Wave Race 64 showed how water physics could work in 3D, and how the movement in the water can affect controlling a Jet Ski. Blue Storm, on the other hand, focuses more on just how stunning water can look, being a wonderful technical showcase of what the water can do. There’s so much detail not just in the water itself, but under the water and the surrounding area as well, such as an immense amount of different wildlife. It all looks absolutely stunning in motion.
The major feature added to this is the weather, with different strengths of rain up to a thunderous storm. These don’t just change how the courses look, but also alter the waves on them as well. So you’ll not only have to deal with the course’s natural waves, but how the weather and other racers affect them as well. This does make the game extra challenging, though, and the CPU racers don’t tend to have the same issues you do.
One issue, though, is that there doesn’t seem like there is much new to the game at all. There are only seven courses and while only one is a complete remake of a Wave Race 64 course, some of the others use the same kind of style: Ocean City Harbour is a lot like Twilight City, Arctic Bay is like Glacier Coast and Aspen Lake is a lot like Drake Lake. While the tracks are different, the close theming to the original make Blue Storm feel a lot smaller. Aspen Lake comes across as the worst, too, with the original Drake Lake having an ethereal beauty to it with a fog that slowly lists, which is lost with the new weather system.
One thing that’s a bit harder to quantify is the “style” of the game. Something just feels a little bit less exciting than Wave Race 64. The announcers don’t seem very enthusiastic and there’s just a muted feeling all around instead of what should be high-octane energy. Parts of the game feel oddly calm, such as the lovely, soothing loading screens where you can mess with riddles in the water. It’s rather jarring.
Blue Storm is a really well made racer, but it lacks the impact of Wave Race 64.