Surf Rider

Surfs up dudes! Is all I need to say about this game… but as I think you’ll want to know a little bit more, here goes!

Surf Rider is a great little game where you can become king of the waves – showing off as you go. Packed with Nitro boosts, bonus points (in the form of stars), 360 degree spins, obstacles, really big waves and a flying superman (?!) – this game has it all!

The aim of the game is to score as many points as you can but in as much style as possible. You score points for the number of spins you do in mid-air – which is just as well, because if you fail to land correctly, you’ll end up wiped out! You’re gifted with three lives (which is just as well) to try and successfully reach the end of the course.

If you didn’t have enough fun pulling off your aerial acrobatics, you must also try to use this skill and your speed to reach the various power-ups and score boosts (which come as stars and supermen). To aid you in your mission, you must try and pick up as many Nitro boosts along the way. Yes, nitro’s technically shouldn’t really make a difference in the real world – other than making you have a giggle (nitrous oxide is also known as laughing gas), but who should let science get in the way of fun? Not I!

The controls are well balanced and pretty responsive – allowing you to get on and do what you’re wanting to do, cutting the water like a hot knife through butter! The only thing to remember is that you should point the front of the board forwards or preferably downwards to pick up as much speed as possible. Controls are simply 4 and 6 (d-pad left and right) to cycle clockwise or anticlockwise.

If you wish to show off just who’s king of the surf then you have the option of uploading your score globally to compare your rankings. Not to worry though if you don’t want to post them online, your hi-score is kept on your phone so you can compare your best totals – which can become quite a good competition to push yourself to the limit.

Unfortunately this game doesn’t come complete with ‘hot seat’ or any mini-game challenges, which is a bit of a pity as I would have loved the little challenges which could have been available. Of course you can take it in turns with your friends to see who scores the most, so the hot seat isn’t really necessary, but I think these two options which come on quite a few other games (arguably no surfing ones to the best of my knowledge) it would have been a great addition and would have offered just that little bit more – taking this game from good to great. That being said, it’s still very enjoyable and will certainly keep you quiet on any long or short journeys. And who knows, perhaps after this, you’ll want to get out and do the real thing? I think I’ll keep my feet on firm ground though for now!

Rating 84%

Positives

Great start up and play

Simple and effective controls

Quite good graphics

Pretty good sound

Negatives

No mini-games

No hot seat mode

Pretty repetitive

Quite easy to ‘wipe-out’