Championship Surfer (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.3 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Giancarlo Varanini
• Reviewed on: 11/29/2000
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 11/19/2000
• Originally published on GameSpot: Championship Surfer (PC) Review

After Tony Hawk's Pro Skater brought so much attention to the entire subgenre of extreme sports games, it's no surprise that other companies have tried to cash in on its popularity. Some developers have attempted to create skateboarding games similar to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and others have tried to create games that play like Tony Hawk but involve a different extreme sport. Mattel's Championship Surfer falls into this latter category, as it attempts to integrate the intuitive trick-performing system of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater with the sport of surfing. While this may seem like a viable idea, in the end, Championship Surfer doesn't pull it off well enough.

Visually, Championship Surfer is fairly good, though the water itself looks a little unrealistic. There are no reflections and no transparency effects, so the ocean looks like one giant blue texture. However, the wave effects are convincing. You'll see mist spraying out as the tube of the wave crashes down, and you can actually see the water drawn into the wave. Unfortunately, the developers at Krome Studios didn't put as much effort into the 3D surfers. The eight selectable characters are represented by just one color-swapped character. Even the one female surfer, Rochelle Ballard, looks the same as all the male surfers in the game but with a short wetsuit and different hair color. However, secondary objects floating in the water - including mines, crates, swimmers, and photographers - are surprisingly detailed and immediately identifiable so you don't run into them while cutting up the wave. But rain, lightning, and other weather effects are so subtle that you'll hardly even notice them during gameplay.

Championship Surfer has seven modes of play, but none offer any real incentive to keep you playing the game past the first few beaches. The championship mode lets you enter into a tournament where you compete in a designated heat against another surfer. To progress to the next round, you must reach a specified point total by performing different tricks. If you win the tournament, you get the highest score total and you get to see a brief trophy award ceremony. Playing through the championship mode can be fun at first, if you haven't unlocked the additional beaches in any other mode - but if other beaches are already available to you, then participating in the championship isn't quite as entertaining.

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