The have been many variations on the 3D racing theme since the release of Pole Position
in the arcades a couple of years ago and Creative Sparks have obviously decided it's about
time they had something to offer in the form of Kayak.
As the title suggests, this is a water based 3D racing game that puts you in the
driving seat of a kayak (a form of canoe). Instead of battling your way around the harsh
surface of a race track avoiding cars etc, Kayak has you bobbing down the length of a
not-so-serene river, weaving in and out of markers.
No waggling or actual paddling needed here, though, as your kayak seems to be
equipped with some form of outboard motor - pushing forward on the joystick give you
an increase in forward speed and pulling back slows you down. Turning the canoe is also
made simple as you only need to push left and right to move in the respective directions.
The first course (sounds rather like a menu than a game) presents you with some tricky-
to-negotiate 'gates' which must be passed through correctly so as not to incur any time
penalties.
So long as you keep the white flag to your left as you pass through a gate
then it will have been cleared successfully and a little black square appears at the top
of the screen to let you know you have done so. If you clip a flag while passing
through a gate then a white square appears. Missing a gate adds a time penalty to your
final time and no little square appears (shame).
Small currents (not of the little black variety!) appear along the course and throw
you off direction should you run into one. These currents usually appear right in
front of a gate to make life awkward and generally foul things up for you.
The time you are taking to complete the course is shown in the top right of the screen
and at the end your final time and any penalties incurred along the way are given. You
then move on to a tougher course - the fish course perhaps?
