iPhone/iPad review of the day: Aqua Moto Racing 2 - the best portable Wave Race clone you can buy

On iPhone
Game: Aqua Moto Racing 2
Price: $0.99 / £0.59 - currently on sale
Size: 44.9 MB
Get it now on the iTunes store:US/UK

On iPad
Game: Aqua Moto Racing 2
Price: $0.99 / £0.59 - currently on sale
Size: 44.9 MB
Get it now on the iTunes store:US/UK

The biggest crime of this generation of gaming is that there hasn’t been a new Wave Race. Seriously Nintendo, where is it? Thankfully you can still get a does of jet skiing action in mobile form thanks to Aqua Moto Racing 2.

It’s actually a pretty standard racer, with the standard assortment of modes, rides (12 JetSkis) and tracks (48 courses in all). There’s a championship mode that has you progressing through increasingly more challenging stages, racing against increasingly more challenging opponents. There’s also time trial where you can attempt to set high scores and an online ranking system to remind you how much better everyone else is. There are different locations to race in, and you can also perform stunts. Nothing you haven’t seen before.

But the controls are what make Aqua Moto Racing a game worth playing. They’re so smooth and responsive that you’d be hard pressed to find a better tilt controlled racer. Weaving in and out of buoys feels absolutely perfect, and the brake and boost buttons are in the exact right spot for easy access. The game also has an excellent vehicle progression system. As you win championship races you’ll earn points, which can be assigned to various skills like speed and handling. But what’s great is that you can reassign these points at the beginning of each race. So if one particular course requires speed, you can swap things around to make your jet ski faster and then change it back for the next race.

Aqua Moto Racing delivers exactly what you’d expect from a JetSki racer, and the solid controls make this worth a play, even amongst all of the other iPhone racers out there. And at the very least it should you over until Nintendo finally decides to make a new Wave Race. Which is definitely happening. We hope.

Feb 1, 2011