From a speedrunners' perspective, that's a blessing, not an issue!

If you played multiplayer, that made it even more fun. Being in first place meant you'd trigger certain waves, but then that could fuck up or really help someone behind you.

That's true. They triggered different waves depending on your location.

But I'm willing to bet any recent games that focus on water do the same thing, just with bigger areas, and a few more trigger types.