XGIII

Here's the official line to explain the story: "Extreme G3 is a gravity-defying racing game. After climbing onto one of 12 supercharged, fully armed bikes and engaging your protective shield, you're off on an extreme racing challenge. Race underwater, beneath the Earth's surface, through cratered canyons, and out into space as you play through Extreme G3's nine race circuits". This about sums up the entire game

 

People were wowed by the extravagant graphical nature of the original N64 outing. Well, if you loved it back then, be prepared to grab onto something solid, or else you'll most likely be blown away by the eye-candy that's delivered on the next-generation of consoles. Almost in an arrogant manner, the game pans around the race-track before the shenanigans begin. Loops, twists, daring turns...all are captured in a beautifully rendered sense, and to top it all off, these are actually the quality of the in-game graphics rather than being a fancy cut-scene. But of course if you have time to verify this whilst racing then I can only assume you're in last position by now! The bane of many gamers' lives, 'pop-up', thankfully isn't anywhere to be found. On some tracks, when you reach the peak of a climb you can (for a split second only, obviously!) see for what seems like miles into the distance perfectly clearly.

As for the bikes, whilst technically sound, you will hardly notice them whilst trying your best to stay in the lead for just one more race. The particle effects surrounding some of the explosive ammunition you can reel off are astounding, and the trails of smoke left by both the bikes and missiles are truly delightful touches. And, if that wasn't enough, in a superb trick to make races appear faster, if the turbo button is held down for a significant period of time, the screen begins to warp and you can literally feel yourself tense up, praying that you...don't...crash...this...time! *Phew!* This is a wonderful achievement by the XG team, and one can only wonder what tricks they have up their sleeves for the upcoming XG-RA.

 

Dolby Surround Sound is supported in this game, which is definitely recommended for the full experience. This is especially effective whilst boosting, as (like in Burnout) in those fews seconds as the screen begins to warp, the music and background noises start to fade out and the engine sound increases its pitch slightly

 

Three games modes: XG Career (solo), XG Team Career (two-player co-operative) and Arcade Mode (solo or 1-4 multiplayer), a very steep learning curve, and four different speed levels (250G, 500G, 750G and 1000G) should result in a long game. In this case, though, it doesn't. With only ten tracks (nine plus one hidden) and the weak weapons reducing the fun factor in multiplayer races, you will certainly tire of this game far too quickly. More is expected of XG-RA...