4 Wheel Thunder

"Better than Hydro, only with a friend."

When Hydro Thunder came out at the Dreamcast launch it was a well received game, but got shot down because it lacked one important thing: Championship Mode. Enter 4 Wheel Thunder, which was formerly called Xleration, by the makers of Nightmare Creatures, Kalisto. This game has been in development for a good year or two, and I was eagerly awaiting it. The day the reviews went up over at Gamespot, I read with concern, ''This games difficulty is through the roof...'' but being the optimistic person that I am, I ran out and dished out the $45 dollars for the game. They were right this game is exceptionally hard. But don't give up just yet read on.

After attempting to win a few races and not getting anywhere, I threw the game in the corner hoping to return it the next day. But as luck would have it I decided to invite my friend over the very same day to see how he enjoyed it. He fell in love with it, I said ''Let's do something else.'' Only to have him reply ''NO! Let's continue on our 18th hour of 4 Wheel Thunder!''

The reason for this outburst of fun, was Championship Mode, you alone, or with a friend pick a car and race through well over 15 different tracks ranging from simple indoor stadiums, to racing on an ice covered volcano trying to spew ashes and molten rock at you as you race to get that money sign spinning on the road so you can have an edge after the race. Because you see when the race is over, the winner get's an certain amount of money, and the loser does too, but obviously not as much. If you attempt to be able to drive over enough of the money lying on the road you might be awarded with an extra couple hundred dollars, which may be enough for you to get the edge, upgrade your car to the next level; including new paint job, rims, exhaust pipes, spoilers, and tires plus more. This will help you win the next race. Me and my friend had lot's of great fun with this until we stumbled upon a message that read ''To continue the Championship you must complete it first in 1P Mode.'' As my friend said ''No Problem!'' I shook in fear as I thought of the evil AI waiting to knock me off the road.

But with practice over the course of a couple hours, I was able to beat nearly every race in First, but to do this you must memorize every tracks shortcuts boosts and develop strategies to help you win. Before Long I only had three tracks left to complete championship mode, when I saw that one part of the 2P mode was left untouched.

This area I like to call the ''Extra Games'', and these range from a hot-potato type game to balloon pop racing. These are fun when you want a break from the intense and vigorous Championship Mode.

The graphics are amazing in this game and can easily compete with Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec, but the only gripe I have for this game is that there is no four-player mode. Other than that, if you like to put in that extra effort to unlock the extra cars and tracks, and there are A LOT to unlock; and share a love for the off-road racing in all of us; pick up 4 Wheel Thunder today!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/01, Updated 12/28/01