Features

• Extreme-style, futuristic racing takes place on magnetic bikes that can accelerate to mach speeds
• Several modes of gameplay including arcade, championship, team, co-operative, and multiplayer
• Experience more than 12 bikes over nine different circuits
• Power-up with a huge assortment of explosive weapons and bike upgrades
• Graphical extras such as real-time lighting, a huge draw distance, and a quick 60 frames per second for added sense of speed
• One to four players
• Available for GameCube launch

Gameplay
Extreme G as a franchise draws on the success of super-fast, futuristic racers like F-Zero and Wipeout (which ultimately draws on F-Zero as well). The focus of the gameplay could be summed up as fast and furious. All the levels are designed to be out-of-this-world. They're so extreme that theoretically you couldn't even race of them if it weren't for the magnetic bikes. That, of course, is the appeal -- to do the impossible at high speeds. But it's not just racing along twists and turns. Each course is loaded with several opponent racers who will ram you off the tracks and unload highly explosive artillery into you. You, of course, can do the exact same thing, firing a standard energy burst from the front of your bike or using the special power-ups you pick up along the way.

One thing the series has always been exceptional at offering is all the different tracks. Even on the Nintendo 64 there was a whole slew of tracks. If you wanted to memorize the tracks to improve your playing skills you'd have a lot to do. There were always tons of twists, turns, banks, and other over-the-top track designs to contend with. What does the GameCube version have to offer of the previous versions then?

With the Nintendo 64, Extreme G was ahead of its time. The creators had a vision for tracks that span across huge pieces of land. Even in the N64 the tracks featured giant vertical drops and loops. But the fogging and draw distance took away from that experience. With the power of GameCube Acclaim should have no problem drawing out XG3 to as far as the eye can see. Even more importantly, the framerate is being honed to a constant 60 frames per second. For a game like this it's of the utmost importance that Acclaim sticks to this and offers a solid framerate. The whole problem with the N64 version was that the Time Trial mode was the only mode that offered the sense of speed the creators wanted you to see. Once you moved on to championship mode, all was lost. The framerate crashed and burned, basically defeating the game design.

So far Acclaim has only displayed a running version of the game on the PlayStation 2. We're not sure whether the game engine is built around the PS2 yet or whether or not the GameCube version will play differently, but it is the only playable version we can base our impressions on. Please keep that in mind. As of writing this preview, we've a Beta version of the PlayStation 2 version was all that was available. It runs at 60 frames per second nearly always, no matter how many bikes are on the screen. Believe it or not the control is great, even when you're pushing speeds well past the sound barrier.

Fans of the original series will be happy to know that the sonic boom has returned. Once you reach speeds fast enough to break the sound barrier, the music cuts out and you will are able to see the air deform around the bike. The humming quiet you hear almost lulls you into a false sense of security as you race forward at insane speeds.

Graphics
The first screenshots of Extreme G 3 for GameCube reveal what seems to be a more colorful version of the game from Acclaim. There looks to be extra lighting and special effects to give the game an even more polished look. The bike models also seem to be more detailed with some extra texture effects for reflections and specular lighting. Naturally everything is fogless, and will run at 60 frames per second if the PlayStation 2 version is anything to judge the game on. The addition four-player mode does present a challenge to the team if it intends on getting it to run at 60 with a four-player split-screen. We eagerly await seeing the GCN version in motion.

Outlook
Having not played the GameCube version yet, we must rely on the PlayStation 2 version. Based on what we've experienced, though, XG3 easily lives up to the creators' original vision. Its going to be the only racer available for GameCube launch that delivers stomach-turning track designs, intense futuristic racing, and hardcore four-player deathmatches. With any luck, Acclaim will demonstrate the game before GameCube launch.