Review: Super Soaker Hydro Cannon

The much anticipated Hydro Cannon is the largest water blaster in the new 2011 (Nerf) Super Soaker line. It's big, it's tough and the most exciting part about this blaster is it does incorporate the awesome Constant Pressure System (CPS) tech found in the glory day blasters of the 90's.  

Amazon.com finally came good and lo and behold, my Super Soaker Hydro Cannon arrived today. After doing my little victory dance, I cracked it open and can safely say.. its pretty damn cool...

The Super Soaker Hydro Cannon. MEGA!

The front of the Hydro Cannon Box

The Hydro Cannon comes in a really big, long skinny box and features both the 'Nerf' and 'Super Soaker' branding on the packaging. The blaster's box blurb boasts ranges of up to 35 feet.

Back of the box. Gets you excited:)

Inside the box, you get the blaster, the shield, shield tactical rail adaptor, and the manual. Packaging is in line with Hasbro's all new green policy, with mostly cardboard shells and paper rope holding the blaster in place.

Inside the box.

 Once removed from the packaging, the first thing I noticed about the blaster is its build quality. It's solidly built with a matt finish and feels really well made in the hand; it's definitely a good looking piece that takes its design cues from a bazooka or rocket launcher. 

The blaster's pump utilises a hand grip similar to a Nerf N-Strike Raider and requires the user to slide it back and forth in order to prime the Hydro Cannon. It feels a LITTLE awkward, but you get used to it after a while.

Tactical rails are featured on the top of the Hydro Cannon but they're on an interesting angled tilt that fits the accompanying shield attachment well. The shield attachment IS compatible with other tactical rail blasters, but because of the weird angle it sits kinda funny. The attachment can be changed to be attached on either side of the blaster, hence catering for left handed shooters as well:)

The Hydro Cannon has a relatively large aperture that allows for quite a lot of water to shoot out of the muzzle. The blaster does utilise CPS tech to fire, however unlike the blasters of old, it performs much like the Super Soaker Flashflood's "Flood" mode. Rather than firing a thick steady stream, it practically "dumps" a good amount of water onto your opponent with gusto. This makes the Hydro Cannon a fantastic intimidating blaster and drenching is a definite, however the tank is relatively small for this type of blaster which means you'd run empty pretty quickly.

 The trigger on the Hydro Cannon is huge; a good two fingers worth which again suggests this blaster is more of a defensive "cannon" and less of a run and gun assault weapon. The opening for the water tank is on the side of the blaster which is a lil different than other Super Soakers, but doesn't cause too much of an issue.

Compared to a Point Break

SO how does the Hydro Cannon perform? Well the fact it is a CPS tech based blaster is AWESOME and it doesn't disappoint; although the pumping mechanism does feel a little awkward, once you've primed the blaster, there's a real sense of anticipation as you look forward to fire it at someone:) On firing, it is a literal drenching; like with the Flashfloods, you can feel a good kickback as you half empty your tank onto your opponent with mad crazy gusto:) 35 feet translates to just over 10 metres- I'd say I got a decent 7-8 metres but I was shooting it off my balcony or against a wall.

The cap. See the lil hole? AWESOME.

The fact it isn't a stream though means I don't believe it's the best weapon to use in a water fight on your own and it kinda big and heavy when full of water, but if you're backing someone else up and playing in pairs, then it's a fantastic supporting blaster because it is, well and truly, a CANNON.

Interesting how the box directs you to supersoaker.com, not Nerf..

We love it, and I'd definitely recommend you to get one if you can get your hands on a Hydro Cannon. It's definitely a step in the right direction for Super Soaker, and it's awesome that we're starting to see a blaster that's actually got some real power; an ACTUAL modern day CPS blaster! I wouldn't rely on it alone if you're water fighting, but it's still a lot of fun to wield and worth having on your side than facing one alone!

Haven't seen them in Australia just yet, but I picked mine up from Amazon.com for around 40 dollars US that included shipping. My guess will be they'll be around 30 dollars AUS when they do come to Australia.. which I think is definitely worth it:)

Usability: 7/10
Out of the box performance: 8.5/10
Cool factor: 9/10
Price point: 8/10