A little over ten years ago, the now defunct Midway Games released a new racing game into arcades that had players racing high-octane speedboats around ocean based tracks in the future. This game was Hydro Thunder, which Midway also ported to the Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. Aside from a few Jet-Ski games, there wasn’t many titles around at the time that featured 3D water based racing. This was probably down to the difficulty in producing a water effect that was both convincing and looked good. Although Hydro Thunder never went on to be as popular as other futuristic racing titles, like Wipeout for example, it was very impressive for its time. Its arcade style racing, rapid speed, exciting and treacherous courses, colorful visuals and unique feel helped Hydro Thunder sail into the hall of classics. But after a long absence it’s quickly become a forgotten title, and over the last ten years racing games have gone way beyond simple arcade racing experiences.

With that in mind, is there room in this crowded marketplace of video games for a return for Hydro Thunder? Well Microsoft Game Studios and developers, Vector Unit, certainly think there is. So the next game to arrive in Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade is Hydro Thunder Hurricane, which is a cross between a remake and sequel of the original from 1999. Hurricane features that same high-speed wet and wild thrill of the original, but with visuals you would expect from any modern title. It still has a selection of those sleek and colourful speedboats; it still has you racing around those crazy, over-the-top, futuristic and fantastical style environments; and it still keeps that sugar rush, adrenaline filled feeling that was only ever experienced from a quick-hitting arcade style game.

Much like the original, Hurricane is broken up into four different race classes; Race, Ring Mode, Gauntlet Mode, and lastly Championship Mode. Race is pretty obvious and shouldn’t need any explaining. Ring Mode has you speeding around a designated course and driving through rings. Miss a ring and a time penalty will be given to your overall time and thus determining if you win that elusive gold medal or not. Gauntlet has you, well, running the gauntlet, against the clock. Explosive barrels float around the course which need to be avoided to finish with the fastest possible time. Championship Mode can almost be looked at as a campaign mode. It’s simply a collection of the various race types with the aim of finishing top after competing in several events.

After each race or event, and depending on what position you finish in and the difficulty level chosen, you will be awarded with an allotted amount of credits. These credits can then be used to unlock further content within the game like new motorboats, courses, gamerpics and items for your Xbox 360 Avatar. Although there isn’t an incredible amount of content to purchase, it will take a while to unlock it all. This helps to add a fair amount of replay value to what could be seen as nothing more than a quick dip-in dip-out arcade experience. It will also mean that to get the most amount of credits you will need to brave the Pro or Expert difficulty levels. Pro is normal and offers a good fair challenge, expert however can get frustratingly difficult at times; but then that is why it’s called expert right?

Hydro Thunder Hurricane features only eight courses and nine motorboats in total. But then keep in mind that this is an Xbox Live Arcade title and not a full priced game. Plus, each of the eight locations not only look great but have been designed to get the most exhilarating experience from each race. Courses also feature shortcuts, ramps and triggers that can change the path ahead to keep you on your toes. Many of the tracks have scripted events that take place at a specific moment through the race. When these moments happen it really can throw you off as the waves bounce your nimble motorboat about and often into an obstacle of some description.

On top of the single player, Hurricane also includes splitscreen and online multiplayer. Four player split-screen is good fun, with the AI taking up the role of the other four racers, but it’s the online multiplayer over Xbox Live where the game really does make the biggest splash. Up to eight players can take to the water in what can only be described as a frenzy of speed, powerboats and waves. Taking part in races online will also net you more of those much needed credits to unlock even more items. So if the single player is starting to become a grind then the multiplayer is where to head.

As well as the standard multiplayer races, there is a team based mode entitled Rubber Ducky. Players are divided into teams with one one player on each team designated as the ducky. The main objective is to make sure that your team’s ducky crosses the finish line before the other team’s ducky. This means that you can choose to escort and protect your ducky from the attacks of the other team, or go on the attack and hinder the progress of the enemy ducky. It certainly adds another twist to the standard racing and is always a good laugh.

Overall, at the asking price of 1200 MS Points (roughly £10), it’s great to see Hydro Thunder returning and remaining to be just as much fun now as it was over ten years ago. The handling of the speedboats is perfect, the visuals look great, and the gameplay remains firmly in its arcade roots. When Summer of Arcade started on Xbox Live last week, it kicked things off with Limbo. Opening up with such a high quality title meant that Hydro Thunder certainly had a lot to live up to with such a tough act to follow. Well the team at Vector Unit can let out a sigh of relief, because the pressure is all on next week’s title – it now has two top headlining acts to follow! Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a game that should float any racing fan’s boat.