Midway's classic arcade speedboat racer Hydro Thunder is getting a full-fledged sequel with Hydro Thunder Hurricane, exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade, promising all-new, over-the-top rocket powered speedboat action. (Which you can witness in the game's first trailer!)
Hydro Thunder Hurricane will come to XBLA this summer courtesy of Microsoft Game Studios and developer Vector Unit, bringing with it eight new "theme park" levels and new game modes, including Ring Master "a series of slalom-style challenges with progressive difficulties" and the Gauntlet "an explosive new take on time trial."
While the game's watery racetracks may be new, developer Vector Unit will bring back some of the original speedboats, including Razorback, Cutthroat, and Rad Hazard. Hydro Thunder Hurricane will let you take those races online, with support for up to 8-player online multiplayer. If you're an offline kind of guy, Hurricane also supportsn four player split-screen.
Vector Unit, the creator of Hydro Thunder Hurricane, was founded by ex-EA and ex-Stormfront Studios developers in 2007. Its principals, Ralf Knoesel and Matt Small, both worked on boat-battler Blood Wake among a great number of other games. So... why a sequel?
"We decided to take the ideas that worked from the original, and then start over from scratch," says Vector Unit technical director Ralf Knoesel. "The water physics engine is completely new. Everything affects the racing surface — the boats leave wakes behind them that other boats can jump off or draft in, falling rocks and explosions create huge waves, we've got wave machines, whirlpools, the works."
1200 MS Points ($15)
Some game play:
There are 12 achievements with a total of 200 points.
Splish Splash 35 Earn a bronze or better in any Single Player event.
It's a Start 20 Earn a bronze trophy or better on every track in Single Player Race Mode.
Medal Master 10 Earn a bronze trophy or better in every event in the Single Player game.
Special Delivery 5 Collect 80 hidden packages.
Golden Delicious 10 Earn a gold trophy in every event in the Single Player game.
Taste My Wake 10 Take first in 10 online Multiplayer events.
People Person 20 Earn 10,000 credits playing online or local Multiplayer events.
Humans Gooood 10 Play a 4 way local Multiplayer race in which all the humans beat all the AI.
Ding Dong 10 Hit one buoy at every checkpoint while racing Lake Powell and still take first.
Spare Change 35 Earn 1,000 credits.
Cha Ching! 25 Earn 5,000 credits.
Loco For Thunder Pops 10 Earn 100,000 credits.
Anyone interested in this?
VGH_John Junior Member
Posts : 110 Join date : 2010-06-25 Age : 32 Location : Florida
I purchased it, it is just like the arcade games you would have played 5-10 years ago. If you liked the arcade version then you will like the xbox version. It is fun and even more fun online.
Forgotten_Gamer Moderator
Posts : 493 Join date : 2010-06-25 Age : 35 Location : Dallas, TX
