In news that's sure to tickle the nostalgia of those with fond memories of the Wave Race franchise, Zordix AB has confirmed that it's bringing Aqua Moto Racing Utopia to the Wii U eShop.
This seems to be a progression from Aqua Moto Racing 3D, a smart device title re-tooled for the 3DS eShop. Despite some fun foundations that title struggled with technical issues — some of which were improved in a post-launch update — so we'd hope the increased hardware power of the Wii U will alleviate some of those problems. Below is an excerpt from the Zordix AB press release.
Aqua Moto Racing Utopia will bring wave after wave of enjoyment and action. Do that perfect trick, stick the landing and make that tight turn in one flowing motion. Nothing is like the feeling of full speed in a narrow canal where danger and excitement walks hand in hand towards a best time score! Compete against friends and foes in exciting local and Internet multi-play.
“We aim to bring that easy going and flowing control scheme from Aqua Moto Racing 3D for the Nintendo 3DS to a larger stage on the Nintendo Wii U. We feel that this game deserves the best possible tech and in the Wii U we get the chance to excel. A budget several times larger than earlier games in the series has amongst other things enabled us to work on some new and revolutionizing water tech to really w(h)et your appetite for the game!” – Matti Larsson, CEO Zordix AB
This new entry also promises all-new environments, so we're relatively optimistic. There's no footage or collection of screenshots as yet, however, nor a release window; the developer's clearly looking to build some early hype.
Have you tried the previous Aqua Moto title on 3DS, and are you excited by the potential for this one?
Comments 47
If it scores higher than the 3DS version i might check it out.
I might dabble but Waverace 64 isn't too bad on the gamepad as it is.
That screen shot is pretty nice lookin!
Not sure of the developer's track record, but this is nice. Glad to see something like Wave Race again.
@Azikira IKR.
I do like the idea of this game but the universally bland reception of the 3DS version put me off buying it. Now I know a patch was released for that version and updated visuals are coming I'm glad I held fire as I may pick this up if it's even half decent.
Hopefully this turns out better than the 3DS game. If it does, I'm downloading this bad boy. Btw, Armillo comes out soon, doesn't it?
@Daisaku36 March 24th to be excact.
the Wii U eShop seems like it's becoming the new home of iOs shovelware. yeah I know every mobile game isn't exactly shovelware but i'm just not a fan.
Talking of Wave Race Wii U...
Where the hell is it, Nintendo?
Oh, and where's F-Zero U while we're at it...
So many great games in the back catalog being overlooked.
@Kirk TESTIFY!!!
(in other words yes, yes indeed)
They can do something great here if the really fine tune it for the Wii U. If its a straight port of the 3DS version though there's no point.
Its just not the same it never will be.
I'm up for another jet ski game. PSN has one but it's way too focused on points, it became more of a chore than fun, don't think I've gone more than a 3rd of the way thru it. I could imagine the Gamepad working as a nice motion controller though, I wasn't a big fan of the Wiimote and nunchuck set-up in Sports Resort either.
Zordix Here
@Emblem - It is not a port. Not one single line of code or graphic asset is reused in this game. Its all new!
@ZordixAB Awesome, thanks for clearing that up. If it turns out good i'll be buying for sure. Lots of luck making a great game!
@rjejr
We aim to get all the possible controllers into the game. Motion control is experimented with but we can't say if it will be in or out at the moment.
seriuosly how can you announce such a game without a trailer or at least a proper selection of screenshots?
@ZordixAB Please play a lot of Wave Race 64 before you get to far into developing it! We need more of the same!
@Kirk
I pretty much thought the same thing when I read this article. I'd love a new F-Zero and Wave Race, heck, even Pilot Wings would be awesome on Wii U.
@ZordixAB Nice! Thanks for the info and good luck with the game.
@Xilef Thank you...we will do our best!
If it's good and has good track design, I'm in.
Looks like the Wii U is shaping up to be a great racing machine.
Very cool
IF IT HAS ONLINE MULTIPLAYER I WILL BUY IF NOT PAss.....
Maybe good, if it's anything like wave racer it will be worth checking out.
If it will be something like Wave Race for the N64 I'm sold and by looking at this article I get the feeling that it will be even mor amazing! ... I think I'l be broke in Q3 and 4 this year. ^^"
@Ryo_Hazuki-san The game description states online multiplayer so i guess you're buying . I hope they work some asynchronous multi in as well some how.
"Compete against friends and foes in exciting local and Internet multi-play" - From game description.
This looks promising.
I was just thinking to myself the other day " where the heck are all the water based racing games?" If the graphics are good and controls are tight then I'll def grab this
As someone who bought AMR3D, I'm looking forward to this. I don't understand the negativity towards it though. Sure, it's no Wave Race, but it's not shovelware by any means. My only gripe would be the that stunts are activated by the touchscreen, too easy. Button activated stunts please.
Kudos to these indie devs that will give us something similar(at the very least) to what Nintendo used to give us.
Awesome! It could be really beautiful. I can't wait! I love wave race & I'll take this!
@ZordixAB It's always nice when devs are getting involved in here. If you could include an online championship kind of thing, it'll be a day one purchase for me. Good luck to you and your team.
I'mma bee buying this even if it doesn't come with online. It's just that beautiful
No motion controls please! Thanks!
Surely motion controls are perfect for this kind of game and the Gamepad is capable so an option at least? I do agree that the scheme used in the Sports Resort waveriding game was awkward. Just Gamepad or remote tilt should suffice.
so the pic in this article is showing us thats how the game going to look if im right then im on board buying game.
4 easy ways to save Wii U:
Wave Race U
F-Zero U
Metroid U
Super Mario RPG U (not another Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi, but a true sequel to the classic SNES title)
Looking back at the Wii, I find it really surprising that Nintendo didn't bring back Wave Race. Motion controls similar to those in Mario Kart could have made the game appeal to the masses. Since they didn't do so on Wii, they should do so on Wii U with motion controls as an option. Wave Race 64 is still a lot of fun to this day.
Anyways, good luck with the game!
I'm a huge Wave Race fan... so I will probably get this. lol
In the absence of a new Wave Race title, this one makes sense. I'll wait for the review to be sure, but I'll probably get it.
All of this talk about Wave Race is making me remember my GCN copy that I never gave a fair shot. Was the GCN version well regarded? I had recently Completed Wave Race 64 at the time and I think the physics changed making it harder to play.
@Knuckles I loved the Gamecube version myself. Not as good as the godly N64 version, but still great.
Is a bit harder to master than the N64 version. I still play it occasionally.
Reception:
http://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/515938-wave-race-blue-storm/index.html
@gojiguy a great racing machine?
Only "great" racing game on it at the moment is NFS.
I'm not convinced about Project Cars yet.
Awesome news this! I actually mailed Zordix about a Wii U version of this after playing and enjoying the 3DS version, and now they actually have one on the way. Maybe I should mail more developers about Wii U versions of games Id like to see.
Looking forward to seeing more on this! I actually couldn't get into WaveRace 64, but I might take this one for a spin.
@johndevine NFS, Sonic, Mario Kart 8, Project Cars, Fast NEO, 90s arcade racer, etc...
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