You kind of know what to expect when you slap a watercraft/jet ski game in your console, but where Carve blows expectations away is with its quality at the price (£14.99 or $20 from Amazon as I speak), and the sheer exhilaration of beating mates on Xbox Live.

This genre hasn't exactly been done to death, but notable efforts Waverace (N64), Waverace Blue Storm (Gamecube) and Splashdown (multiple formats) all did wetbike racing pretty well. Carve has an even arcadier (I think I just made that word up) take on the sport than them; you race around circuits with buoys marking the route (you must go right of red ones and left of yellow), you can miss 4 per race without being disqualified).

It ain't all just about racing though, and successfully pulling off tricks gives you an immediate "Rush" speed boost, multiple tricks fill up your "Double Rush" meter, and that gives you a prolonged, visual effect-laden boost that you can use any time you want by pressing the left trigger. Sensibly the Double Rush also seems to add some much needed traction to your craft, so unlike some games you can actually steer through corners during the boost and don't just zoom into the first obstruction you come across. The throttle is controlled with the R trigger, and you steer, balance and perform tricks with movement of the left stick. You can combine stick movement with presses of the A, B, X and Y buttons to give you more complicated and higher earning tricks and trick combos. And in its moments of realism, Carve makes you avoid your opponents' wakes by having a clever turbulence effect, and there's a good feeling of aquaplaning and speed. There are three playable views (though no first person), and you can also check who's behind you (or left or right) with the right stick a la PGR2.

   

There are 4 teams in Carve; Venta, the trick masters Oz and Moke. Tsunami, a pair of lovely Japanese girls Amok & Mizuki who just happen to have the most annoying voices in the world (and are the fastest team). Terra, (Elena and Nikolai) who are good at blocking and hard to knock off. And Inferno (Adrienne and Max), hard as nails, they possess the best "Rush" speed. Your team mate is supposed to assist you by keeping you abreast of your race status via the intercom and video display(EH? -On a Jet Ski?) and will hopefully ram opponents at key moments to help you… (I turned the annoying voices off after a couple of races and my teammate only ever got in my way, so go figure…). The rest of the in-game sounds are bearable (although the engine noise is a bit naff), and the music is ok, but the game would have suited having your own soundtracks to listen to perfectly, so the omission of that particular feature is a strange one indeed.

Like most arcade racers you will find your favourite combination of speed and handling, and they are genuinely different. Carve has a team play mode in which you combine points in the championships and also share buoy misses, something that really strains the team relations at times. You must win championships and achieve trick point totals to unlock further championships, courses and signature tricks. The arcade mode focuses on tricks more than finishing position, and is the best place to perfect your racing lines and trick placement.

   

Carve has some excellent courses (Europe, Pacific, Arctic and the USA all have 6 variations, and there are three 'specials'), the design of some of which are the best of the kind that we've seen - it's clear the developers wanted you to have fun on the way round rather than taxing you to the point of frustration like some. But like most other aquatic racers, the game is a bit shallow (sorry) in the longevity department, and tries to mask this by substantially ramping up the difficulty as soon as you get to the 'Pro' level.

Probably most importantly of all in a game of this type, Carve's water is excellent. You'll see a variety of conditions, from dead flat canals and docks to rolling oceans and choppy, angry seas, all in various weather conditions and times of day. But this is the sort of thing that the Xbox does without breaking sweat, and the other scenery is diverse and solid but wholly unremarkable (so I won't). You'll glimpse peripheral animations like cyclists, spectators, planes, trains and helicopters as you skim by. The riders are well animated but not particularly detailed, and nor are the craft, but it doesn't seem to matter...

   

...Because as much as you can poke holes in this game, the challenging career mode and the highly playable multiplayer (including excellent Xbox Live support) mean that at its low price Carve is an excellent racing alternative for those who've driven PGR2 into the ground, or perhaps just need a change of surface. If you have Xbox Live then pound for pound this is one of the most accomplished, funnest and wettest games you'll buy this year.