4 Wheel Thunder

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4 Wheel Thunder

Developer(s)	Kalisto Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Midway Games
Platform(s)	Dreamcast
Release date	May 4, 2000
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (E)

4 Wheel Thunder is a racing game developed by Kalisto Entertainment and published by Midway Games. When the game had been in development for some time, it was decided to change it into a part of the Thunder Series. This game has been praised for its realistic graphics, and fun gameplay. One of the main things that draw this game down is the AI. The AI doesn't seem to care about winning, just crashing into you.

Making use of the rumble pack was taken to excess in this game, and there are several occasions where its not needed. The game itself is well made, but the menu system leaves much to be desired. The maps themselves are interesting and well designed, although they have many places for the novice driver to crash/catch their car and slow down.

The premise of the game is simple; race, get money, upgrade your car, win more races. Unfortunately, no amount of expert driving will win each race. You have to use the boost pick-ups found around the track. A competent driver in the game should be able to keep boosting all the way around the track without stopping. In fact, not doing so would cause you to lose the race. This is where the rumble feature of the Dreamcast controller becomes a hindrance. If you play the game for too long, the constant vibration causes the players hand to ache.

The boost pick-ups come in two varieties; red and blue. The red boost icons give you 9 seconds of boost, whilst the blue icons give 4 seconds of precious boost.