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Riptide GP an Xbox 360 Quality HD “Must-Have” Game for Android; Race Supercharged Jet Skis

Posted Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 at 2:37 pm by Jonathan Lonczak 0 Comments

User Rating5.00/5

Riptide GP is the first ever console-quality water racing game for mobile, created by Vector Unit, the developers of Xbox 360 hit Hydro Thunder Hurricane, exclusively for Tegra devices.

Rev up your supercharged jet ski and take a wild ride through twisting canals and rivers, futuristic cityscapes, and mysterious research facilities. Skill, stunts, and speed will be your best allies as you grab massive air off huge waves, kick out death-defying tricks, and boost your jet ski to victory across a dynamic, ever-changing torrent of foam and spray.

Designed from the ground up to take full advantage of your NVIDIA® Tegra™ powered phone or tablet, Riptide GP features super-realistic water physics, real-time reflections, and gorgeous high-detail vehicles and environments.

Price: Free Demo, $6.99 Full

Tested on: Motorola Xoom
Content Rating: Everyone

AndroidTapp.com Android Game Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

• Incredible High Definition Graphics on par with Xbox 360, Wii, and Playstation 3!
• Incredibly fun to play fast paced racing game!
• Immersive game environment makes you feel like you are really on a Jet Ski in a race to the finish!
• Many unlockable levels and characters!
• Open Feint support with in-game achievement system!
• Many levels support changing environments!
• Earn turbo by performing stunts!
• Adjustable accelerometer controls!

Cons

• No online multiplayer.
• Could use some additional levels.

Features:

Riptide GP is an incredible Jet Ski game for Android devices using a Tegra processor (i.e. Motorola XOOM). Riptide has incredible graphics which can be easily compared to the major consoles Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and even Playstation 3!! The game contains 3 different levels of difficulty, 3 different modes of play, 12 different race environments, 6 different unlockable characters,  and Open Feint support!!

The three different modes of play are Race, Hot Lap, and Championship. In Race you can compete on any one of the unlocked race tracks in the game for best time and 1st place in a race against the computer controlled characters. In Hot Lap you attempt to beat your own best time for each of the tracks, and in Championship you compete on all the tracks in one giant Championship Circuit against the computers. The player with the best overall score wins!

Riptide features 12 different race environments and each of them increases in difficulty as you play through the game. In order to control your personal watercraft you hold the tablet in your hands and move it side to side with the Jet Ski using your accelerometer as the watercraft’s controls. You can perform tricks by swiping along the screen at the bottom of the playable area and you can spend your turbo boosts by double tapping on the turbo meter.

The first map is mostly a water environment without many obstacles, ramps, or buildings. In later levels the environments become more and more difficult and change as you play through them. In one of the levels after each lap a secret trap door opens which leads to a new ramp. These ramps allow you to perform tricks to earn turbo and also act as a shortcut through the level. I was extremely impressed with the intricacy of the levels, and the development as you moved on through the game. Some levels may take you a few times to beat even on easy.

As you earn medals and achieve certain race times you unlock new characters in the game. They grant different stat boosts from the original racer that you start with and also come in new colors. This allows you to choose racers whose racing statistics are better for certain levels and also allows you to further personalize the game play.

Another great thing about the unlockable racers is that it gives you more goals to work towards in the game.  In order to have everything in the game unlocked you have to have played significantly and have a good understanding of how the game works. That is the kind of thing that makes video games addictive.

When you are playing the game you can perform stunts while going over a jump on your Jet Ski. To perform a stunt you swipe your fingers in various directions on the bottom part of the playing screen. To perform flips you need to swipe your fingers both inwards and towards each other, or outwards and away from each other. This will allow you to perform both a back flip and a front flip. You can also do handlebar stands and other tricks by swiping your fingers in other directions. As you perform tricks you gain turbo which can be used to give you a temporary boost while playing the game. You can also earn achievements this way through the Open Feint system.

Finally, the game supports Open Feint as previously mentioned which allows you to keep track of your successes and share them with others. Open Feint gives you a global ranking for your race times and stunts performed so you can compare yourself with other players of Riptide GP. As you play through the game it tells you  what achievements you have unlocked in the lower portion of the screen and gives you a medal.

The only features I wish I could change about this game is multiplayer support and the addition of extra race tracks. I will assume that in future updates the developer will add more race tracks to continue to increase the replay value of the game and to draw in more purchases. However, there is no mention of multiplayer currently. Multiplayer support would add infinitely to the replay value of this game and would better justify the application’s high price to penny pincher’s. Also one of my favorite aspects of the Wave Rider game for N64 was it’s multiplayer feature. Being able to compete with other racers is what gaming is all about and being able to do that in real time instead of just comparing scores is priceless.

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Fun Factor:

Riptide GP is extremely fun for all ages. The controls are so easy to use that all three of my nephews were able to play this game without a problem, even the 6 year old one. In fact they played it so well on their own that they unlocked most of the levels and racers for me! The accelerometer controls make you feel like you are playing Mario Cart on the Nintendo Wii except with a hundred times better graphics and incredible racing environments.

Another contributing factor to the fun levels of this game is it’s support of Open Feint. This provides you with achievements to unlock in game and makes you try to earn faster times and better tricks in game. It also gives you a way to measure yourself up against the competition and motivates you to improve your own gameplay.

Addictive:

Riptide GP is incredibly addictive. Most of the game is based around the unlocking of new content, such as maps, racers, etc. Since you constantly have a goal in sight you continue to play this game until you are forced to put it down. The easy controls, incredible graphics, and fast paced music keep you deeply involved in the game environment.  This along with the integration of Open Feint makes this a game that you will not easily be able to put away.

Graphics:

The graphics in Riptide GP are incredible. The game has graphics that are easily on par with Xbox 360 and plays as well as any console game I have played to date. I was impressed beyond belief at the details of the in-game environments. I was continually amazed by changing environments during the races; such as unlockable doors with hidden jumps to new areas or shifting water patterns from giant water spinning machines. This game is the most visually impressive application I have seen on Android to date and sets a high bar for the future of Android gaming.

Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:

This game uses the accelerometer for all of your controls. The controls are extremely easy to use, and have no major learning curve. You can also  adjust accelerometer sensitivity under the settings panel in game to accommodate your individual play style. I loved how the developers instituted accelerometer controls, but allowed you to use on screen controls for other features like performing tricks and using turbo. It was done in such a way that it did not detract from the playability of the game, but also made it stand apart from other competitors who only utilize the accelerometer in order to play the game.

The soundtrack for Riptide is excellent and extremely fast paced. It reminds you of sitting on a Jet Ski at the arcade and playing for quarters with a bunch of your friends. It helps the game be much more competitive and motivates you to focus all of your attention on winning each race. I absolutely love it and I am glad to see a game which puts such an emphasis on creating such an immersive gaming environment.

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