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SURF ROCKET RACERS (DC)
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a.k.a. Power Jet Racing 2001
Publisher: Crave Entertainment. Developer: CRI Middleware. Released: 2000. Genre: Racing. Posted 14th August 2020. By Shane Battams © 2020 |
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As part of the extreme sports craze of the sixth gen, likely spurred on by the Pro Skater games, a myriad of obscure offerings would sprout across different consoles. From BMX to Freestyle Scootering, a cavalcade of imitations from all walks of the extreme sports world would surface. Surf Rocket Racers would be one such title, letting jet skiing aficionados live out their fantasy while performing tricks. While the core mechanics are solid enough, this racer is undone by a severe lack of content, a dull presentation and basic track design. Even amongst very sparse competition, Surf Rocket Racers is too basic a game to keep most players involved beyond a day’s play.
Surf Rocket Racers offers wave racing across a number of locales, from the Bahamas to Niagara Falls. Players can select from a handful of racers, each with differing stats that affect how you race. Faster vehicles may blow past technical ones, but keeping them steady is much harder. Players are also timed during races, with checkpoints and jumps adding seconds back onto the clock, proving more of a challenge than the inconsistent A.I. Sometimes, racers spring back to overtake, while other times stuck on the environment. Jumps offer the chance to perform tricks, submerse and bunny-hop, adding time and keeping momentum going. On the surface, racing is pretty solid and it controls well.
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Surf Rocket Racers captures the bright 'n' breezy vibe of jet ski racers of the time, but fails to stand out.
Water is generated with the Liquidmotion physics engine, replicating the drag and momentum of choppy waters quite well. Despite these quirks, racing on the whole feels perfunctory. That’s to say, you won’t have much trouble keeping control of your jet ski, but the design of the tracks feels rudimentary. Aside from some breath-taking jumps, and a bizarre ghost ship track, the handful of racetracks are composed with long stretches of uninterrupted straights, with only some offering legitimate hazards and tight corridors. This leaves races lacking energy, a forward-moment drive which isn’t down there with the worst racers, but completely fails to keep you captivated.
But worse is the severe absence of content. Surf Rocket Racers contains a paltry five modes, all of which lack staying power. Championship mode sees you partaking in three rounds, each requiring 3rd, 2nd and 1st place positions. These take you through the available tracks, and can be breezed through in a sitting, provided you don’t choke near the end and, frustratingly, have to start the series over. Tricks & Techniques tutor you on several aforementioned mechanics, but again take little time to clear. Hazards & Obstacles places balloons around each track with a minimum score required, forcing little effort to clear. Time attack is pretty self-explanatory, and 2-player head-to-head offers multiplayer racing. But you’d be lucky to scrape a day’s worth of gameplay out of this one. In a weird twist, you can unlock a playable Rubber Duck and championship series pitting you against a full roster of ducks, but this novelty quickly wears off.
But worse is the severe absence of content. Surf Rocket Racers contains a paltry five modes, all of which lack staying power. Championship mode sees you partaking in three rounds, each requiring 3rd, 2nd and 1st place positions. These take you through the available tracks, and can be breezed through in a sitting, provided you don’t choke near the end and, frustratingly, have to start the series over. Tricks & Techniques tutor you on several aforementioned mechanics, but again take little time to clear. Hazards & Obstacles places balloons around each track with a minimum score required, forcing little effort to clear. Time attack is pretty self-explanatory, and 2-player head-to-head offers multiplayer racing. But you’d be lucky to scrape a day’s worth of gameplay out of this one. In a weird twist, you can unlock a playable Rubber Duck and championship series pitting you against a full roster of ducks, but this novelty quickly wears off.
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Despite the Dreamcast’s visual capabilities, Surf Rocket Racers looks rather bland. Nothing is ugly, per se, including the detailed vehicles and characterised drivers, well textured environments and solid water effects, but despite taking place across multiple continents, the tracks look similar. Differences tend to be surface-deep: including dolphins during the Bahamas track, ice patches on the Antarctic, and so on. The Phantom Ship track is especially noteworthy, boasting a plethora of neat effects. The soundtrack has a handful of decent music tracks, which are usually quite catchy. The effects are competent and the voice tracks, including a bombastic commentator who tries to add some energy to the proceedings, are fine.
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Surf Rocket Racers is an entirely middling affair. Nothing outright bad, but failing to generate much in the way of enjoyment or excitement. The core racing is perfunctory, while its track design lacks inspiration. Its presentation is barebones and a complete dearth of content means most players will struggle to break 10 hours even if you scout out everything you can. Amongst a litany of extreme sports tie-ins, Surf Rocket Racers fails to stand out. Unless you simply can’t pass up on the opportunity to race as a rubber duck, or harbour a particularly strong devotion to jet skiing, this one is an easy pass.
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VERDICT
“Surf Rocket Racers is a completely middling affair. Perfunctory racing, barebones presentation and a complete dearth of content mean that unless you’re devoted to jet skiing, this one is an easy pass.” OVERALL: 5/10 |