New boat racing game by Raw Thrills’ and the Hydro Thunder team to be at ATEI

Shaggy January 22, 2009 37

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(Click on any image to enlarge it)

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Raw Thrills’ has revealed to us a brand new racing game that will be shown at ATEI next week that is tentatively called “H2Overdrive” (which is not based upon the PS2 game of the same name). In news that should be music to the ears of Hydro Thunder fans, Raw Thrills’ has brought together the original team that created Hydro Thunder to give us this new game, which will feature many of the things players loved about that game (such as the huge drops and many shortcuts) but add some new aspects to it as well (which they couldn’t say much about at this time).

The cabinet to be shown features a 42″  LCD HD screen, pulsing LED lights and the game itself looks “amazing”. We’ll have more on this when ATEI rolls around in a few days!

UPDATE: We just received the first screenshots of H2Overdrive from Raw Thrills’. Many thanks to them for sending us these pics. Now just imagine the game running at 60 fps on a 42″ screen and we have a good idea of what it will look like in person 😉

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UPDATE #2: I asked Andrew Eloff at Raw Thrills’ about the throttle control on H2Overdrive and he has confirmed that the new game does indeed use the Hydro Throttle like what was used in the original game but it has been “upgraded to be more reliable PLUS with cool new features!”. He also tells us that “The whole cabinet is a radical departure from the original Hydro…This cabinet is brand new from the ground up.”

More reason to rejoice!

As a side note, we have added H2Overdrive to our Master Release List for 2009.

UPDATE #3 (6/4/09) – I have done an interview with Steve Ranck of Specular Interactive where we discuss the game along with a ton of new details on what will make this game stand out not only from Hydro Thunder but from other arcade titles as well. Check it out here.

UPDATE#4: The team behind this game have now released a new arcade racer called Dirty Drivin’. It started off as H2Overdrive on wheels but evolved into something a little different.  Check out my interview with the developers here.

[Raw Thrills]

37 Comments »

  1. ECM January 23, 2009 at 12:44 am - Reply

    As long as their version of “amazing” far exceeds the upcoming Justice League Heroes arcade game which, graphically, looks wretched 🙁

  2. Shaggy January 23, 2009 at 1:17 am - Reply

    Different teams and companies so I think they’ll be different.

    One thing to consider is that at the time Hydro Thunder looked pretty good, so my hopes are high that the same team will pull off some good effects with more recent hardware. I’m still trying to get some images on this one but so far we might have to wait until next week to see it for sure.

  3. onichi January 23, 2009 at 1:21 am - Reply

    I hope this isn’t a simple port of the similarly named game for PS2 published by Crave.

  4. Shaggy January 23, 2009 at 1:24 am - Reply

    Actually RT mentioned that and they said that they are considering changing the name so the comparison isn’t made as they are different games.

  5. Editor January 23, 2009 at 2:14 am - Reply

    Thank Wotan I can now talk about this game – been embargoed!
    Some funny news about the games appearance at ATEI and KWP coming soon!

  6. Shaggy January 23, 2009 at 2:37 am - Reply

    Are there any other games you’ve got an embargo on talking about? 😉

  7. Editor January 23, 2009 at 2:59 am - Reply

    yes, there are such as…. hey wait a minute – stop sniggering 🙂

  8. Shaggy January 23, 2009 at 3:02 am - Reply

    🙂

    I know, I know. Wait until Monday. At least it’s right around the corner.

    As for H2Overdrive, the resemblance to Hydro Thunder is uncanny. Even the HUD is pretty much the same thing. I think that this will turn out to be a very smart idea to have undertaken as there are a lot of people who loved HT when it came out 10 years ago.

  9. Dave January 23, 2009 at 3:36 am - Reply

    Hydro Thunder remains my favorite arcade racer ever. After my local arcade closed I found refuge in the PC port that I hadn’t discovered until last year.

    I’m really hoping they develop a PC version also….

  10. twinturbo2 January 23, 2009 at 7:02 am - Reply

    If this has the boat throttle from Hydro Thunder, I’m ready to declare a Game Of The Year for 2009 in January. ^_^

    Any word on Target: Terror 2? I know Eugene Jarvis brought it up in a couple of interviews…

  11. Paul January 23, 2009 at 8:32 am - Reply

    Awesome. The original Hydro Thunder team = good news. I’m not big on those boat designs, but hey, I’m not going to nitpick on this happy day.

    BTW I hope that the recent awesomeness of Raw Thrills inspires Sega to step up its game

  12. Paul January 23, 2009 at 9:01 am - Reply

    Are you guys hinting at DeathSmiles 2 above? When are you going to post on it?

  13. Smidget January 23, 2009 at 4:20 pm - Reply

    Really looking forward to playing this next week! Wonder if the cabinet will incorpoarte the wind-in-face mechanism from Arctic Thunder (or something similar). I always did like that thing.

  14. Smidget January 23, 2009 at 4:25 pm - Reply

    Actually, I guess that mech. wouldn’t make much sense if the driver isn’t exposed to the elements and it isn’t always very cold… >.< How about a squirt nozzle that shoots people in the chest with water, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind as it would just enhance the water-going experience!!

  15. Shaggy January 23, 2009 at 4:28 pm - Reply

    I just got an update from RT about the throttle control, it’s in the post now. No word on a squirting mechanism though. 😉

  16. PlayerOneCJ January 23, 2009 at 5:56 pm - Reply

    This is awesome, and I can’t wait to check it out. But… where is one going to be able to play this? 🙂 Hoping for a console release…XBLA or PSN.

  17. Noe V. January 23, 2009 at 10:46 pm - Reply

    I was a huge fan of Hydro Thunder. I even made a fanpage on it a decade ago. I remember interviewing Steve Rank, Scott Goffman and Michael Starich about a sequel in 2000, before Midway closed that part down. They said they had a new engine built and a couple of boats, the new Midway and Tidal Blade plus at least one or two levels testing. One of them was “Found Island” a successor to Lost Island. This time the paradise was run over by hotels and tourists which lead to the volcano exploding and changing the course during the game itself. They also mentioned trying crazy level tricks with the water physics. Things like trying to find tunnels exposed as the tides washed out and maybe even diving under an opponent to pass them. With the original Team Hydro back I have no doubt that this game is going to be jaw dropping. Let’s hope I see it at the local arcade.

  18. twinturbo2 January 23, 2009 at 10:47 pm - Reply

    1UP.com has gameplay footage!

    http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3172445

  19. Noe V. January 23, 2009 at 10:54 pm - Reply

    In the time it took me to write the above comment it seems that 1UP posted three videos about the game. Go to the front page to check it out: http://www.1up.com

  20. ECM January 23, 2009 at 10:59 pm - Reply

    Ah, excellent: it certainly isn’t amazing-looking, but it’s certainly quite nice and shames the shoddy work Global VR is doing on Justice League (yes, I’m hung up on that!)

  21. Editor January 23, 2009 at 11:43 pm - Reply

    thanks twinturbo,

    is it me, or since October and the consumer game job cuts, some consumer game web sites are covering arcade!!!

  22. twinturbo2 January 23, 2009 at 11:44 pm - Reply

    You’re welcome.

    Again, I ask, any news on Target: Terror 2? I know that Eugene Jarvis mentioned a sequel in an interview or two.

  23. Shaggy January 24, 2009 at 12:44 am - Reply

    Not heard a thing on TT2 but I know that this is just one of several projects in development at RT right now so who knows.

    I also am wondering how InJoy will handle this with their “Power Boat” game.

  24. xellex February 1, 2009 at 8:51 pm - Reply

    cool site! really love to read here! thanks for the info…

  25. slippchild July 25, 2009 at 8:35 pm - Reply

    What about an Xbox or PS3 version? I loved the original Hydro Thunder. Its sad that no one released it beyond N64. A PS3 version would be amazing.

    • Shaggy July 25, 2009 at 8:44 pm - Reply

      The developers have stated that there are no plans to bring this to any game console and they are currently working on their next project for arcades. So chances of a console release are minimum right now.

  26. Anthony September 7, 2009 at 7:49 pm - Reply

    This game looks amazing, I hope it plays well, I also hope it comes out for PC as well and I also really hope that the Hydro Jump technique will be included 🙂

  27. Gangster69 October 23, 2009 at 1:19 am - Reply

    If they cannot withstand the scrutiny by having the light of day shine on their dubious activities, then the Fed. ,

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