The Sega Dreamcast doesn’t have many exclusives these days. Developers and publishers were in a hurry to port their games elsewhere after the little white box was discontinued early thus limiting their sales potential. Other companies either didn’t care enough or had a product they didn’t completely believe in and thus allowed it to die with the Dreamcast. 4 Wheel Thunder is one of the few remaining Dreamcast exclusive games. The ‘thunder’ series is well known for its high velocity neck breaking speeds and addictive arcade style gameplay. Hydro Thunder is one of the highest reputed titles on the DC. Does 4 Wheel Thunder carry on the legacy, or is it no wonder why it was left behind on the antiquated hardware? Let’s dive in with a full review.
Gran Turismo this is not. 4 Wheel Thunder is designed for those looking to pick up and play the game in short spurts with very little customization and short lap based races. This is pure adrenaline inducing drive as fast as you can to beat all the other cars while banging up your rig as much as you please. Your goal is to come in first place every-time; there is no reward for second and you even have to suffer through the announcer yelling that you lose. As Ricky Bobby would say if you’re not first you’re last. Living up to the rest of the series boosting is a huge part of the game as you drive laps around the courses collecting nitrous that comes in either four or nine second spurts. Your level of boost is indicated by a bar on the right side of the screen. When it fills up you can’t collect anymore so it’s generally a good idea to use the juice as soon as you get them.
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| Catch some air, but don’t make a single mistake otherwise you’ll lose. |
Before we delve into what is bad let me just say that 4 Wheel Thunder is a lot of fun to play. The game has a great sense of speed with fun jumps. Unfortunately, and the main thing that holds it back, is the tremendous difficulty. This was no doubt to pad out the content to make the game last longer but it can be infuriating. At the start of every race the A.I. competitors (from 4 to 12 depending on the track) all get a pretty massive head start on you. It would be fair to assume you could catch them by racing accurately but that’s not the case. Instead your success is determined mostly by how many boosts you’re able to pick up. Even in the beginning if you miss a certain number of these you might as well just restart the race because you stand no chance of winning. You also lose all speed when crashing into an obstacle and in the beginning you can still win despite this issue but later on running into anything can be the kiss of death. The fact that you have to come in first place in every single race is absurd and completely unfair because of the immense difficulty.
Rounding out this issue is that there’s just something off about this game. Maybe it’s the fact that 4 Wheel Thunder began development as another game, but the track design just doesn’t fit the way this game works. For gameplay based around boosting at breakneck speeds it’s weird that some of the courses are so darn enclosed. The West stage in particular has large sections where the track is closed off on both sides by hills and the space you play in is no bigger than a hallway. It makes passing other cars almost impossible and crashing into the sides an inevitability. In addition the computer controlled racers cheat. Plain and simple. They can make breakneck turns with minimal drift while you’re sliding all over the shoulder no matter which vehicle you choose or how much brake you apply. One thing’s for certain; the odds are stacked against you in this game.
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| It’s a rip roaring good time. Until you constantly come in last place, that is. |
At least you’re given plenty of options. You can choose to take a practice run through any course you’ve unlocked, save replays, etc. The main mode of play is the Championship tournament wherein you can choose to compete in either the indoor or outdoor courses. You have a selection of eight different vehicles to choose from (with several unlockables) and each has their own handling, speed, thrust, and other ratings that determine their performance. You can even upgrade these when you earn specific increments of money, and these help give you a better fighting chance against the stacked up odds. There’s even a two player mode that’s quite a bit of fun and adds replay value.
For a racing game of this time 4 Wheel Thunder is a very good looking game. The scenery can be a little sparse when you’ve got wide open areas, and the sky looks really weird, but I really like the general aesthetic. The texture work is among the best I’ve seen on the platform, and though the cars are a little boxy and slightly blurry with weird reactions to crashing they look pretty good too. The real highlight is that this game runs at a silky smooth sixty frames per second. This was quite a feat in that day and age, and with a potential of twelve on-screen vehicles at once and sprawling scenery it’s nothing to scoff at. The soundtrack is your typical unlicensed hard rock Midway’s sports themes. It’s okay, and it fits the style of this game, but it’s nothing that you’re going to care about or want to listen to later. I’m pretty impressed with how technically sound 4 Wheel Thunder is overall.
Even despite the immense difficulty I consider myself a pretty big fan of this game. It isn’t as well designed as say, Hydro Thunder, but the sense of speed and exhilarating gameplay is all there. As an early Dreamcast game this filled the void in the library for a non-gimmicky arcade based racer, and it still has it’s share of fans. If you’re looking for a cheap thrill-ride and have Sega’s trusty white box in you collection you could do far worse than 4 Wheel Thunder. I recommend it, but it’s certainly not the best of the best even by platform standards.
