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Take Two Interactive published Aqua GT, for the Dreamcast in December of 2000, as a "budget" title. Now anyone
that has bought and played any significant amount of video games in their lifetime know that "budget" title is synonymous
with complete garbage. This would be enough to send the wise gamer running in the other direction, but it isn't the only
thing that Aqua GT has going against it. It is also a poor Hydro-Thunder clone. This is not to say that there is nothing
good about Aqua GT though.
Aqua GT is a very basic arcade-style, speedboat racing game. Basic is really the key word to use when describing Aqua
GT. For practical purposes, there are really only two game modes to choose from, championship and arcade. There are seven
tracks to race on, and twenty boats to choose from after they are all unlocked, but that really about all that there is.
The championship is a series of four groups of a varying number of races over the seven tracks. The bit of variety that is
added to the tracks is high/low tide and day/night, but these differences don't change the way the track plays in any manner.
Arcade mode is basically a single race mode. Nothing really all that special. That's about it as far as game play choices
go, and for a dreamcast game, that is an embarrassment. There is no upgrading the boats; there is no customization of any
type. Even game options are scarce. There is not even an option to change the length of the race, three laps is all you
get. Very primitive and certainly not what you would expect from a Dreamcast title.
Overall, the games controls are adequate. It is easy to pick up and play, and there are only a few minor annoyances.
The first of these is the sometimes inexplicable turning. Most of the time your boat will control with precision, but occasionally
it will do whatever it pleases despite whatever you may be trying to get it to do via your controller. This becomes frustrating
in a close race. The second complaint is a seeming problem with the collision detection. Occasionally I would be tearing
down a straight away and suddenly my boat would react as though it hit a wall, although it was no where near a wall. Again,
not an overly common occurrence, but common enough to become frustrating. And although the boats have different stats, they
seem to all control more or less identically. Certainly these things should have been worked out at some point in Aqua GT's
development cycle.
Graphically speaking, Aqua GT has good and bad. First the good. The boats look very sharp. They are detailed and shiny.
Unfortunately, the rest of the game does not benefit from the quality that was granted the boats. The water is just adequate.
A Dreamcast game should have better. The tracks are bland, with textures repeated far too often, and of a far too poor a
quality. In all reality, it is very difficult to tell graphics in this game from those of the Playstation One version. There
is also a significant amount of clipping. Worst of all are the backgrounds. There should have been more time spent on the
graphical presentation of this title.
The less said about the audio of this game, the better. The engine noises are generic and become very annoying, very
quickly. The rest of the sound effects fair little better than the engine sounds. The music included is the very epitome
of standard pap and the quicker it can be muted, the better. It is surprising to me that this level of mediocrity was allowed
out the door and into the hands of unsuspecting Dreamcast owners.
If you have played all the quality racing titles on the Dreamcast already and are just searching for something to
play, there is limited fun to be had with Aqua GT. It doesn't hold up to any of those aforementioned quality racing titles,
and should by no means be a purchase at any price, but it will do for an overnight rental. Just be sure to rent more than
one game, because Aqua GT won't keep your attention for long.
2 out of 5
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