I think that's just the graphics. They wanted to show some sort of sense of motion with the limited (at the time) graphical resources they had.
Those games were a great concept and I think were executed rather well for the time they were created. No other games scream for an remake/update than those games. I still play them as well. What other game do you get to stand on the deck of the Bismarck?!!
All I can suggest is maybe take some dramamine before playing
