Known Versions
Arcade
The original. Never actually played it myself, so I can't comment. Apparently does not contain the Catacomb & Castle Von Dandy tracks. Some of the tracks are hidden from normal play also.
Sega Dreamcast
Control of the boats is not always good & sometimes they don't respond to turning even if you go at a snails pace—really frustrating when you don't get the angle right when heading for an obscured boost. Only thirteen tracks are in the game, not the mis-printed 14 that is in the manual (the 'test' track got pulled before release). Lighting on some levels makes for difficult visuals, but realistic. This version has the most annoying name entry system for high scores as the control is via the control pad's left & right with no auto-repeat and the game does not remember the last name entered.
Sony Playstation (PSX)
Graphically the worst of the lot. Plays well with a good sense of speed. A little too dark in places though. As with the Dreamcast version, control of the boats is not always good & sometimes they don't respond to turning even if you go at a snails pace. Has two additional features to the basic 13 tracks: Time Trial & Circuit Mode. In Time Trial you get to pick a course & run through it without any opponents.
In Circuit Mode you have a pot of money & enter each track. You have to race all the easy tracks before being allowed to enter any medium tracks, race all medium before hard & all hard before bonus. You can race the tracks within each difficulty in whichever order you care to. You begin with a pot of $3,000 and it costs $500 to enter each of the easy tracks, $1,000 for medium, $1,500 for hard and $2,000 for the bonus tracks. Prize money is $3,000 for 1st place, $2,000 for 2nd place and $1,000 for 3rd—nothing for any other place. The high score is based on your earnings only—not the amount left after track entry fees—so a maximum of $39,000 is possible.
Nintendo 64
Graphically OK. Plays very sluggish and gets far too dark in far too many places to really see what you're doing. No sense of speed in this version at all. Very big let-down compared to other versions.
IBM PC
Visually superb but the qwerk with the super start was off-putting at first. Control of the boat is responsive. Record entry is the easiest as the developers took into consideration the keyboard being present so you can simply type it in. Some great visual effects in terms of lighting but this can make some areas of the game difficult to navigate until you are used to the course.
The Controls
Controls in all versions of the game have the basic form of: Left, Right, Accelerate (forward), Brake (backward) and Boost. Pick up the Boost targets as you go through the game to enable the boost. Use the boost version of super start to get a 4 second boost right at the beginning (see further down).
Super Starts
There are various ways to get a super start, all involve using the controls of the boat during the 3-2-1 start sequence. The most effective I've found is the boost super start—a way of getting a jump start at the beginning as well as a 4 second boost immediately. To pull this off, perform the following: as soon as the track appears you should be holding the brake or boost control (note: for the IBM PC and Sega Dreamcast versions hold brake, for Nintendo 64 and Sony PSX hold boost). As soon as the figure 3 starts to fade switch to the accelerate control. When the figure 2 starts to fade switch back to the brake/boost control. When the figure 1 starts to fade switch back to the accelerate control. Done correctly this will get you that jump start (literally a little jump on the IBM PC and Sega Dreamcast) as well as a 4 second boost—you'll have to wait for the engines to switch to boost mode though.
Hydro Jumping
At any time you have some boost in reserve & are on the flat you have the option of performing a jump. To do so, follow the sequence of accelerate-brake-boost (let go of each in turn). You will find better performance by overlapping the switch from brake to boost, the longer the overlap, the higher the jump (up to a maximum).
Some Simple Rules
Avoid hitting anything unless it's a ramp. If it's a ramp with arrows going up it, try to hit only one side of it—following the arrows to get their speed increase—the longer & flatter the ramp the more speed increase it gives.
Use the check point times as a guide to how well you are doing over previous runs. Be careful on circuit tracks not to over use the boost early on to gain the best split times as you will end up with none or next to no boost on the last lap.
For cornering try to take a longer, wider path along the turns and avoid sharp turns if you can. The less the boat turns at faster speeds, the less the speed you loose because of that turn. This is exactly the same principal as any other (road) based racing game & is usually referred to as a "racing line" around the corner.
Get used to hydro-jumping, it's the only way you'll win on the harder tracks & get good times on any track—you can max out the speed when in the air using boosts and as soon as you are at maximum speed you can let go of the boost & continue at that speed until you land (or hit something). An extension of this is hydro-bouncing—hydro-jumps, one after each other. To pull this off, towards the end of a jump, go through the sequence of another jump. Get it right & you'll jump straight back into the air and with a little boost you'll be right back up to max speed so you can kill the boost and preserve it.
If you're just after high placements and not particularly interested in the times, then stick with the boats you get at the beginning—the "easy" boats. My own preference for this is Damn the Torpedoes. The reason being is the computer boats will go at a comparable speed to the boat you select and the slower boats still boost at max speed giving you that added advantage over the computer boats as they are going at their slowest speeds in the game. For setting times, I always use Cut Throat—it's stability, max speed (when not boosting) and ability to fly well make for an excellent combination. Don't get me wrong—it's not the best at each but it's the combination that makes it the best. Note: just as the Easy boats are easier to complete in first place, the Hard boats are harder to complete in first - don't be discouraged if you're not finishing first in these boats until you are used to the individual track and it's secrets.