Wave Race: Blue Storm Retrospective

The core gameplay of Wave Race: Blue Storm is pretty much copied over from Wave Race 64. The player races on a jet ski while maneuvering past buoys with arrows. The three game modes from Wave Race 64, championship, time trials, and stunt mode all return in Blue Storm. There is also one additional game mode, free roam. Free roam is exactly as it sounds, free reign to drive around and explore the game’s maps. The main new mechanic is that of the turbo; simply pass four buoys on the correct side in a row and the turbo meter will fill up. From there, the player has a turbo to use at any time for a large burst of speed. I think the addition of the turbo is fine, adding an extra layer of strategy to races similarly to other mechanics such as Ridge Racer 6’s nitrous meter. The other addition is variety in weather. In championship mode, after picking a track to race on, you can select a weather condition. There are three weather conditions; sunny, light showers, and stormy. Every track has different music for each weather condition, creating tons of replay value with different tracks in different conditions. The game’s physics feel different to me in comparison to 64, but it’s far from unplayable. The best course of action is to find the character and settings that feel the best to control.

Wave Race: Blue Storm has many more playable characters than 64, doubling the count from just four to eight this time around. Three of the four characters from 64 return (sorry Miles Jeter), and five new characters are added. Three of them, Akari Hayami, Rob Haywood, and Ricky Winterborn are originally from 1080° Snowboarding, another N64 extreme sports title released a couple of years after Wave Race 64. Wave Race and 1080° taking place in the same world is an interesting crossover, but Nintendo didn’t really do much with the concept after Blue Storm. Blue Storm as a whole puts more effort into making each character stand out. The characters do not wear helmets and have their own symbols and music on the selection screen. In addition, rather than the game having one announcer, everyone has their own Crew Chief that speaks to them before, during, and after the race. 

Blue Storm carries over and updates some of the maps from 64, while also introducing some brand new concepts. Tracks such as Aspen Lake and Ocean City Harbor draw direct comparisons to 64’s Drake Lake and Port Blue. Southern Island is pretty much a 1:1 copy of the 64 track of the same name. On the other hand, Blue Storm has brand new environments like La Razza Canal and Strongwater Keep that look incredible. All of the game’s tracks showcase the game’s impressive graphics and the increase in power from the N64 to the GameCube.

The general vibe of Blue Storm is pretty different to that of 64. If Wave Race 64 represents 90s optimism, then Blue Storm is a headfirst dive into Y2K. The soundtrack features a great deal of rock and techno influences in contrast to 64's synths. The game also adds sponsorships, such as Nintendo’s own products and even outside companies like McDonald’s and Dr. Pepper. This new attitude can even be seen in the game’s own logo, trading in simple shapes and bright colors for sharper, spiky lettering and an icon featuring a fiendishly smiling jetski driver. Nintendo during this time wanted to show that they were cool, and that they could hang with Sony’s PlayStation 2 as they entered the new millennium with the GameCube. 

Over the years, I’ve thankfully seen more and more people come to appreciate Wave Race 64 for its beautiful graphics and great soundtrack. Conversely, Blue Storm has been largely forgotten. Although it was a GameCube launch title, it has since been an afterthought next to other launch titles like Luigi’s Mansion and Super Monkey Ball, not to mention games released soon after launch like Pikmin and Super Smash Bros. Melee. After that, Wave Race as a series went dormant. There were plans for a Wii entry that never materialized, but the closest thing we got to that was Wii Sports Resort’s power cruising game. Besides that, the only signs of life for the series are rereleases of Wave Race 64. I believe that even though it will never be quite as iconic as Wave Race 64, Wave Race: Blue Storm has its own merits, such as its beautiful graphics and expanded cast, that make it worth playing and remembering.