''Splashdown'' is a water

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed by

Rainbow Studios Rainbow Studios is an American video game developer based in Phoenix, Arizona, best known for developing offroad racing games, such as '' Motocross Madness'' and the ''MX vs. ATV'' series. It was established by Earl Jarred in 1986 under the nam ...

and published by

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. Bec ...

originally for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and was later ported to the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

. It was released under the

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

brand name. It received a sequel, '' Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild'', in 2003, and was published by Rainbow Studios' new owner

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

Gameplay

''Splashdown'' is quite similar to

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

's ''

Wave Race ''Wave Race'' is a 1992 personal watercraft racing video game developed by Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Game Boy. It is the first game in the ''Wave Race'' series. The player controls a jet skier around a track aimin ...

'' series and

Sony Computer Entertainment America Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

Jet Moto ''Jet Moto'' is a series of futuristic racing games for the PlayStation video game console. ''Jet Moto'' (1996) and ''Jet Moto 2'' (1997) were developed by SingleTrac, known for ''Twisted Metal'' and ''Twisted Metal 2''. SingleTrac then left S ...

franchise. Players gain control of a

personal water craft A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter or jet ski, is a recreational watercraft that a rider sits or stands on, not within, as in a boat. PWCs have two style categories, first and most popular being a runabout or "sit down" whe ...

as they race against each other on various courses. Players must pass through correct sides of

buoys A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

in each

racetrack A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

, or the personal water craft may stall as a penalty.

Reception

''Splashdown'' received "generally favorable reviews" on both platforms according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. In Japan, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' gave it a score of 28 out of 40 for PlayStation 2 version. It was nominated for ''GameSpot''s 2001 "Best In-Game Water" prize among

console game A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...

s, which went to '' Wave Race: Blue Storm''. The 2002 Xbox version was a runner-up for ''GameSpot''s annual "Best Driving Game on Xbox" award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Splashdown (Video Game) 2001 video games Atari games Embracer Group franchises Multiplayer and single-player video games Personal watercraft racing video games PlayStation 2 games Rainbow Studios games Video games developed in the United States Xbox games

Gameplay

Reception

See also

References

External links