it to cut off a buoy placed in an awkward manner, or one off a distance to the side, thus eliminating much of the time that would have been used to get to and correctly pass that buoy. There are other, smaller red buoys which mark the boundaries of each course. Staying outside of them for too long results in a disqualification. During the race, the player is often bombarded (depending on weather conditions) with waves and rain which can force an inexperienced player off-course, or into obstacles or other riders. Successful navigation of these waves is essential. This is where the game's uniqueness in the genre comes to light. Waves are completely random and are affected by the weather, making for a different experience from that of most other games in the racing genre, such as the PlayStation 2's Splashdown. Every race consists of three laps. Often during a race, shortcuts will be revealed as the player passes each lap. Spotting these shortcuts as they appear can be essential to victory. At the end of each race, the player is awarded points proportional to the place in which they finished. A player needs a certain point total at the end of each race in order to advance to the next day. If this total is not reached, the player must begin the circuit again. Victory comes when the player finishes first, second, or third overall in total points at the end of the circuit. For the expert circuit, the player must finish first for all weather conditions in time attack mode. Other modes Time Attack: The player selects an unlocked course and races alone. The object is not to win, but rather to finish in as fast a time as possible. Stunt Mode: The goal of this mode is to achieve high scores by performing stunts that are performed by executing certain button combinations. Stunts can also be executed in any other mode, and can be used to build up one's turbo meter. Multiplayer: For up to four players. Championship Mode and Stunt Mode may be played in this fashion. Free Roam: Allows the player to roam freely through any unlocked course, with no time limit or other racers. Characters There are eight characters in Blue Storm, three of them from the previous game, two newcomers, and some of the rest from 1080° Snowboarding. Each character is rated on