figure out a way to create "something fun" from it. Originally, the game was referred to as "F-Zero on water" and would feature high-speed boats, as shown in footage from the 1995 Nintendo Shoshinkai show. The boats were planned to have transforming capabilities, allowing players to switch from a stable catamaran-style form to a more streamlined canoe-style version. However, the boats were ultimately replaced with Jet Skis at the suggestion of Rare's Tim Stamper. Miyamoto explained that "boats looked pretty good at the show, but I didn't think that Wave Race 64 would be unique from similar games on other systems if we used boats. Jet Skis can show many maneuvers that work well in the realistic water of Wave Race 64". The game uses the Nintendo 64's alpha blending feature to make the water simultaneously transparent and reflective. Wave Race 64 was promoted with a marketing campaign that cost $4 million. It was first released in Japan in September 1996 on an 8-MB cartridge. In the United States, Wave Race 64 was released as the third Nintendo 64 game on November 4, 1996, featuring voice changes and renamed levels. It was the first racing game developed for the Nintendo 64 and the first to use the Nintendo 64's hardware capabilities to "create a believable and engaging water environment unmatched by previous games". In the United Kingdom, the game was released in April 1997, shortly after the launch of the Nintendo 64. Like Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64 was re-issued in Japan in July 1997 as . This version takes advantage of the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak and adds ghost functions to the game's time trial mode, in the form of a dolphin that races against the player and represents the previous best time on the course. Some music and sound effects were altered as well. Reception Wave Race 64 was a critical and commercial success, selling more than 154,000 units in Japan by December 1996 and more than one million units in the United States by December 1997. As of December 2007, the game had sold 1.95 million copies in the United States. At the time of its release, some reviewers considered it to be one of the greatest racing games of all time on a home console. GamePro described Wave Race 64 as a "phenomenally fun" racing game that captivates players with its deep and challenging gameplay,