The evolution of water effects

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Come on in, the water's lovely

Wave Race 64 (1997 UK/1996 US, N64)
In our opinion, no other game has come as close to recreating the feeling of being on an ocean as Wave Race 64. Even its Gamecube successor Wave Race: Blue Storm is inferior, not in graphical quality, but in the feeling of plunging into deep water - it's just too solid to be convincing. On N64, the waves really loomed at you, creating lips you could ride -organic ramps to trick from. Sadly the frame rate was a tad low, but it didn't matter. This is how it should be done.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell
Freelance Writer

Justin was a GamesRadar+ staffer for 10 years but is now a freelance writer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.