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| {{subpage}}
| | {{Header Nav|game=Hydro Thunder}} |
| {{wikify}}
| | {{Game |
| {{Cleanup|June 2007}}
| | |completion=3 |
| {{needcontrols|Dreamcast}}
| | |image=HydroThunderDCBoxArt.jpg |
| {{Header Nav|game=Hydro Thunder|num=1}} | |
| {{Infobox | |
| |title=Hydro Thunder | | |title=Hydro Thunder |
| |image=HydroThunderDCBoxArt.jpg
| | |developer=[[Midway San Diego]] |
| |developer=[[Midway Games]] | |
| |publisher=[[Midway Games]] | | |publisher=[[Midway Games]] |
| |genre=[[:Category:Racing|Racing]] | | |year=1999 |
| |systems=[[Windows]], [[Nintendo 64]], [[PlayStation]], [[Dreamcast]], [[Arcade]] | | |systems={{syslist|cade|dc|ps|n64|win}} |
| |released={{rd|1999}} | | |ratings={{ESRB|E}} |
| | |genre=[[Racing]] |
| |players=1-2 | | |players=1-2 |
| |ratings={{ESRB|E}} | | |modes=[[Single player]], [[Multiplayer]] |
| | |series=Thunder |
| | |pcgamingwiki=Hydro Thunder |
| }} | | }} |
| | '''Hydro Thunder''' is a powerboat [[racing]] game, originally an [[arcade]] game and later released for the [[Sega Dreamcast]] in November [[1999]]. It was also released for [[PlayStation]] and [[Nintendo 64]] in early [[2000]]. This game is part of [[Midway]]'s {{c|Thunder}} series of racing games, which includes [[Offroad Thunder]], [[4 Wheel Thunder]], and [[Arctic Thunder]]. A sequel, [[Hydro Thunder Hurricane]], was released for the [[Xbox 360]] on July [[2010]] on Xbox Live Arcade. |
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| {{Continue Nav}} | | {{ToC}} |
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| ==Known Versions==
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| ===Arcade===
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| The original. Never actually played it myself, so I can't comment.
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| Apparently does not contain the Catacomb & Castle Von Dandy tracks.
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| Some of the tracks are hidden from normal play also.
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| ===Sega Dreamcast===
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| Control of the boats is not always good & sometimes they don't respond to
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| turning even if you go at a snails pace—really frustrating when you don't
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| get the angle right when heading for an obscured boost. Only thirteen
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| tracks are in the game, not the misprinted 14 that is in the manual (the
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| 'test' track got pulled before release). Lighting on some levels makes for
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| difficult visuals, but realistic. This version has the most annoying name
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| entry system for high scores as the control is via the control pad's left &
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| right with no auto-repeat and the game does not remember the last name
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| entered.
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| ===Sony Playstation (PSX)===
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| Graphically the worst of the lot. Plays well with a good sense of speed. A
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| little too dark in places though. As with the Dreamcast version, control of
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| the boats is not always good & sometimes they don't respond to turning even
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| if you go at a snails pace. Has two additional features to the basic 13
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| tracks: Time Trial & Circuit Mode. In Time Trial you get to pick a course &
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| run through it without any opponents.
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| In Circuit Mode you have a pot of money & enter each track. You have to
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| race all the easy tracks before being allowed to enter any medium tracks,
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| race all medium before hard & all hard before bonus. You can race the
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| tracks within each difficulty in whichever order you care to. You begin with
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| a pot of $3,000 and it costs $500 to enter each of the easy tracks, $1,000
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| for medium, $1,500 for hard and $2,000 for the bonus tracks. Prize money is
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| $3,000 for 1st place, $2,000 for 2nd place and $1,000 for 3rd—nothing for
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| any other place. The high score is based on your earnings only—not the
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| amount left after track entry fees—so a maximum of $39,000 is possible.
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| ===Nintendo 64===
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| Graphically OK. Plays very sluggish and gets far too dark in far too many
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| places to really see what you're doing. No sense of speed in this version at
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| all. Very big letdown compared to other versions.
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| ===IBM PC===
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| Visually superb but the qwerk with the super start was off-putting at first.
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| Control of the boat is responsive. Record entry is the easiest as the
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| developers took into consideration the keyboard being present so you can
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| simply type it in. Some great visual effects in terms of lighting but this
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| can make some areas of the game difficult to navigate until you are used to
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| the course.
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| ==The Controls==
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| Controls in all versions of the game have the basic form of: Left, Right,
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| Accelerate (forward), Brake (backward) and Boost. Pick up the Boost targets
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| as you go through the game to enable the boost. Use the boost version of
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| super start to get a 4 second boost right at the beginning (see further
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| down).
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| ===Super Starts===
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| There are various ways to get a super start, all involve using the controls
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| of the boat during the 3-2-1 start sequence. The most effective I've found
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| is the boost super start—a way of getting a jump start at the beginning as
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| well as a 4 second boost immediately. To pull this off, perform the
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| following: as soon as the track appears you should be holding the brake or
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| boost control (note: for the IBM PC and Sega Dreamcast versions hold brake,
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| for Nintendo 64 and Sony PSX hold boost). As soon as the figure 3 starts to
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| fade switch to the accelerate control. When the figure 2 starts to fade
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| switch back to the brake/boost control. When the figure 1 starts to fade
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| switch back to the accelerate control. Done correctly this will get you
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| that jump start (literally a little jump on the IBM PC and Sega Dreamcast)
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| as well as a 4 second boost—you'll have to wait for the engines to switch
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| to boost mode though.
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| ===Hydro Jumping===
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| At any time you have some boost in reserve & are on the flat you have the
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| option of performing a jump. To do so, follow the sequence of
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| accelerate-brake-boost (let go of each in turn). You will find better
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| performance by overlapping the switch from brake to boost, the longer the
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| overlap, the higher the jump (up to a maximum).
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| ==Some Simple Rules==
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| Avoid hitting anything unless it's a ramp. If it's a ramp with arrows going
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| up it, try to hit only one side of it—following the arrows to get their
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| speed increase—the longer & flatter the ramp the more speed increase it
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| gives.
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| Use the check point times as a guide to how well you are doing over previous
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| runs. Be careful on circuit tracks not to over use the boost early on to
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| gain the best split times as you will end up with none or next to no boost
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| on the last lap.
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| For cornering try to take a longer, wider path along the turns and avoid
| | ==External links== |
| sharp turns if you can. The less the boat turns at faster speeds, the less
| | * [http://speeddemosarchive.com/HydroThunder.html Speed Demos Archive]: Speed run videos |
| the speed you loose because of that turn. This is exactly the same
| | * [http://www.cyberscore.me.uk/game-hydro-thunder.php cyberscore]: High score board |
| principal as any other (road) based racing game & is usually referred to as
| | * [http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&g=hydro+thunder Twin Galaxies]: High score board |
| a "racing line" around the corner.
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| Get used to hydro-jumping, it's the only way you'll win on the harder tracks. Also get good times on any track, you can max out the speed when in the air
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| using boosts and as soon as you are at maximum speed you can let go of the
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| boost & continue at that speed until you land (or hit something). An
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| extension of this is hydro-bouncing—hydro-jumps, one after each other. To
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| pull this off, towards the end of a jump, go through the sequence of another
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| jump. Get it right & you'll jump straight back into the air and with a
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| little boost you'll be right back up to max speed so you can kill the boost
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| and preserve it.
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| If you're just after high placements and not particularly interested in the
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| times, then stick with the boats you get at the beginning—the "easy"
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| boats. My own preference for this is Damn the Torpedoes. The reason being
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| is the computer boats will go at a comparable speed to the boat you select
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| and the slower boats still boost at max speed giving you that added
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| advantage over the computer boats as they are going at their slowest speeds
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| in the game. For setting times, I always use Cut Throat—it's stability,
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| max speed (when not boosting) and ability to fly well make for an excellent
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| combination. Don't get me wrong—it's not the best at each but it's the
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| combination that makes it the best. Note: just as the Easy boats are easier
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| to complete in first place, the Hard boats are harder to complete in first -
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| don't be discouraged if you're not finishing first in these boats until you
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| are used to the individual track and it's secrets.
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| {{ToC}}
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| [[Category:Arcade]] | | [[Category:Midway San Diego]] |
| [[Category:Sega Dreamcast]]
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| [[Category:Nintendo 64]]
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| [[Category:Windows]]
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| [[Category:PlayStation]]
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| [[Category:Midway Games]] | | [[Category:Midway Games]] |
| [[Category:Racing]] | | [[Category:Racing]] |
| [[Category:Single player]] | | [[Category:Single player]] |
| [[Category:Multiplayer]] | | [[Category:Multiplayer]] |
| [[Category:1999]]
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