I have finally put my ancient cell phone to rest. It is only because I was offered an absolutely free Iphone 4S by my phone company that I have now fully embraced the technology that I once was not interested in at all. I will fully admit that I quickly became fascinated with all the apps and games on this new platform. It will probably never replace my 3DS or a console for gaming, however I have been playing a lot with it as of late. So I decided what the hell, lets jump into some “PatMan Plays” iPhone games. My first will be Aqua Moto 2. If your a fan of Wave Race, do your self a favor. Find 99 cents under your couch and start downloading this app right now as you read the rest of my review.

Aqua Moto 2 has some very nice, colorful and crisp high resolution visuals that are without a doubt pleasing too my eyes. Of course, it must be blatantly obvious that the games visuals, and game play for that matter, are  heavily “inspired” by Wave Race 64 and its Gamecube sequel. But, interestingly, this similar visual style doesn’t really take a lot away from Aqua Moto 2. Wave Race never looked as fancy and HD as this game does, back in the glory days of the N64. One cool feature in the game is the ability to change, on the fly no less, from the previously mentioned beautiful and calm conditions to a dark, stormy and menacing environment filled with more vicious looking waves. This is done by simply a touch on the main menu of the game.

There are a lot of cups to race , waves to navigate and stunts to preform in this little iPhone title!

As far as the audio in Aqua Moto 2 is concerned it does not stand out as anything interesting, especially the music. That said, however, it is not bad either.The truth is, the audio in this title gets the job done just fine, however it does not impress me with any catchy tunes that will stick in my head for years to come like the audio in Wave Race or Mario Kart. When you consider that this game is sold for under a dollar, the technical aspects of Aqua Moto 2 are pretty impressive, especially its visuals.

Great fun for under a buck? Yes please!

The game play in Aqua Moto 2 is pure arcade racing along with a little stunt preforming put in for good measure. It has blatant and obvious game play “similarities” to the classic Wave Race 64, but really that’s not a bad thing what so ever, especially if your a fan of the N64 classic from yesteryear. I found myself enjoying my races across the water with the wave physics pushing me around the course. When you switch to the previously mentioned ” Storm mode” the waves get more intense and I found my self really having to compensate my driving. Attempting to preform stunts, when I got enough air time that is, was also good fun. Preforming stunts is very easily done with a simple touch of a button, it is almost a little too easy maybe. However ,a word to the wise. The time required to preform stunts may not be enough if you didn’t get sufficient air time. I learnt the hard way that the harder the stunt usually meant the more time required to preform it. Preforming successful stunts will earn you money to buy better vehicles, however stunting will almost certainly slow you down after you land and even cause you to lose a position in the race if you do it more than a couple times in a row. This happened to me when I got greedy for money.

Yes, it looks and plays a LOT like a portable, HD version of Wave Race 64. That is NOT a bad thing.

The title uses both gyroscopic and touch screen controls. Forget the gyroscopic right away.I mean how can you do a 90 degree hairpin turn with the gyroscope and still SEE what the hell you are doing on the screen? The touch screen controls are not perfect either, and I think this is more because the limitations of iPhone gaming. When I needed to preform some of the very tight turns in later cups, the touch screen was not responsive enough on some occasions. This adds to both the challenge of later levels but unfortunately also to gamer frustration as well. That said, the game controls decently for the most part. Over all the game play in Aqua Moto 2 is very familiar, yet still lots of fun and for the tiny price tag the game fetches, its a very satisfying experience to play it.

Stunts are fun and easy. But beware, you can lose precious time preforming them.

While it is true that the games touch controls are a bit under responsive in a hairpin turn, making some of the courses a bit difficult to navigate at times and the water physics probably have been done better in the Wave Race games, none of that could stop Aqua Moto 2 from being a very fun gaming experience on my iPhone. You just can’t go wrong with this fun little title, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had and how much the game has to offer, especially for under one dollar. The crisp and colorful high resolution visuals and arcade style racing that this title offers dramatically outweighs any of Aqua Motos flaws. And, with a price tag so low that is is actually measured in cents, not dollars, this is a must buy for any fan of racing games that happen to own an iPhone.

Wow for me, I finished first!!

“PatMan Picks”  a score of  8 out of 10 for Aqua Moto 2 on the iPhone.

See you all next time !