Watch your step, for you’ve just entered the Graveyard. Inside, we’ll be digging up games that have long been without a pulse. You’ll see both good and bad souls unearthed every month as we search through the more… forgotten…parts of history.

Arcade racers have seen a resurrection thanks to games like Asphalt 9 and especially the Switch release of Cruis'n Blast showing off just how enjoyable a fast-paced racing game can be. The original Hydro Thunder was one of the last bastions of the late '90s arcade scene and offered thrilling water-based racing at a time when nothing else was doing that in arcades. When the console port hit in '99, it still stood out by not only being a high-quality port on the Dreamcast (especially after a reprint fixed early bugs), but also found a home on the N64 where WaveRace 64 reigned supreme for aquatic racing. Hydro Thunder was a big hit, but the team behind it couldn't use the name, so they made a spiritual successor in H2O Overdrive when Microsoft licensed the Hydro Thunder IP from WB, leading to more desire for an official game.

Vector Unit was at the helm and crafted a top-notch arcade racer that managed to take what worked in the original and make it better. Things like large tracks remained, but with more shortcuts than before. Stage changes were also expanded upon and resulted in a single track sometimes feeling like several tracks in one. This is especially true in Area 51, which goes from a metallic lab to outdoors, to an alien world in one fell swoop. The speedboat racing and insane tracks of Hurricane feel even more fitting after seeing games like Cruis'n Blast hit the Switch and drive home just how perfectly the game nailed the feel of an arcade game meant to catch your eye at any moment.

The original Hydro Thunder did that with a few tracks and a handful of speedboats while featuring big jumps and an excited announcer calling the action, but Hurricane upped the ante as much as possible. For a game on the Xbox Live Arcade platform, it felt natural to have one that truly felt like an arcade game and Hurricane kept the spirit of the arcade alive with its championship cup while still allowing for many ways to learn the track. Players can enjoy not only figuring it out in real-time with rivals in exhibition races, but also learn the tracks with time trials to find where shortcuts are and even enjoy a racing line-optimized ring mode that does far more than Superman on the N64 to deliver an exciting trip through a bunch of rings.

Nailing the breakneck speed of an arcade racer is tough, but Vector Unit did a remarkable job with it here. Even starting watercrafts offer a mix of speed and precision, while some of the high-end expert crafts offer more excitement because they're so fast that they feel 1:1 with your own stick movements and that can have some consequences. If you're the type of player that's apprehensive with their stick usage and doesn't commit to a direction, then the expert crafts are going to be tricky. A player has to be confident in their movement to excel in them and there's a learning curve, but it's one that feels rewarding to get the hang of. The racing action is intense with AI racers grinding away at you whenever possible, but the robust track design means that there's a lot of freedom in how the player tackles a challenge.

Split paths and shortcuts litter most of the tracks and result in a twelve-year-old game still feeling fresh. Things like limited-time ramps opening up hidden areas offer a feeling of uncovering a secret that leads players to being far more exploratory than one would be in a racing game since it's always rewarded. There's always some kind of new trinket to find amid the search and while it does get to be too much like a collect-a-thon at times, it does drive home the point of wanting to go through every nook and cranny of a stage whenever possible to find things. Boost, vehicle upgrades and Hurricane logo medals litter stages and act as a breadcrumb trail of secrets in every area.

The baseline game of Hydro Thunder Hurricane is incredible and has aged well. Thanks to arcade racers not being a big thing on consoles, this twelve-year-old release is still impressive for the genre and offers up impressive lighting during night stages. Most impressively from a core gameplay perspective, the fast action never results in a bogged-down framerate. Whether you're racing through waves with a slew of rivals around you or dealing with a massive thunderstorm causing mayhem, or just warping from one area to another via a black hole, the pace lever gets slowed down.

Having Hydro Thunder Hurricane as a backwards compatible game and also a play anywhere one - meaning it's playable on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series family, and PC as well -- makes it a fantastic value for the dollar even considering its Tempest Pack DLC, which is still active in 2022 and adds a healthy amount of content. Being able to go through all of the tracks and championship modes with the new speedboats alone is fantastic, and the new tracks up the ante in terms of scope even compared to the original set.

Hurricane's sound design is top-tier and shines with a great set of headphones. Using surround sound-simulating ones, it's incredible to hear just how much care went into the roar of each watercraft and it makes busy races seem even more thrilling with engine roars around the player. Harsh weather also shines brightly -- especially in the DLC-only Bermuda Triangle area where all kinds of insane events happen around you and there are ships lost at sea to try to avoid while being surrounded by heavy rain and having a screen covered in lightning.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a must-buy for anyone who loved the original or who just wants a fast-paced arcade racer. It's better than the original in terms of sheer amount of content offered up and it holds up better twelve years later than the original game did after even a few years. It looks great, controls like a dream and has remarkable sound design as well. Vector Unit went on from this series to make the Riptide GP series -- with Renegade as the newest entry -- and that series aims to continue what they did here, but with more tricks and a mobile-first setup.