The music is great in this game and the jarring sound when the large ships start barreling towards you does make them even more intimidating. Visually I think the water, especially the wake effect is really striking.
The mechanics are interesting. It can be quite challenging to spin around and line up shots while also trying to avoid being rammed, but when it all comes together it feels great, doing a wild turn (HARD A-STARBOARD) and just narrowly sliding past a huge enemy vessel and then my cannons pop off and it explodes is awesome.