Jet Ski Rush

Genre: Auto-Runner

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Extreme Speed Bundle Go! Fish Go! Adrenaline Rush, Jet Ski Rush along with Adrenaline Rush – Miami Drive and Go! Fish Go!. It is also included in 15 in 1 Family Games Mega Collection along with all of the aforementioned games plus 2048 Battles, Airborne Grannies, Bubble Cats Rescue, Classic Games Collection Vol. 1, Classic Games Collection Vol. 2, Flowlines VS, Go Kart Mania, Klondike Solitaire, Ludomania, Pet Shop Snacks, Pocket Foosball, and Quick Golf.)

Jet Ski Rush, released in 2020 on Nintendo Switch, is a family-friendly behind-the-character Auto-Runner in the same vein as games like the Temple Run series. For those unfamiliar with this sort of game, players are constantly moving forward on a path dodging obstacles left and right and collecting coins and other pickups, with the goal being less about trying to get to the end so much as simply surviving as long as possible.

I should note that this game is clearly a reworked version of the previous year’s release, Go! Fish Go!, even going so far as to reuse some of that game’s assets. As such, I will be reusing my review of that game, changing out the pertinent details.

Visually, this game looks okay, with a cartoony art style that works but is somehow less impressive than Go! Fish Go!. At the very least, there’s a good framerate and resolution, but those who can tear their eyes away from the fast-paced action will note the fog in the distance shrouding things, as well as a strange visual effect that distorts the oncoming path in one direction or another as it shifts directions. Also, I will note that this game is far more visually-monotonous than Go! Fish Go!, changing scenery at a far slower pace.

The sound also works well enough here, with some energetic music, and sound effects that… once again, have in many cases been recycled from Go! Fish Go!

In terms of gameplay, players duck left or right into one of three oncoming “lanes”, players can also jump, dive down, or make use of power-ups that are either earned in-game or purchased in-between rounds using the coins you’ve nabbed (don’t worry, no microtransactions here). I will note that the level design seems to throw a lot more obstacles your way early on in comparison to Go! Fish Go!, which might frustrate some players.

The game has both standard controls as well as touchscreen controls, and they both work well enough, but I tend to think that the traditional controls are far easier to work with than using the touchscreen. However, to each their own, I suppose.

There is one other complaint I have here – the watercraft you’re controlling lags behind your commands a bit, meaning that even after you tell him to get out of a lane, he still may end up slamming into an obstacle in that lane in the time it takes him to move over. This seems to be even a bigger problem than it was in Go! Fish Go!, possibly due to the harder level design.

Okay, by this point have you seen me compare Jet Ski Rush to Go! Fish Go! enough? By now it has probably sunk in – this game came out a year later than Go! Fish Go!, but is more monotonous, less visually-interesting, with more frustrating level design and worse controls, and all of that on top of being an extremely unoriginal game. Oh, and on top of that, Jet Ski is a trademarked brand owned by Kawasaki, who I’m pretty sure has nothing to do with this game. So when all’s said and done, if you want an Auto-Runner like this, just get Go! Fish Go!.

tl;dr – Jet Ski Rush Is a family-friendly Auto-Runner in the style of Temple Run, and everything this game does well it copied off of Go! Fish Go!, and in many ways it is a worse game than its predecessor. Worse controls, worse visuals, less variety, steeper difficulty curve. If you want an Auto-Runner just like this but better, just stick with Go! Fish Go!

Grade: C-

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