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Speedboat GP for PlayStation 2
Speedboat GP for PlayStation 2 puts you at the helm of a fast racing boat. You follow water courses and try to find space among the other boats for a good line. The camera follows from behind, allowing you to judge the next turn and your opponents' positions. Tournaments take you to different environments. As you progress, you can unlock hidden courses and post better results on the records table.
The selection screen offers Practice, Race and Championship. You can therefore practise first, enter an individual race or begin a championship. Boat selection shows ratings for speed, acceleration, turning and turbo. Those differences help you choose what to try on a particular course. High speed on a straight is one thing; getting the exit of a turn right determines how much of it you carry into the next section of the course.
You play alone with a standard analogue PS2 controller. The game does not offer local two-player races and requires neither a Multitap nor a special boat controller. The challenge is to improve your own races against the computer. Repeating a course teaches you to recognise turns earlier and lets you compare different boats on the same route. Practice provides a separate starting point for this, while championships connect your practice with progression and the courses still to unlock.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
This edition of Speedboat GP has a PAL case with a German age rating on the front. Please therefore expect German text on the packaging.
Manual
Speedboat GP for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Speedboat GP
Mere Mortals developed Speedboat GP, and Phoenix Games released it for PlayStation 2 in 2006. The European edition carries product code SLES-54074. The game belongs to the smaller racing releases that appeared alongside major sports and car series in the later PS2 years. Phoenix chose boat racing here: not an existing Formula 1 calendar or a collection of licensed road cars, but water races with a straightforward choice between practice, individual races and a championship.
The original packaging focuses on the different water environments and racing against other boats. The pictured boat-selection screen shows separate ratings for speed, acceleration, turning and turbo. The menu confirms the three choices of Practice, Race and Championship. This presentation makes the structure clear: learn a boat, try a course and then achieve results in races. The publisher's description links this with tournaments in different locations, hidden courses and improving records.
The scope of local play is also clearly defined. The European back cover specifies one player, confirmed by the catalogue data; Speedboat GP is not a split-screen boat racer. The GP name does not make it an officially licensed motorsport release. This version remains a standalone PS2 game by Mere Mortals and Phoenix Games. Nor is it part of the Splashdown series, where a visible rider controls a personal watercraft and two people can race simultaneously. Here the focus is one player with a racing boat.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Splashdown on PlayStation 2 shares water as its racetrack but uses Sea-Doo personal watercraft with visible riders. Stunts fill a performance meter affecting acceleration and top speed, and two players can race simultaneously. Speedboat GP chooses racing boats and a one-player structure with Practice, Race and Championship. Both ask you to find a line through turns; the vehicle shape, the role of stunts and the opportunity to play together make the difference.
Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild on the same console sends personal watercraft racing through heavily themed amusement parks. Course changes and aerial stunts give those races an extravagant character. Speedboat GP focuses on boats, their attributes and tournaments across different water environments. Both offer racing on water, but the choice is between an attraction-like personal-watercraft show and a solo game where you practise, enter races and try to unlock courses with your boat.
Powerdrome on PlayStation 2 moves racing onto futuristic courses with fast Blades, jet-powered vehicles that remain above the surface. As in Speedboat GP, you must learn to judge the movement of a vehicle without car tyres. The setting and technology differ: interstellar competitions and hovering racers versus boats on water. Knowing the turns remains important in both, but the visual cues you use to determine your course come from a very different environment.
WipEout Fusion on PlayStation 2 combines hovering ships with weapons and futuristic circuits. As well as your racing line, you must watch attacks and damage. Speedboat GP emphasises boat races against the computer, practice and championships on water courses. The similarity is steering fast vehicles without ordinary road tyres. The difference lies in what you must deal with during a race: armed conflict on an artificial circuit or piloting a racing boat.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec on PlayStation 2 also offers different vehicle attributes and races in which a good turn can save considerable time. You collect and upgrade cars, earn licences and race on circuits. Speedboat GP confines itself to racing boats, practice sessions, individual races and championships. Its menu ratings for speed and turning provide a simpler starting point for choosing a vehicle than Gran Turismo's extensive garage; the surface also changes from asphalt to water.
