4 Wheel Thunder for Dreamcast

4 Wheel Thunder

What do you get when you move the over-the-top gameplay of the water-based racer Hydro Thunder to gritty land-based environments? 4 Wheel Thunder, of course. This pseudosequel is a nice-looking game that manages to entertain despite its simplistic gameplay. 4 Wheel Thunder lets players race a variety of big-wheeled off-road monster cars and trucks across 24 tracks. The wide tracks are brimming with shortcuts, so exploration is encouraged. We had to practice for hours to find the proper racing line, as the computer opponents are incredibly difficult to beat until you've won a few races and upgraded your ride. The graphics impressed us, as 4 Wheel Thunder has detailed vehicles that bounce through several well-rendered environments. Best of all, the frame rate is absolutely smooth regardless of how many objects are onscreen. The only thing lacking is deep gameplay. All of our time was spent picking up the speed-boost power-ups scattered around the track, which give a nice burst of speed for a few seconds. Unfortunately there are no other power-ups, weapons, or anything else to spice up the racing, making the game more monotonous than it should be. 4 Wheel Thunder is nowhere near as over the top as Hydro Thunder, but it's still a lot of fun as a pure racing game. --T. Byrl Baker Pros: Clean, detailed graphics that run at a smooth frame rate Challenging gameplay Cons: Few power-ups mean the racing can get dull at times Cheap computer opponents are frustrating until you can upgrade your vehicle