Playing
Splashdown for the first time brought me back to my roots of busting some killer tricks on the Nintendo 64's groundbreaking jet ski racing title. In the same way that that
Waverace 64 brought new standards to racing games,
Splashdown redefines the genre with it's lush graphics and pleasing fun factor. Although the basic concept is the same between the two games,
Splashdown adds another requirement to each race. You will have to perform various stunts in order to survive.
You see, performing stunts is not only fun, but it will also boost your Performance Meter. As your meter gets higher, your speed and acceleration also increase. You will soon realize just how important tricks are to the game. Without a full Performance Meter, you can virtually kiss your chances of winning races goodbye. The trick is to not only perform well, but also to avoid crashing or running yourself onto land. If you do, you will lose some of your get-up-and-go. The meter will also continuously drain as you race, so it is a must to bust as many different tricks as possible.
Splashdown's Career Mode will challenge you to take on computer players in a wide number of races. As you progress through your Career, you will constantly unlock new tracks, which will then become available in other modes of play. You will also get a chance to race head-to-head against one computer racer. If you win the 3-lap race, that character will be added to your team and available for you to choose to race as. Each character also has his/her own signature move to go along with the oodles of other stunts at your fingertips (there are 27 total, plus the signature trick).
In addition to racing a Career, Splashdown offers an Arcade Mode and a Vs. Mode. The two are basically the same, only Vs. is a two-player game. The events included in Arcade Mode are Time Trials, Countdown, and Free Ride. Free Ride is a great place to start, as you can have all of the time you desire to get to learn the tracks. You can also explore the world and find 'goodies' lying around. Countdown pits you against the clock. As time goes down, you must collect balloons scattered throughout the racetracks. Each balloon is worth a certain amount of time added to your clock, and the goal is to last as long as you can. Time Trials is basically you against the clock. Finish the race and set a new record. And finally, the Vs. Mode substitutes the Time Trials with Copycat. Copycat is basically like playing Horse. One player performs a trick, and the other has to mimic the first player. Fail and get a letter. The first player to spell S-P-L-A-S-H loses.
