What I'm getting at is, we can all do better! (Except maybe for Sweeney, who must have dumped multiple hours per day into video gaming.) I can't speak for everyone else, but I personally will be participating in this very open-ended "beat four video games in February" thing. Who's with me?