Last year Acclaim provided gamers with the supersonic Extreme G3, a product that was well received on all consoles. Could XGRA, the successor and number four of the serie, do the same and in the process knock the beloved F Zero off the thrown?

Graphics:

Acclaim certainly put efforts in creating versatile environments. There are tracks in space to deep sea and even one on our red dusty neighbour planet. Overall the graphics are rich and well nurtured but there hasn't been too much improvement compared to Extreme G3 with the exception of the high speed special effects and weather elements.

The high-speed effects are a truly amazing experience, adding up to the already intense racing gameplay. When you're about to reach the 800 mph and exceeding the sound barrier, the whole background becomes blurry and the sound becomes very inward and for a brief moment you're one with the elements, in a true moment of ecstasy.

You can choose out of eight well-modulated players but the lack of cut scenes prevents you to get to know them better. This is probably for the better because the characters are as cliché as they can get. Besides that, the gameplay itself is far more important.

Sound:

Soundtrack consists of spacey dance tunes, jungle music, poppy rock and aggressive metal. Certainly a wide variety of music but they all got a futuristic feel to it, some of the tunes will even stick in your head after a while. Not because they're annoying but simply because they're good and accentuate the fast and hectic gameplay. You can choose the type of music you want to hear during races, categorised in Rock, Dance and a mixture of both.

Every track gets a proper introduction by 2 announcers of SINN (Sports Interactive News Network). Their commentary is a blessing in comparison with the corny one-liners you'll hear from the riders during the races.

Gameplay:

Like its predecessors you'll have to win races with a futuristic motorcycle by simply outrun or outgun your opponents. A twist can be found in the career mode. Besides winning races for the championship you can take on contracts that can be eliminating a specific opponent, destroying competitive sponsor signs or smashing the current lap record. If succeeded then you receive upgrades for your vehicle.

Destroying vehicles/opponents is something that leaves to be desired because its hard to achieve with the standard arsenal, and you'll most likely end up collecting ammo capsules for one of the better weaponry such as the lovely instant deathstrike missile.

The difficulty level of XGRA is not too hard and only gradually becomes tougher when you're advance to the next class. That means the gameplay is accessible for any type of gamer and allows you to win races at your first few tries.Extra difficulties in the game are the weather effects. If there is a storm your vision becomes reduced and the rain causes the tracks to become slippery wet.

Controls:

Accelerate and hitting the brake are executed with the shoulder buttons, which seems a little odd, but feels natural in no time. Choosing weaponry is easy too and more convenient then in Extreme G3, although it's always distracts from the high velocity gameplay.

Lastability:

The game will not impress you immediately. It starts kind of mediocre but as soon as you get some speed in your bikes, enough to break the sound barrier, the fun begins and you might end up quite some time with it. Finishing the career mode, the main feature in the game, will take about 3-4 hours. A little on the short side yes, but there are four multiplayer modes and of course the traditional time trials which can offer more replay value.

Final Say:

XGRA will probably be overlooked with the highly praised F-Zero GX getting all the attention. They already postponed the release date to prevent this from happening. But the game deserves some spotlight; the top speed gameplay and accompanying effects that come with it are really impressive. The only real downside is that there isn't enough depth in the gameplay and it's safe to say that this title is more interesting for fans of Extreme G3 or the genre. Could be a good rental.