Aqua Moto Racing 3D (Hands-On) (Nintendo 3DS) Preview

Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm remain fan favourites after well over a decade, and yet Nintendo has yet to grace the world with anything since the days of the GameCube. Therefore, Zordix has decided to step up to the plate and bring a new version of the highly-rated mobile water-based racer to Nintendo 3DS eShop. Aqua Moto Racing 3D places players on jet-skis and simply involves zipping around numerous courses, riding tumultuous waves and navigating an array of floating buoys, with a smattering of stunts mixed in for good measure. Simple-yet-addictive!

Race against five other opponents over three laps (as standard - this can be upped in trial modes) over twenty-four courses, vying for pole position, scrapping against opponents whilst trying to carefully manoeuvre around the various buoys to achieve a 'Perfect' each time, collecting money along the way for upgrades to the water-based craft, and using accrued boost power to give that extra push across the finish line. On the lowest difficulty level it will be a complete breeze, but the harder it gets, and the choppier the waves become, even veteran Wave Race fans will be thoroughly tested.

Visually, the game makes great use of the 3D effect to add more realism to races, and it all zooms along at a great pace. The soundtrack has a suitably laidback feel that complements the action well, and surprisingly the over-the-top announcer is not quite as annoying as expected! One of the key advantages over the previous iOS versions has to be how smoothly everything using the Circle Pad for close control is, giving players increased precision in movement throughout for those tricky corners being bustled by adversaries. There is so much packed into such a small package, as well as local six-player racing fun - although that could not be tested in this early version. The Press Release states 'Download Play Capabilities,' so it will be intriguing to see what that entails. Initial impressions are highly positive so far, though!