Previous Next

Domark's deal with coin-op manufacturer Tengen has reaped many rewards in the past, with some outstanding arcade conversions already queueing for a place in the annals of gaming history. This time, the conversion is of the aquatic racing simulation, Hydra.

'Simulation' is correct up to a point, but the vehicle you control in Hydra is entirely fictitious. It's a jet-powered super gunboat, equipped with all manner of death-dealing weaponry and a booster unit which provides a quite astonishing turn of speed.

The object of the game is to take a piece of cargo, usually some top secret device or document, to its allocated destination. (Being something of a mercenary, you don't really care what you carry on your boat, just as long they pay you when you get there!)

The game itself looks uncannily similar to most racing games; only instead of a road, you race down a river. In your way are all manner of objects, usually dangerous bits of flotsam and jetsam, logs, barrels and the like.

You can weave in and out of these obstacles with ease, but submarines and armed boats also hamper your progress. Just as well then, that you are armed to the teeth with all kinds of brutal weapons. You can shoot just about everything you'll probably need to.

Aside from the obvious danger of crashing or getting shot, you also have to watch your fuel gauge. If this little indicator reaches zero; then it's history, dudes. Luckily for you, some benevolent force has left toils of spare fuel floating in the river; all you have to do is drive over the stuff.

As you play, you'll notice balloons floating in the sky. These contain bonus points and can be picked up by pressing the boost key (the space-bar), causing your boat to act like a jet aircraft. You can then fly around the screen, picking up bonus points and generally avoiding danger on the ground. Weird.

When you reach the end of a stage, you'll enter a tunnel. The tunnel ends with a glowing wall, drive through this to complete a stage. As long as you don't crash on the way, you should deliver your cargo safely. Then it's on to the bonus level.

No baddies here, just bonus points. Collect as many balloons as you can and then enter the weapons shop. This contains stuff like nuclear bombs, Uzi 9mms and hefty laser weapons. Buy what you can and then it's more of the same.

The graphics look initially confusing, but are quite easy to get used to. The sprites are OK and the whole thing looks nice and colourful. The music is a bit poor, but you can always hit the volume knob.

One problem is when the booster is activated, you just don't look like you're flying. The balloons simply float down and your wake spray stops. It looks crap - to say the least.

The main problem is with the gameplay and this criticism applies to the arcade original too. What you have here is a very basic racer with a hint of variety. It's a decent conversion, but it's ultimately repetitive and unrewarding.

To be perfectly honest, I thought Hydra was really grim. The graphics are stiff, blocky and confusing and the game itself plays badly.

You can keep it as far as I'm concerned!

Deliver the first three cargoes.

Graphics 71%
Nice and colourful, reasonably smooth but a little cluttered.

Sonics 51%
A bit poor on the old spot effects and the music is terrible.

Grab Factor 70%
Initially quite appealing... a good blast with racing thrown in.

Staying Power 56%
Not much to keep you coming back for more. A bit like Roadblasters, on water.

Overall 60%
Not terrible, but it's a hybrid which doesn't quite work.