Riptide GP

If scientists are right, global warming is here and rising sea levels are about to turn low-lying cities into new versions of Venice. Riptide offers a peek into what the future of motor racing might be. Instead of cars and Tarmac circuits, souped-up jet-skis zoom along watery tracks. As if that wasn’t enough showing off, you can perform tricks when ramps catapult you into the air. Do so in the wrong place and you’ll smack into a bridge and watch your lifeless on-screen avatar plunge into the water. A quick tap gets you going again and this helps the game’s immediacy. But with only six courses, little challenge beyond each level’s clearly pegged speeds and no obvious progression, you’ll hurtle through the game like, well, a show-off on a powerful jet-ski. It all feels like a beautiful graphical demo where someone forgot to put a game in.