Pro Surfing (Wildcard)

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Pro Surfing (Wildcard) is a surfing game by Traction Games. $1.99

Being a surfer myself I have been looking for a long time for a game that satisfies my surfing urges when I can't be in the water. While Pro Surfing isn't the most realistic surfing game I have played it takes you inside the wave, giving the best surfing experience possible. The other games I have played have you looking at the wave and the surfer, this game puts you directly behind the surfer, experiencing all the rush of being in the barrel of a wave. This game as I said doesn't give a realistic experience of surfing, mainly because unless you are a surfer it would be boring and you wouldn't understand it. This game lets you get massive air and do some sweet tricks, something missing from the other surfing games.

Pro Surfing has some great graphics which have brought a more realistic feel to the game than others such as Bobble Surfer. The wave looks as good as it can for a game like this, with it continuously moving. The surfer's look quite realistic and very impressive seeing no other surfing games have come even close to this. The animations are super smooth f0r this game and I encountered no lag during gameplay. The only thing I can think of possibly improving in the graphics department are more customizable characters with different boards, outfits etc. and clearer loading screens. The load screens have tips on them, but it seems quite blurry and would look more professional if they improved them a little bit. Apart from that I'm happy with the graphics of this game.

The controls of Pro Surfing have been simplified to make it easy for the average gamer to pick up and play. To start surfing you have to tilt your device as shown on the screen, this then allows you to start surfing. From there you have to tilt you device left and right to move. Riding up and down the wave allows you to gain speed to get out of the barrel and to do bigger tricks. To do tricks all you have to do is tilt your way off the wave and then press any one of the 4 buttons on the left of the screen. Tilting while in the air also gives you more points. The button on the right side of the screen lets you slow down, getting into the barrel to gain points and hopefully get a barrel blowout for some extreme speed. The controls are easy and work well for a game like this, making for a fun time that is easy to learn, but takes a long time to master.

The aim of surfing is to surf for so long and try and get a high score, hopefully getting a 10/10. In Pro Surfing you have to do this twice, to try and beat your opponent to progress to the next round of the competition. There are four competitions that you have to compete in to be the best surfer in the world, and these are on four very different waves. These must be won in competition before you can surf them in the free surf mode. In my first run through the competition I won 3 out of the 4 locations, meaning I have to do the whole thing again to unlock the wave I missed. I find this quite annoying and would like an option to do certain contests after the competition is completed once. The other thing which could be improved is an in-app leaderboard so you don't have to go to safari to submit your scores each time. Apart from that the surfing mechanism in this game is very good, making the game have some sort of feel like the real thing. The game physics don't let you do anything really extreme, except for the huge airs but that's the fun factor of surfing games. I gave this to my non-surfing friend to play and they were addicted to how fun this is, before asking me why I can't do any of this in real life.

Pro Surfing (Wildcard) is the best surfing game by far I have played on the iDevice, and nearly any other device except Kelly Slater Pro Surfer. The experience is fun for all players, experienced surfers or not. Definitely one of the better games I have played that aren't well known on the App Store, even though it should be. There is now a lite version to test the waters as such with, but it should be enough to convince you to buy this game for a respectable price of $1.99.

Gameplay- 9/10
Graphics- 8/10
Sound- 5.5/10
Overall- 7/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- Bobble Surfer

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