Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

When we talk about sports games on the good old Nintendo 64, it’s hard not to think of the classic Wave Race 64 (check out our RetroSearch on this immortal classic). Despite clamorous requests from fans over the years, Big N never gave the series another chance. Some companies have been trying to fill this painful void in gamers’ hearts, and Aqua Moto Racing Utopia arrives to tackle the problem head-on, on a console from Mario’s own house.

Passing on the correct side of the buoy charges your turbo

Mechanics: 6

(It would be 7.5 if it weren’t for one serious flaw)

The premise of Utopia is quite simple: it is a jet ski racing game where the player must advance from one buoy to the next, passing on the correct side of each to charge the turbo (and not be disqualified).

The controls are quite simple. One trigger is used to accelerate, the other to brake and take tight turns, a button activates the turbo, the left stick steers the jet ski and the right stick is used to perform tricks when your craft is in the air.
What is not so simple is the physics and the behavior of objects in the water, which may take some time to get used to. Still, the world makes sense and the overall gameplay is quite convincing.

You can play with the camera in either third or first person.
Riding in 1st person is an immersive experience, and in general maximizes the feeling of speed. In this mode, an option to steer with motion is missed: tilting the controller/console to turn would be quite natural.
Riding in 3rd person has a more visual and even cinematic purpose, since besides being able to maneuver more precisely among obstacles and rival racers, you can appreciate your rider’s radical stunts. There is a strange flaw in this view mode, since the camera’s positioning does not follow your vehicle’s rotation while it is in the air, making it immensely harder to land turned the right way.

There are several race modes, each with different types of jet ski (such as models for standing and others for sitting, for example), but the experience is generally quite similar. The real variety in the game comes from its vast selection of tracks and settings ranging from open sea to swampy rivers, plus a quite satisfying collection of craft. There are multiplayer options between nearby consoles, online and splitscreen (even supporting Joy-Con splitting), which makes things much easier for those who like to get together with friends.

However, Aqua Moto Racing Utopia has a serious technical flaw: its loading times. Each stage takes a long time to load, sometimes bordering on a minute of waiting. To worsen the situation even more, the Restart a race option seems to redo the whole load from scratch, instead of making use of the track and models already loaded in memory and only rearranging some objects in the scenery and resetting counters.
For a racing game, the player spends a long time waiting… And standing still.

Racing with the first-person camera is extremely immersive!

Fun: 8

AMRU manages to deliver the genuine experience of an extreme sport with its high speed, extravagant stunts and the tension of maneuvering among the waves and obstacles of the circuits. Competitively there is also the added stress of diverting rivals from their route (and avoiding being diverted) through collisions.

The mechanic of passing on the correct side of the buoys to charge the turbo bar also adds more information to keep in mind. If you miss passing 3 buoys you are disqualified, so you must consider the best moment to try to cut a corner! This and countless other small factors help put you in the position of a real racing driver, making countless decisions, keeping critical information in mind, all while riding and maneuvering your jet ski with all the skill and concentration you have!

These warm colors give you THAT urge for a beer on the beach, don’t they?

Audio and visuals: 8.5

(Visuals: 10 – Audio: 7)

Aqua Moto Racing Utopia is a beautiful game to look at, and even on a less powerful console like the Switch the water looks and behaves quite convincingly. This is a colorful game that evokes feelings of summer even on rainy days. The track detailing is enough to provide immersion, create the sense of speed and still hide your shortcuts.

The music, however, contrasts with the experience the game tries to convey. Amid warm, bright colors, high speed and radical stunts, the soundtrack that accompanies you in the frenetic races is strangely calm and soothing. It is hard not to notice and find odd the almost relaxing sounds amid visuals and gameplay so focused on unloading adrenaline.

Aerial stunts also help charge your turbo!

Final thoughts

Aqua Moto Racing Utopia does a competent job and establishes itself as the best jet ski racing option today. Although far from perfect, its flaws can easily be fixed/improved in future editions or even through updates. The essence of the game, speed and adrenaline, permeates its visual and mechanical design and delivers the genuine experience of an extreme sport.

The tracks have “chips” scattered around that reward extra money at the end of the race

Score

Fun = 8

Mechanics = 6

Audio and visuals = 8.5

Worth the 40 dollars? Yes, if you need to scratch your Wave Race itch. If you’re just curious, maybe it’s worth waiting for a sale – however small the discount, then it’s worth buying for anyone!