Battling on the waves

Aqua Moto Racing 3D arrived in the European 3DS eShop this week, with the North American release to arrive relatively soon. We're currently working on our review, but it's a title — and series — that's achieved notable success on smartphones, and from video footage alone may remind some of the Wave Race titles that graced the Nintendo 64 and GameCube.

While the 3DS version makes its tentative first steps, Zordix’s CEO Matti Larsson has spoken to gamersxtreme.org about the release. Larsson emphasized that the company has "decided to focus wholeheartedly on the Nintendo platforms", before saying the following when asked about Wave Race comparisons.

Wave Race has been a huge inspiration and we realized there was a gap to fill in the need for this type of game. I’m not sure it’s fair to compare to an iconic Nintendo TV console launch title with a big budget, but we’re very happy with the result in how fun the game is to play. It should stand its ground well.

A difference worth mentioning is that you get bigger, more varied waves to enjoy in Aqua Moto Racing 3D, which just adds to the fun.

While the 3DS title does include multiplayer and Download Play, Larsson did state that the team is interested in bringing the game — which is just one part of a broader series on smartphone markets — to Wii U, even if it's not a process underway quite yet. Naturally the home console would allow the studio to more easily explore features absent from the portable iteration.

I can’t deny that it would be a dream to realize the Aqua Moto Racing game in a larger format. Possibly with online tournaments, ranking and all that goes with that. Wii U is a natural next step for us and if we decide to do it, I’ll make sure to share some information early on about development.

We're still working through this game before we decide whether it stacks up well in the jet-ski racing genre, but the mere idea of a title of this style on Wii U is tempting. Is this a project you'd like to see on the Wii U eShop?

[source gamersxtreme.org]