Ah, that's better. The controls are simple and tricks are easy to put off, but this is not a game that you can pick up right away and get into it. Learning how to ride the wave and mastering all of the tricks takes time. Thankfully, Championship Surfer does include both "trick attack" and "free surf" modes which allow you to work on your stunts and practice playing without time constrictions. Even taking off requires a bit of skill, so it's best to head into the free surf option to learn to surf the waves before taking on the championship.
While I fully expect the waves to be choppy, the framerate and graphics are another thing. While the graphics aren't bad exactly, they aren't really impressive at all. The framerate stutters at times, usually when the camera zooms in on your character at the start of each attempt, during hectic moments in arcade mode, and during the multiplayer modes. It's not severe nor interupts gameplay enough to be a big issue, but it is noticeable. The water graphics are pretty mediocre as well. While the animation is great -- the waves really do move as they should -- the water textures and waves look outdated. Waverace64 has very nice water effects and Hydro Thunder did them even better, so to have a newer game look inferior just shouldn't be. The waves look almost origami-like as they rise and roll into the shore with sharp edges and flat lines which just shouldn't be there.
Those background rocks mean this is a new stage. |
The surfers themselves are modeled well enough, but you'll never get to appreciate it considering the distant camera the game employs. While you can play up close to your surfer, the game is almost impossible to play from that perspective. The distant viewpoint is far easier to manage, although it is a definite sacrifice in graphics to make everything so small like that. Visual problems also arrise during the multiplayer modes: during the single screen session, the graphics are too large and area too confined to react well, and the split screen mode makes everything so tiny that landing aerial tricks becomes a bit more difficult than it needs to be.
Tricks are another strike since the game doesn't really have much in the way of variety. Since most tricks are just turns, that coupled with the smallish graphics leads to few visually impressive stunts. Only the leaping stunts really pack any graphical wallop, but even those all look alike after a few plays. Most of the tricks are variations of existing tricks, such as adding a "grab rail" to a "cutback." The incentive to learn such minor variations to improve one's score may not be as great since there's little visual reward for performing the new trick.
There's also not a whole lot of variety in the stages.
The different stages mostly look alike -- the only real noticeable differences are in the wave characteristics. Of course, this is a surfing game, and the waves are all that matters. That said, the incentive to unlock additional levels is probably weakened when every stage looks so similar. The varying waves do affect the gameplay though, so if you enjoy the game, then you'll appreciate the changes in wave dynamics.
Finally, I have to address the music. This is a surf game, no? Does it not say right there on the case Championship Surfer? Then where's the surf rock? Yes, surf rock, the soundtrack to most every surf movie in existence that didn't feature Elvis in it in some manner, and the game neglects the genre completely. Instead we get a mush of stuff that is decent on its own though a bit too simplistic and unfitting to make it enjoyable.
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