Hydro Thunder may as well being one of the first arcade games i ever played. Although i already did it a review in the past, i feel like i didnt point out a lot of aspects that i have to mention.
In the past i was an incredible huge fan of this game. When I was younger I remember going to arcades on birthdays and they gave us cards to play as much as we wanted. It was fantastic, and for a long time I spent a lot of time playing 3 specific games: Capcom VS SNK Millenium Fight 2000, Sports Shooting USA and Hydro Thunder, especially the latter. I loved it, especially because all the connected cabins had multiplayer mode. Im not kidding, i played it so much that this could be my most played arcade game period. But.... now i somehow dont consider it as good as i remember it, at least the versions i tried (since i dont have the chance of playing the arcade again).
Now, dont get me wrong, its still a classic with its fast pace unique boat racing gameplay, catchy as hell soundtrack, simple mechanics that hide a lot of depth, a focus on finding shortcuts and using the boost and boat physics strategically and not to mention the gorgeous looking visuals both in terms of graphics and water animation (for... 1999). But its clearly that Midway wasnt really interested after the Arcade port, because every console version seems to be significantly rushed, or well.... at least most of them. Which is a crime imo, since this game has a great core gameplay, but the rushed aspects of those ports really ruins them. I wouldnt criticize things like the lack of a steering wheel or the lack of feedback due to the lack of the Diego board or whatever (seriously, where those names come from?). Thats being purist and i hate purists with my soul, especially people with that "arcade perfect" mindset... If you want arcade 100% perfect just play the real thing dude!
But back to the topic, what is wrong with these console ports? Well, lets start with my favorite console of all time: The PS1. The PS1 version is generally considered to be "cancer like", and i couldnt disagree more. Maybe in terms of visuals and stability is the worst, but is to be expected. The original was running in basically a custom pentium 3 i think, so is the equivalent of comparing God with Jesus, lol. And even with that i think this version is one of the best ways to play the game. For starters, this is the most well rounded version of the game, with the most content and options to configure out (in particular time trial was a very neccesary addition). You could also drive with both analogues which kind of simulates the arcade game. A PS1 game that uses both analogues? Im down for that. Yeah, maybe it runs like trash at times, being always at 10-20 fps (and i wouldnt even mention Venice Canals which at the beginning is like an slideshow), and there are a couple of buggy sounds, but is like the same arcade experience, which is incredible impressive. If this was the arcade game, i wouldnt even complain because there is still a lot of detail. The map geometry is the same, there is still 16 racers on screen at once, hell, even the water has improved reflections in some specific areas. This may be one of the best looking games on the PS1 overall, and even the split screen maintains the quality (though without opponents). Maybe the reason of why this port is good enough is because it came out way later and it was made by Blue Shift Inc, an entirely different company that i never heard off. Good job by making the most you guys can by porting basically a sixth gen game into a fifth gen console without major compromises.
And later the Dreamcast, the port everyone recommends. I have to say, that i was incredible dissappointing with this one. Yeah, maybe it runs better and the visuals are less flawed.... but... thats it? Considering the Dreamcast power over the PS1 it should be better at everything. This may be one of the laziest ports i ever seen. The main menu is atrocious, there is no music on it, and even some parts of the menu are buggy as hell or not well cropped at all. The actual game runs fine, but why there is no restart button? And for what i seen... The AI is way harder! I already though the AI was difficult enough on PS1 and Arcade. Why Dreamcast decided to increase the difficult? Is literally impossible to win races sometimes. There is also more bugs that werent present in the PS1 version and the PS1 is a like less than a quarter of the Dreamcast power! There is zero excuse to the laziness of the Dreamcast version. Easily one of the worst arcade ports on the system.
Speaking about other things that may be more subjective, I always though the Dreamcast was a very overrated console, especially when we talk about Arcade games, since while it is true that the experience of most of them may be closer than other consoles at the time, is not 100% perfect like everyone seems to think (and also, putting that on the front of the box is being just pretentious). At least with the PS1, i can give it the merit of being something it shouldnt run on the first place, and if i can sacrifice some visuals and FPS for better difficulty and more content, i would be always down for that, giving a different experience instead of a 1:1 Arcade port that feels heavily downgraded. This port was made like in probably just a few months considering the difference of time between the Arcade and the Dreamcast.
Speaking on a more personal note, even if it was made with more time, the Dreamcast was never exploited properly, similar to the N64 compared to the PS1, which was optimized as hell in its late cycle, and it didnt help that this was an early launch title, while on PS1 it was very late. Its strange, but this is one of the few cases where power here wouldnt matter unless you are basically obsessed with z buffer issues.... lol.
And to end this, PS2, Gamecube and Xbox.... Those are.... the worst.... More power means less quality right? Or less effort put into this game. No music whatsover and less content than even the Dreamcast version... Just trash.
I may also talk about PC and N64, but i cant really say too much. Those are probably the most balanced ports. I dont like the PC version difficulty, but is entirely based on the arcade version and has none of the Dreamcast issues so im fine with it. And N64 has the best multiplayer. So while i still prefer the PS1 version as a whole, those are worth your time as well.
And thats it. Hydro Thunder is a classic between classics, and could be one of my favorite games, but after the Arcade version, Midway became less and less interesting and gave us some of the worst ports i ever seen in a while. I never saw such lazy ports at least for a very solid game. The Dreamcast and PS2/etc versions screams rushed in every way, while the PS1 version is just too much for the hardware, but i can appreciate the effort Blue Shift put into it.
Like always, you can ignore my entire review. But if you are slighty interested in what i said, play the PS1, N64 and PC versions with an open mind.
In the past i was an incredible huge fan of this game. When I was younger I remember going to arcades on birthdays and they gave us cards to play as much as we wanted. It was fantastic, and for a long time I spent a lot of time playing 3 specific games: Capcom VS SNK Millenium Fight 2000, Sports Shooting USA and Hydro Thunder, especially the latter. I loved it, especially because all the connected cabins had multiplayer mode. Im not kidding, i played it so much that this could be my most played arcade game period. But.... now i somehow dont consider it as good as i remember it, at least the versions i tried (since i dont have the chance of playing the arcade again).
Now, dont get me wrong, its still a classic with its fast pace unique boat racing gameplay, catchy as hell soundtrack, simple mechanics that hide a lot of depth, a focus on finding shortcuts and using the boost and boat physics strategically and not to mention the gorgeous looking visuals both in terms of graphics and water animation (for... 1999). But its clearly that Midway wasnt really interested after the Arcade port, because every console version seems to be significantly rushed, or well.... at least most of them. Which is a crime imo, since this game has a great core gameplay, but the rushed aspects of those ports really ruins them. I wouldnt criticize things like the lack of a steering wheel or the lack of feedback due to the lack of the Diego board or whatever (seriously, where those names come from?). Thats being purist and i hate purists with my soul, especially people with that "arcade perfect" mindset... If you want arcade 100% perfect just play the real thing dude!
But back to the topic, what is wrong with these console ports? Well, lets start with my favorite console of all time: The PS1. The PS1 version is generally considered to be "cancer like", and i couldnt disagree more. Maybe in terms of visuals and stability is the worst, but is to be expected. The original was running in basically a custom pentium 3 i think, so is the equivalent of comparing God with Jesus, lol. And even with that i think this version is one of the best ways to play the game. For starters, this is the most well rounded version of the game, with the most content and options to configure out (in particular time trial was a very neccesary addition). You could also drive with both analogues which kind of simulates the arcade game. A PS1 game that uses both analogues? Im down for that. Yeah, maybe it runs like trash at times, being always at 10-20 fps (and i wouldnt even mention Venice Canals which at the beginning is like an slideshow), and there are a couple of buggy sounds, but is like the same arcade experience, which is incredible impressive. If this was the arcade game, i wouldnt even complain because there is still a lot of detail. The map geometry is the same, there is still 16 racers on screen at once, hell, even the water has improved reflections in some specific areas. This may be one of the best looking games on the PS1 overall, and even the split screen maintains the quality (though without opponents). Maybe the reason of why this port is good enough is because it came out way later and it was made by Blue Shift Inc, an entirely different company that i never heard off. Good job by making the most you guys can by porting basically a sixth gen game into a fifth gen console without major compromises.
And later the Dreamcast, the port everyone recommends. I have to say, that i was incredible dissappointing with this one. Yeah, maybe it runs better and the visuals are less flawed.... but... thats it? Considering the Dreamcast power over the PS1 it should be better at everything. This may be one of the laziest ports i ever seen. The main menu is atrocious, there is no music on it, and even some parts of the menu are buggy as hell or not well cropped at all. The actual game runs fine, but why there is no restart button? And for what i seen... The AI is way harder! I already though the AI was difficult enough on PS1 and Arcade. Why Dreamcast decided to increase the difficult? Is literally impossible to win races sometimes. There is also more bugs that werent present in the PS1 version and the PS1 is a like less than a quarter of the Dreamcast power! There is zero excuse to the laziness of the Dreamcast version. Easily one of the worst arcade ports on the system.
Speaking about other things that may be more subjective, I always though the Dreamcast was a very overrated console, especially when we talk about Arcade games, since while it is true that the experience of most of them may be closer than other consoles at the time, is not 100% perfect like everyone seems to think (and also, putting that on the front of the box is being just pretentious). At least with the PS1, i can give it the merit of being something it shouldnt run on the first place, and if i can sacrifice some visuals and FPS for better difficulty and more content, i would be always down for that, giving a different experience instead of a 1:1 Arcade port that feels heavily downgraded. This port was made like in probably just a few months considering the difference of time between the Arcade and the Dreamcast.
Speaking on a more personal note, even if it was made with more time, the Dreamcast was never exploited properly, similar to the N64 compared to the PS1, which was optimized as hell in its late cycle, and it didnt help that this was an early launch title, while on PS1 it was very late. Its strange, but this is one of the few cases where power here wouldnt matter unless you are basically obsessed with z buffer issues.... lol.
And to end this, PS2, Gamecube and Xbox.... Those are.... the worst.... More power means less quality right? Or less effort put into this game. No music whatsover and less content than even the Dreamcast version... Just trash.
I may also talk about PC and N64, but i cant really say too much. Those are probably the most balanced ports. I dont like the PC version difficulty, but is entirely based on the arcade version and has none of the Dreamcast issues so im fine with it. And N64 has the best multiplayer. So while i still prefer the PS1 version as a whole, those are worth your time as well.
And thats it. Hydro Thunder is a classic between classics, and could be one of my favorite games, but after the Arcade version, Midway became less and less interesting and gave us some of the worst ports i ever seen in a while. I never saw such lazy ports at least for a very solid game. The Dreamcast and PS2/etc versions screams rushed in every way, while the PS1 version is just too much for the hardware, but i can appreciate the effort Blue Shift put into it.
Like always, you can ignore my entire review. But if you are slighty interested in what i said, play the PS1, N64 and PC versions with an open mind.
