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4 Wheel Thunder Dreamcast Publisher: Midway Developer: Kalisto Entertainment Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Hard Camera: Rear Chase, Far Rear Chase, Hood Additional Pictures Screen 1 Screen 2 Screen 3 Screen 4 Screen 5 Screen 6 Screen 7 Screen 8 Screen 9 Screen 10 Screen 11 Screen 12 Screen 13 Screen 14 Screen 15 Screen 16 Screen 17 Additional Movies Movie 1 Movie 2 Movie 3

Midway Wants You To Be Blown Away At The Blistering Speed Of 4 Wheel Thunder Race On Both Indoor And Outdoor Tracks, Each With Its Own Twists, Turns, And Bends Choose Between Four Different Car Styles. Each Style Contains Two Or Three Different Off Road Vehicles Control: (4.5) Graphics: (4.5) Sound: (3) Replay Value: (4) Overall: (Not The Average) (4)

Gameplay and Background
No game can get any easier than this. Even the most unskilled gamer can at least pick this game up and get the gist of it immediately. There are no hidden weapons that you can fire at the opposition or special bonuses that cause certain things to happen. Basically it is hit it and go for the entire race; some races can last up to seven or eight minutes. Also, littered across each track are necessary speed-boosts that increase the speed substantially. These are the only pick-ups but if you want to win the race attempt to get all of them. A meter on the screen keeps up with how much juice the car has left. The driver also controls when to use the boost which adds more of a strategy to the mix.

When competing in the Championship mode there is an opportunity to collect money that are strewn across the track. Acquire enough cash and the certain automobile that is being played gets an upgrade. These upgrades move each attribute up a little bit while adding a little flair to the body paint. A nice little addition but collecting the money is extremely troublesome. Reaching some of the cash deposits is both strenuous as well as costly. When an attempt at some money goes wrong, all hell breaks loose as the attempts at regaining control fail over and over. What is really a pain in the ass is when placing first is the only option. By starting in last place with all the other cars way out in front makes each race a win by a nose or a loss. At times this is both tedious, because you have to race all over again, as well as frustrating.

Four different types of off road vehicles are selectable. Each type contains two to three different body styles. Big monster trucks all the way to petite buggies are decided on with each having its own racing manner. Aside from the fact that some will never be used because of there pathetic stats, they all are great looking vehicles.

What better to race beautiful vehicles on then some great tracks. There are two types of tracks, indoor and outdoor, each displaying a different landscape or design from around the world. Racing through Scandinavia, Egypt, or even out in the Far West become the usual as stunning backgrounds and absolute speed make it, at times, difficult to admire the shear beauty each track portrays. Another upside to the tracks is the design. Bumps, dips, even shortcuts all seem planned out and modeled wonderfully. There are never boring straightaways and massive jumps pop up all over the place.

Graphics
If there is one thing that sets 4 Wheel Thunder apart from all other racers on the Dreamcast it is the speed! Never have I played a game where the frame-rate never drops and the graphics just whisk by untouched by the plaques of pixelation and chopped up textures. Still pictures do not give a reader the complete feel of this game.

What is great about 4 Wheel Thunder is the way that the game feels like real life. Leaves stir when the trucks come blazing through and lens flares cause you to squint just like driving down the street, in the Fall, when the sun is unbearably bright. Also, the way each tracks is developed is amazing. It really makes you see what each country is like. The Far West, for example, does a great job of placing you inside the theme. When racing, I felt like Marty McFly from Back to the Future III when Bif has him dragged along with streets by is ankles. Just the way I became completely emerged in each level helped me to better appreciate the game.

Sound
For some reason I did not particularly care for the sound in 4 Wheel Thunder. It is more or a quantity over quality type of argument. There is some great sound overall but not enough. I felt as though I needed a little more to listen to as the race progressed. What I completely did not care for whatsoever was when I worked so hard to get near the top of leader board and finish second only to hear the voice from unknown scream, "You Lose!" By making me feel completely worthless, I had to drop the score on sound.

There was plenty of sound that I did enjoy though. The sound of the engine humming as the vehicle went over bumps was classic along with the bumping and jolting noises as each car collided with one another as they inched ahead to victory.

Control
Control is by far the most simplistic thing about this game. Not only is it easy to memorize but also incredibly easy to pull off tasks. Boosting is just the simple press of a button that is in finger reach. Button pressing consists mainly of the gas button, the brake button, and the boost button which makes it a much easier racing game to ease on into. On the other hand, there is also some control issues that where, at times, frustrating. While braking is usually a necessity it is really left out of this game. When you attempt at braking at least one car, sometimes two, drives right on by. You are basically screwed out of all your hope of winning the race. Lastly, I was finding myself wanting tighter control part of the time and looser control other times. When trying to turn and accidentally power-sliding into the wall gets mighty frustrating and a problem that takes a while to master.

Overall
I will be the first to tell you that 4 Wheel Thunder has some problems, not many games have zero problems, but some are unforgiving in this game. The Artificial Intelligence is so "smart" that you feel completely lost when you do your best but finish near the bottom of the list. The AI bumps you out of a boost's way as well as stop in front of you to slow you down. This increases the difficulty a whole lot and getting through the entire game will take a long time. Another slight problem is the way some each race begins. Every car has already left the starting line and are strategically started at different times. You, on the other hand, have to start at the finish line and come in first in order to continue on.

Aside from the difficulty strain, 4 Wheel Thunder kicks other major racing game's ass. I suggest a rental at the least. With over thirty tracks, a two-player mode with tracks specifically for it, and completely striking graphics, 4 Wheel Thunder provides hours of enjoyable gameplay.
-Nick Steinhauer