"The latest release in the "Thunder" series from Midway has some yeas and nays somehow..."

I'm really worried about Midway's Reputation as of now because most of their releases have not been of good-quality and for about 77% of the releases, their quality really pales in comparison to Namco, Sega, and Konami, the three major hardhitters from Japan. Now let's see if Midway can compete with Arctic Thunder, a new snowboard and attack game...

Graphics and Animation

Sure there are textures around the polygons and the backgrounds. IMO Arctic Thunder *allegedly* uses the Zeus Architecture in order to keep the animation smooth, the textures impressively detailed, and the backgrounds highly lusturous. However, during times when there's a lot of action the animation becomes choppy and when you try to jump through something, sometimes the animation can become unimpressive in a few points. Right here because of the choppy animation shared in the earlier Thunder games, I would like to see Midway remodel their Zeus Architecture so that the graphics, animation, and polygons would be moving at 60FPS full-time and there would be no slowdown whenever the action becomes too tense. Although the animation, textures, plush backgrounds, and smooth polygons are good in this game, the lack of RAM (Random Access Memory) during intense scenes (slow and choppy animation during intense scenes) have to go.

Mechanics

You sit down in front of a cabinet and you use some sort of a Tri-Moto-esque controller that allows you to steer left and right. There is an attack button that performs all of your attacking functions and there's a Tri Moto-esque gas feeder that allows you to control the feed of your snowmobile during gameplay. About 8 Cabinets (not sure about this, minimum is Four Cabinets) can be linked together for simultaneous play against the cabinets. Some cabinets offer some ''fan blow'' feature which simulates the arctic winds in the game.

Gameplay

My biggest beef with this game is that there are a lot of powerups in the game which seems out of place for a snowmobile video game. Also, the attacking feature is a major turn-off because most people are used to passing other people without causing accidents and/or forced kick-outs of the vehicle. The controls are easy to get used to but there are adequate amount of skill that you will need to learn if you want to become the best player in the game. The jumps add some excitement to the game but the animation of the jumps really pale in comparison to those from Namco's Motocross Go. I would like to see the game move at a robust 60FPS all the time since the game would benefit from smoother animation and lifelike quality stunts. The only thing I have to deduct points from this category is the use of powerups in a racing game, which IMO is quite unnecessary for this one. Otherwise, the game plays excellent, but not without the flaws and gripes.

Challenge and Lasting Interest

Here, Midway has a lot of catching up to do because as with most Midway Games, you have to find ways to beat your computer opponent, shave off precious time, pass opponents with minimal injury, and so on. You just have to find a way to get the fastest possible time and to get first place in a track. The AI doesn't seem to be challenging to my tastes because it requires minimal effort to know and/or study their patterns. There are several tracks you can choose from but it would be better if the tracks posed a better challenge rather than having to find ways on how to get first place in every track through use of unnecessary stuff Midway's been putting in just about every game since Cruis'n World.

Sound and Sound Effects

I don't know if there's any background music associated with the game but the sound effects are somewhat unimpressive for an arctic snowmobile game. I wished that you would be listening to either orchestral or rock music as BGM Music and I was only hoping that the sound effects would've been improved by using better voice talents because sometimes the sound effects sounds a bit cheesey at times. The Snowmobile Sound Effects are ok, but for the most part, Midway needs to start bringing in some lifelike quality music and sound effects for this matter.

Overall

Although the arctic feature will appear to about 48% of the arcadegoers, this game still lacks quality in a lot of places that it still can't compete with some of the higher-quality deluxe video games in the market. I'm advising that Midway starts fixing their reputation because people are pretty sure dying for some Midway Games with better replay value and with greater elements of realism and sportsmanship.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/21/00, Updated 04/07/02