Fortunately, the action itself is pixel-perfect - on a par with the Tony Hawk games for realism, if lacking the variety and scale. Wave Race is always enjoyable but rarely pulls you back to see what else it has to offer. There are short-cuts, but they are easy to find by trial and error or via the free roam mode, which allows you to look around without penalty.
While graphically excellent (the water effects are particularly impressive), race fans have been spoiled by Gran Turismo and Metropolis to expect far bigger games than this for their money.
Controlling your jet-bike is challenging to the point of frustration. Turning is far too fiddly for maximum satisfaction, especially as you need to negotiate buoys as well as complete the course, and the GameCube's dwarf-sized joypad makes it hard to negotiate some of the button combinations at speed. Even so, there are plenty of jumps, twists and flicks to perform for extra points, if you have the patience.
So is it worth the money? Well, yes - but only if you're new to the Nintendo experience and want to see master craftsmen at work. Very few build so much playability into their games, and Wave Race is no exception.
If, however, you owned an N64, you'll be dismayed at how little progress the GameCube represents. Luigi's Mansion and Blue Storm are quality titles, but nothing like the quantum leap demonstrated by Super Mario 64 or the original Wave Race. (MA)
Driven
GameCube £ Bam! Entertainments **
You're more likely to be driven to tears of frustration by the fussy controls than actually enjoy Driven - a racing game for the GameCube. Sadly, the omens weren't good from the start. This is a GameCube conversion of a poor PlayStation 2 game based on a dreadful Sylvester Stallone movie. With a heritage like that you could almost feel sorry for it. Until, of course, you start playing.
Whether it's crashing out on a bend for the 798th time after mistiming it by a millisecond, or the rigid unrealistic cornering of your opponents, this is a driving game best left parked. If for some bizarre reason you do persevere - Sly Stallone obssessive? Judge for the GameCube turkey of the year award? - then you may glean some crumbs of enjoyment.
These are mainly to be found in the sole original ele ment of the game - the zone. This is entered by racing consistently well for a period of time and offers better handling, blurry visuals and different sound effects. But any enjoymentis soon obliterated by the difficulty level - one notch down from suicidal - that makes progression a painful case of trial and error.
The theory behind the game - character-based racing - is sound enough and this GameCube version is superior to its PlayStation 2 brother, though that wasn't hard. The graphics are more detailed, while the difficulty level has been slightly toned down. But being "marginally better" than the mediocre PS2 version is faint praise indeed. Driven deserves all the damning it gets. (GH)
