Wave Race

The game contains two gameplay modes. In "Slalom", the goal is to take posts by racing through pairs of posts across the track. Each post a racer passes through increases their score by one point. The racer with the most points once all posts have been taken wins.

In "Race", players must proceed through certain checkpoints and complete each lap in a set time limit. Two on track powerups are available. The dolphin powerup gives the player increased turning ability, while the octopus powerup allows the recipient to steal from opponents.

Wave Race was developed by Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. Games Asylum described it as a top-down racer similar to the boat races in Micro Machines (video game series, in which the jet skis' physics gave the feeling of racing on water rather than tarmac.

The game was released in North America in July 1992 and in Europe on 24 June 1997, almost five years later. Wave Race 64 had been announced in 1995 and was released in Japan and the United States in 1996, and in Europe in April 1997. There are several possible reasons suggested for the delay: Nintendo Europe may have doubted the game's quality in 1992, or the 1997 launch of the Game Boy Pocket gave Nintendo a chance to repackage older titles. It is also possible that Nintendo wished to build franchise awareness in order to push sales of Wave Race 64.

Wave Race on the Game Boy garnered average reception from critics. Nintendo Power's George Sinfield and Rob Noel wrote that the game successfully emulated the feel of watercraft racing. They praised the effect of skidding around corners, and recommended the four-player multiplayer experience. A writer for German magazine Mega Fun commended the game's audiovisual presentation, playability and multiplayer mode.

Joystick's Olivier Karali gave the game favorable remarks for its "exemplary" playability, particularly the controls. N-Force's Nick Roberts and Carl Rowley considered it a mediocre and frustrating racing game. While they found the visuals to be well detailed and the soundtrack average, they felt its gameplay lacked depth.

Wave Race sold well enough that it was eventually added to Nintendo's Player's Choice marketing label (a marketing label that promoted a lineup of the best selling Nintendo games). It was later followed by two sequels: Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm. Unlike the first game, Wave Race 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm were also released in Japan.