Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
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JaySevenZero
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Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Quiet Paul
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Re: 464 - Wave Race 64

Post by Quiet Paul »

I never owned Wave Race when the N64 was my main console but my neighbour did, so I’d occasionally swap one of my games with him just so I could gawk at the water graphics and physics. Then, due to having no patience to properly learn the game, I would be soundly beaten by the AI, give up and swap back.

As of the start of March 2021, I got a new “Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR”-something-something TV and decided I’d test its graphical limits by plugging the ’64 into its AV ports and taking to the gelatinous seas of WR64 once again! – And the computer again mopped the floor with me.

It took a few practice attempts to get the hang of dealing with the waves and a quick Google/Youtube to get all the tips I’d need to actually start winning races.

It really takes learning how to deal with waves and obstacles, how to manage corners when the water is choppy versus a calm lake, it means learning each course as the conditions can change from lap to lap meaning you certainly can’t switch off the brain and hold the ‘go’ button. Once I’d learned and practised the techniques, I took to Championship – Normal mode and won quite comfortably (7-7-7-7-7-4). I then moved on to Hard and after two attempts I completed that (7-4-7-7-4-2-1) and after some more time in practise, I eventually beat Expert mode (7-7-7-7-4-1-2-4).

After watching a few speedruns and practising a bit more with custom Dave Mariner I realised how easy everything below Expert mode is! However, Expert mode itself is completely unforgiving. I had one attempt where, on the last race all I needed was 1 point to win, so I couldn’t lose. However, I led the race all the way to the last lap and a bad crash meant that everyone overtook me and simply because I came last in that specific race, despite coming first in the leaderboard, I was disqualified and didn’t get a trophy. If there’s a major downfall in this game, it’s that. This being a major reason I’ve not yet completed Reverse mode.

The controls are also somewhat obfuscated. I didn’t particularly look, and I don’t have a game manual but I don’t recall anywhere the game telling me that pressing ‘b’ will level the jet-ski and allow me to ride faster. Or how to dive effectively. I suppose that’s where the YouTube speed run techniques come in handy.

The circuits themselves are a lot of fun once you get good at them and they look, relatively speaking, rather nice! The water effects and physics are nearly spot on and the backdrops are mostly nice to look at. Although you can definitely see where the physics based water ends and the surrounding backdrop image of water starts! Also, I’m pretty sure Sunset Bay has you jet-skiing in Fanta.

The soundtrack is nothing short of iconic. Very arcade-style and catchy as anything. When I hear the seagulls and the water sounds followed by the rad guitar riff, it gets me right in the mood to conquer the waves! My personal favourite track being Drake Lake. I daresay you could put Drake Lake’s music into pretty much any Nintendo made game at the time and it’d be perfect but I always imagined it in Donkey Kong Country (SNES).

I got seriously addicted to creating new records and perfecting each level. I found the game a lot of fun but I do think the DQ rules in the Championship mode (which only apply to the player) are a bit harsh. I never played the sequel but maybe in the future I’ll keep an eye out for it on eBay if it’s cheap.

3WR: Dave’s polygonal arse
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Simonsloth
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Re: 464 - Wave Race 64

Post by Simonsloth »

Wave Race will always remind me of a time when playground gossip and mythos would obscure fact from fiction.

I was a PlayStation owner. The Nintendo 64 was a console i dabbled with at Christmas and during occasional enforced play dates. After concentrating heavily on my quarter of the often tiny CRT and losing I was teased with the tricks my adversary used to win.

I realise now that a lot of what I was told was utter nonsense. The ability to complete the whole level underwater and the rocket boost after a perfect dive were pure fiction but these were the playing fields of the pre-internet playground.

Having played the game since I still find it remarkable almost to the point where a jetski arcade perfect version could make this a timeless classic. I also bemoan the fact I can’t play this with my current friends as it is superior to many of the games I can play.
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Iain[Ian]Ianson
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Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm

Post by Iain[Ian]Ianson »

Wave Race 64 felt like pure magic when it released and is still impressive today.

The way the player reacts to the movement of the waves just feels incredible and looks great. There are still very few games that bother to create such a believable relationship between a character and a body of water.

The N64’s mastery of transparencies also really put even the top-tier 3DFX games to shame at the time graphically. The water looks crystal clear, but also shows off depth very nicely too.

That opening song on the attract sequence is just cheesy perfection too.

Blue Storm was too difficult for me, and didn’t click for some reason.
Marlew
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Re: Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm

Post by Marlew »

Never played much, hardly any, Wave Race in any release but I really enjoyed this show. It feels like I definitely missed something there along the way. The nods to blue sky SEGA and the goofy secrets sound like the kind of thing that would have appealed to me back in the day. Now I can understand the repeated clamour for a new announcement.
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