Arctic Thunder

"Hydro Thunder meet Road Rash in the winter."

Before this came out for the Play Station 2 me and my friends really enjoyed the arcade rendition. It has the fighting action of Road Rash but with a different variety of weapons. So when this port was released I had to pick it up , and overall the game is not even as close to being bad as the reviewers make it out to be. Although it does have a few minor problems, on to the review.

Gameplay/Control 8\10

Well everything controls on the up and up here. I had really no trouble with the controls and the sleds behave on the tracks well. Everything seems very responsive like handling and cornering, I had no trouble controlling my weapons or my sled nice job here. The only real downside like most racing games is the unpredictable AI, sometimes you will be knocked off your sled or edged out of the race towards the end , but a lot of racing games share this problem. The good thing is that it doesn't happen every time at least.

Graphics 7/10
no there not as horrible as everyone says. However if this title would have been worked on a little longer it would have got the polish it deserves. The sleds and character models are serviceable and the tracks are really well done and fun to race on. however there is the occasional glitch or clipping, overall the graphics really did not bother me or let me down. Although with more time they could have at least matched the arcade version.

Plot/Story 5/10
well what can you expect from a racing game let alone a Midway racing game. Renegade sleder's running amok to see who is the best, I chuckled at the opening cut scene. Not horrible just kind of absurd. I Just wish their was individual endings or something to that effect because the sleds and characters are pretty cool.

Sound/Music 7/10
Not bad original tunes to race to, I actually thought they fit the levels and the game very well. Also their really isn't any ear slitting tunes or sound effects which is good in this day in age of video games. The announcer isn't even annoying a true rarity. The sound effects are also done fine and belong in the right places, not really much to complain about in this department, beside the menu song and a few sound effects hear and there.

Aprox Length At least 30 hours, for me at least to fully complete it. unlocking all codes getting all gold medals supping up all 19 characters and sleds playing multi player battle arenas this game has a lot to do. With a large amount of replay, a lot of game for your hard earned money.

Difficulty Medium/Hard some of the races will be very tuff even for vets of racing games, but I seemed to always come back to my game to complete another track or to beat a previous time.

Overallfun 8/10

This game really just lacks polish and that's it and a few more tracks would have helped as well. However the 12 tracks that are in the game are really good and original from UFOs to amusement parks their is a lot of variety to them, with of course alternate shortcuts and such. Also another thing that makes this game fun is the multi player arenas, it's fun to go vs a buddy. Also their is a lot of game here with tons of things to sup up and to unlock, and a nice variety of sleds and characters to acquire, so if over the top racing is something you enjoy there should be no reason not to pick this game up especially now since it's almost the price of a rental. I feel this is a really good game that just got dismissed because it wasn't the prettiest girl at the dance. I paid $50 and never regretted it. I got a vast amount of fun and gameplay for my money.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/04