Produced by the 1990s most famed arcade developers, a trio of extravagant watercraft racers all peculiarly arrived in the year 1996. Having enjoyed some games of Konami's Wave Shark and Sega's WaveRunner, I couldn't recall encountering Namco's AquaJet and was pleasantly surprised Hamster Corporation added this slice of arcade decadence to their long-running series of weekly ports. Even if none of the aforementioned games match the overall quality, never mind the astonishing wave physics of Wave Race 64, also releasing in 1996, there was still a fleeting thrill in sacrificing a dollar to play these elaborately controlled, often graphically super-powered simulations.
Even for an arcade game, AquaJet's content is surprisingly shallow. Confined to a first person view, your choice of riders is limited between a single human, or single penguin. The speedier expert course is merely an expansion of the novice track. Developed when video game water physics were just as much uncharted territory as the actual 15th-century ocean itself, segments where you launch off stiff, unimpressive waves are confined to small sections of the course. Rather than becoming one with the water, the depth of AquaJet lies within mastering its drifting mechanic, feeling quite similar to Namco's Ridge Racer series.
The one and a half courses you do race on are well constructed, varied and still offer immense visual appeal. You'll start at a pleasant crowd-packed beach with pristine waters and ramps, racing under overarching cliffs as a pursuing helicopter tracks the action. Eventually, you'll find yourself in more threatening wilderness, where murky, fog covered waters are decorated by waterfalls, canopies of vegetation and rickety bridges only the natives would dare cross.
Possessing overwhelming graphics in 1996, the game remains attractive nearly 30 years later. Rivaling Sega's Model 2 hardware, Namco's System Super 22 produces cheerfully bright colors, distantly rendered geometry, a steady 60FPS and an overall solid picture. Little touches such as waving flags, a variety of sea-life floats, frolicking dolphins and flocks of seagulls will charm your into make believing you're really at the ocean. Witnessing a whale suddenly breach the water's surface was the final nudge convincing me to purchase it. The soundtrack is a mix of competent but forgettable surf rock and drum & bass.
Offering only moderate amusement, $15-17 is asking a lot from most gamers. AquaJet's appeal is likely limited to millennials who spent a large portion of their adolescence hanging out in arcades, gawking at these sorts of extravagant simulations which cost thousands of dollars and were impossible to recreate at home. Towering in the center of the arcade, amongst the rows of more modest cabinets lining the walls, their hefty charge of $1 or more further fueled their appeal. Spending less than $20 to just buy the game outright, even without the replica jet ski, feels like a first place victory in itself. More importantly, if enough of us turn into 90s extreme water sports enthusiasts, just maybe Nintendo will really blow us out of the water with another Wave Race.
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