Zordix announced today that Aqua Moto Racing Utopia has officially entered into Early Access on Steam. The new game is a new-school throwback to the old-school 3D racing games from back during the PSX and N64 era, offering gamers stunts, bumps, shunts and plenty of beautiful locations to visit on their quest to becoming the best aqua moto racer around.

The game features two different types of racing machines, as well as a huge variety of stunts to perform and some sparkling 3D graphics on top. Aqua Moto Racing Utopia runs at a smooth 60fps, sports 1080p graphics, allows for Big Picture Mode, has both local multiplayer for split-screen play (for up to four players) as well as online multiplayer, and even has party modes and free-riding stunt modes for those who want to hone their aquatic dare devil skills, and there’s even the option to unlock new rides and liveries.

A trailer was released showcasing one of the nine different environments that players will be visiting, and you can check it out below.

That map reminds me so much of the swamp maps from Jet Moto 1 and 2. While I had a very love/hate relationship with the Jet Moto series, it was undeniable that the game had some of the most unique and creative maps in a racing game out during that time. It’s nice to see that some of the influences from both Jet Moto and Wave Race 64 have found their way into Aqua Moto Racing Utopia.

Now I did put in a little bit of play time before the game went into Early Access since I was given a press key to mess around with the pre-release build, but it didn’t have proper Steam Controller support so it was impossible for me to get a good feel of the game. But now that it’s officially in Early Access I’m going to see if I can carve out some time and try it again to give some updated impressions about the racing, the response timing, the physics and the mechanics.

Aqua Moto Racing Utopia also features customizable avatars and jet skis, but I didn’t have time to mess around with those (and also the resolution was a bit wonky since it wouldn’t display on the right monitor in the pre-release build but hopefully that’s all fixed).

The water-based racing title is available in Early Access for $19.99. They plan on keeping it in the developmental phase of Steam for around two to three months, at which point it will release for $29.99.

The Wii U and PlayStation 4 versions are also due at the end of summer, presumably as the Early Access run comes to an end. You can visit the Steam store or the official website for more information.