Wave Race 64

"A racing game that only treads in water"

As you probably know, Wave race 64 was one of the original N64 launch title games, so obviously, its one of the first games many got for the system. Now, as you may or not know, I usually don't get off with racing games, and Wave Race 64 is no exception as it just doesn't interest me as much as other people who are a fan on this series. That's not to say the game is horrible. In fact, this game is pretty good.

GRAPHICS
Despite this being a launch title, the visuals look quite pretty, but there are flaws from time to time.

First off, the character models for each racer looks decent and almost life like. The only problem that I have with their is their suit colors. While the girl racers suit colors are passable, the rest look awful. For example, there is one racer who wears mostly green and yellow. Also, he's a fat dude, which really says a lot about his personality.

The other visual effects are also quite good. The waves look real, like if you were at a real, virtual beach. Each beach or harbor has their own distinctive colored backgrounds and lighting effects, differing each stage from the last. However, the only problem that I have is that sometimes the textures seem to be smeared together and distorted on the 3-D background, ranging from the cliffs to the bleachers in practically every level.

SOUND/MUSIC
The sound for WR 64 is good, but not anything worth getting exited over. Usually, the main sound that you will hear is the water jets engine, which sounds original and refreshing, but it has been done better before. Also, occasionally when you pass by the bleachers filled with people, they will cheer and applaud for you, which is always nice.

One main problem that I have with the sound is when your character falls off his or her water jet, mostly because each racer sounds ridiculous and quite cheesy at times. Also, the announcer guy can be funny, despite him having incredibly stupid lines. They're hard to hear because the audio is muted and distorted, so I can only guess what he's saying sometimes.

The music fits the game well. Its mostly beach/ Caribbean music with a little bit of electronic effects mixed in. Most of the time is soft on the ears, but, much like the sound, at other times it can get really distorted and hard to listen to, so sometimes, it best to hit the mute button.

GAME PLAY
Wave race is your standard racing game, just on water, which can sometimes be a pain to race on mostly because the waves can get really big, which means you will fly all around the track, resulting in any place but first, but what do you expect from a game called WAVE RACE?

So while the water can be quite annoying sometimes, winning is not that bad to accomplish, but then again, I only play on the easy/medium difficulty, so I don't know much about the expert difficulty.

Still, the main problem that I have with this game is the controls. Sometimes they respond, but most time, they won't work properly. Take for example, sharp corners. Sometimes, when I push too much on the control stick, the craft will turn its self around in 180 degrees, rather than going around the corner. It's quite frustrating.

As for the other modes and side games, their ok, but they can get old and frustrating really fast. Take for example, stunt race. In this game, you pull of stunts to get points, as well as pass though checkpoints. The main reason why I don't like this is because pulling off tricks in this game can hurt your thumb after awhile because you really have to jam the control stick to get it to work.

You can play two player mode, buts just normal racing, which will get dull after a while.

REPLAY VALUE
There isn't much to this game. It's your standard racer. No secrets, either than new tracks, but that's it.

GET IT OR PASS IT: Well, if you got an N64 as a package back in the mid 90's, you probably got this game, so its not like a game you couldn't avoid, unless you sold it. If you didn't pick it up in a package, I would only suggest renting it for a weekend. It's all the time that you will need.

CONCLUSION: To my surprise, this was the second game of the series, the first being on the Game Boy, which I have never played. If you ever see this game, it might be fun to check it out, but either than that, just leave this game at the bottom of your N64 collection.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/08, Updated 11/30/09

Game Release: Wave Race 64 (US, 11/01/96)