While racing, players will encounter a number of jumps or ramps depending on what course they are actually on. When leaving the ramp your boat may spin in the air, which can be combated by adjusting your trim and hitting the throttle while in the air. As you adjust the trim you can re-position the boat in the air to keep it level. If you prefer, you can try and do flips, but if you land upside down you lose valuable time. Another aspect of Powerboat Racing is the realism of the crashes. Crashes take into effect the different forces on your boat, measuring the curve of your hull and other dynamics. If you leave a jump and point the nose of your boat down, you can actually get underwater, with underwater sounds and everything.

Your in-game view is defaulted to a position behind your boat, but can be changed to be either first-person, cockpit view, or a view from the side. The cockpit view is a camera behind the shoulder of the driver, allowing an up-close view, but sometimes making it difficult to see over the front of the boat. The first-person point of view allows gamers to get right on the water and feel the sense of speed while watching the scenery fly by. The final view, or side view, is more for show than anything else. It is simply too difficult to drive the boat while viewing it from the side.

The different modes of racing give players a choice of how to play the game. As mentioned above, the time trial mode allows gamers to race around a chosen course and then race against their ghost. In the championship mode you can race against the computer or other friends in a series of races, similar to other popular arcade racing sims. The arcade mode allows you to choose everything from skill level, boat, and location. There is also a practice mode that does not keep track of times. This lets you get familiar with the different courses. As you play the game, you will get passwords to get access to different parts. Statistics are also tracked so you can keep track of your best times.

Powerboat Racing offers multiplayer modes via either a split screen view or through a network. Up to 4 people can play on one system, while 6 can play over a network. Multiplayer is fun to play, with the network feature the best way to go.

Powerboat Racing is a solid boat racing game, and brings players right onto the water. There are plenty of options and levels to keep even the most masterful boat drivers satisfied. Adding to that the network and multiplayer options, Powerboat Racing is a solid title. There are some things that could use a little tweaking and some minor annoyances, but Powerboat Racing gets my stamp of approval.