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Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild

Racing games are plentiful on the PS2, so it takes something special to set one apart from the pack. This jet-ski racing game does that really well.

Sure, the method of transport isn’t normally seen in racing games, but that’s not what makes Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild such a unique game. Combined with the course layouts, this game sets itself apart from others in the genre by having an emphasis on fun – something that many racers seem to skimp on.

Instead of being placed in a “car” for a ride (such as at an amusement park), players mount a Sea-Doo jet ski and ride through a water based “ride” – that at times totally turns against the rider.

The courses are inventive, and fun to ride through. They each have their own theme (as one would find in a normal amusement park) though they usually have a nautical base to them (pirates, Antarctica, Bermuda) though some don’t (dinosaurs, downtown) but there somehow manages to be a massive amount of water anyway.

There are shortcuts aplenty, some shaving time off the round, some aren’t shorter, but provide only a ramp, from which perform a stunt and boost up the performance meter – but more about that in a bit.

Finding out the particulars of a course will take some time, so don’t worry about not finding all the shortcuts immediately. The game’s AI will follow you through shortcuts anyway, so it may be best to save them until the last lap anyway.

The trick system allows for both beginners and more advanced players to feel like they are mastering the game and have success. There are 3 levels of tricks, and an extensive tutorial to help players familiarize themselves with the sequences necessary to pull them off. Unfortunately, the in-game manual doesn’t list them, facilitating the need to either memorize or write them down.

Stunts are easy to perform – hit a ramp for some air and start pressing buttons (starting with the shoulder buttons). Just be sure to finish the stunt before hitting the water again or it won’t count.

Depending on the level of stunt performed, the performance meter will receive a boost. This will determine how fast you go, and depletes over time. This doesn’t take the place of the accelerator button, but give acts more like an “automatic turbo” boost.

The idea was to keep the player performing stunts and the adrenaline level high during the races. For the most part, this works well. There are times however, when going around the ramps and forgoing the stunt/performance boost will work better.

The game’s Arcade Mode allows players to test out what they learned in the Training Mode with a variety of options (the AI difficulty, number of laps, etc.) and get some great practice time in on a course.

There are Time Trials as well, which one would expect from nearly any racing game, as well as some multiplayer options, though not as many as one would have hoped for. The menu navigation doesn’t help in this regard, as backing in and out of menus is required to change the course in multiplayer – and coupled with the (at times rather lengthy) load times, can kill the enjoyment.

The real heart of the matter is the Career Mode, where players vie to be top dog on a Sea-Doo either in the normal circuits, or in the all new stadium challenges. The stadiums are indoor courses take a multi-level approach to the Olympic sized swimming pool.

Since in Career Mode (as would be expected) a player needs to attain a certain place in the standings to progress, a save option has been added to allow players to pick their career up at their leisure. What makes this noteworthy however, is that instead of actually saving the career, what Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild does is “freezes” the career – acting more like a pause, than a save, that gets erased. No cheating and restarting from a saved career mid way just because you can’t finish a certain race.

To compensate, there are continues, awarded depending on difficulty level. Is it a better system than having a traditional save file? Maybe it’s a bit more honest.

Instead of the standard “complete a course, unlock a course” method of progression, points are awarded as players complete races and perform stunts. These points are then turned in to unlock various characters, courses, outfits, etc.

Certain items (such as courses and characters ending movies) naturally cost more points than other items (outfits and Sea-Doo paint jobs). It is possible to unlock the game 100% without actually finishing the game this way. This allows for all skill levels to be able to enjoy the same things.

Visually, this is not a game that went for realism. That’s fine, and works here. The water effects (as well as the physics) are good, with everything else coming from the standard videogame pallate of colors. What is disturbing however, is the lack of knees on the character models.

Voice acting is really good here, and the music is pretty decent if limited – it would have been nice to be able to play this on the Xbox with custom soundtracks. The sound effects are pretty cool, but there are times when a waterfall suddenly becomes audible (as an example) without any of the Doppler effect one would expect.

Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild is a great game, not just for the fun that is to be had, but also the options available to keep players coming back for more. Racing fans of all persuasions should seriously consider owning this title.

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Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 21st, 2003 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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