Arctic Thunder

"Am I wrong for liking the vibrating seat a little too much?"

Game Play-
7/10

Arctic Thunder is a kick-ass snowmobile racer which packs a huge punch. It is a simple racer on the outside, but has a lot of depth inside.

You have a few characters to choose from, although I wanted more. They range from humans to snow creatures, which would be pretty obvious to do. There are creative courses in this game, as there were in Hydro Thunder, and I found these to be a little blander and less detailed than in Hydro Thunder. (see Graphics for more on that story)

The charm of this game are weapons. You get weapons from little power-ups along the courses and you get to use them for a limited time. The weapons range from inferno blasts to snowball shots you can shoot at your enemy.

You also have other power-ups, including a hyper drive which I enjoyed for reasons I'd rather not discuss.

The game is much easier than Hydro Thunder. Third time playing on a medium course, I won, and set a time record. And I know that the machine wasn't recently reset. If it were, then how would it explain first place, huh? You don't got answer to that, do ya punk?

Control-
9/10

The game uses a setup like a real snowmobile. It's almost perfect, and I would hardly change a thing about it. The buttons are responsive, the turnings fine, and the machine is comfortable and easy to use. The bike always shakes and shakes very heavily when using a hyper-drive power-up. I like that for......reasons I'd rather not talk about.

Graphics-
7/10

The course design is what really got me down about this game. Most of the scenery in this game is pure white, which is fine, but I think they went a little overboard with it. The overuse of white led to a perception of a lack of detail, which there is, but not easy to see. The courses also weren't as creative as they were in Hydro Thunder. Hydro Thunder used levels like Thunder Park and Greek Isles, which looke very good, whilst this uses a Castle and a Nuclear Plant.

The framerate was excellent in this game, though, and it was smoother than butter on my bottom. The graphics were smooth and blending, there were no jagging polygons, and other than the snow, everything was detailed. There was a little slowdown in this game, but it's barely noticable and not much to complain about.

Audio-
4/10

Once again, Midway uses barely noticable music in a racing game. I could only hear a little bit, and I can't even tell whether it was this or the Sky Target machine next to it. What I did hear was a little symphonic tune, which didn't suit the game well.

The sound effects were the bomb, though. They were fast, non-annoying, and were very descriptive of the actions they were assigned to. But some of them I recognized from Hydro Thunder, though.

Enjoyability-
9/10

Dear God, this game is enjoyable. Hell yes, give it a show. I'll guarantee you'll like it, or you won't get your money back for hating this game. The combination of fast racing, nice graphics, great game play, and a vibrating seat will entertain you for a long time.

Score Rundown-

Game Play-7/10 - SWEET!
Control-9/10 - I really enjoyed this
Graphics-7/10 - All I can see is white! NNNNOOOOOOOO!
Audio-4/10 - It's below-average
Enjoyability-9/10 - Hooooo yeah!

Score-36/50

Percentage of Gaming Goodness-72%

Overall-7/10

Doodleheimer's Recommendationitivity

Excluding the audio, this game is almost perfect. I love this game, and you have to give it a try! I MEAN IT!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/16/01, Updated 05/20/02