Tube Slider
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Capcom Developer: NEC Media: GCD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Racing
Graphics & Sound: Tube Slider is a racer with a few twists and turns. Instead of driving across tracks, you fly through large tubes. With energetic music to get your blood pumping and crisp, clean graphics, Tube Slider will keep you in front of the TV for hours as you go through the different Grand Prix races and going head to head against your friends.
Gameplay: In Tube Slider, you can choose several modes. First off, you need to choose Training or Compete mode. Training Mode, as you might expect, takes you through a course and explains to you the different controls at your disposal. In Compete Mode, you can play through the Grand Prix races, go head to head with up to three other racers in the Versus Mode or enter the Time Attack Mode where you race through unlocked courses in an attempt to increase your best score. Grand Prix mode is where you unlock other courses and vehicles. Like most racing games, you need to complete the race within the top four in order to advance. There are three Grand Prix, each with more races than the previous. Once you beat the races in the Grand Prix section, the Maximum Class of racers are unlocked, each with better stats then the Normal Class you start off with. One of the main features that makes Tube Slider stand out from the crowd is your ability to drain the energy from sliders directly in front of you. When you get behind another racer, symbols appear around the leading vehicle. After a couple of seconds, a lock is made and you begin to drain your opponent's energy. This energy is then used in your booster or turbo, depending on which you selected at the start of the race.
Difficulty: I found myself breezing through the first Grand Prix, taking first and second without problems, but once I hit the second set of races, I was coming in fifth or sixth place consistently. Tube Slider does a great job of teaching you what you need to do in the first three races, but you need to use everything you learned in order to make it past the second Grand Prix, not to mention the third when the game revs up the difficulty even more.
Game Mechanics: The control scheme of Tube Slider is fairly simple to use, and some of the features, like the side boosters or energy drainers, come in handy when you are trying to pass other racers. You use the left and right shoulder buttons to push your car to the right and left respectively. Once you have enough energy, you hit the B button to activate your boost or turbo, and you guide the vehicle itself with the analogue stick. The menu system is pretty intuitive and easy to follow as they follow a simple pop-up procedure instead of bringing up a whole new screen each time you choose an option. I have never been much of a racing gamer, but Tube Slider is one game I will be going back to time and time again.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut X2 Wolverine's Revenge