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| GENRE |
| Racing |
| DEVELOPER |
| Probe |
| PUBLISHER |
| Acclaim |
| NUMBER OF PLAYERS |
| 1-4 |
| CONTROLLER PAK |
| yes |
| RUMBLE PAK |
| yes |
| RAM PAK |
| no |
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Extreme G
Extreme G is one of the fastest N64 games to date, not to mention one of the best. There are a lot of tracks and so many options, you will be busy with this game for a long time. Acclaim did a nice job with the F-zero like racer and will keep me very busy until F-zero actually does come out.
visuals
Awesome graphics! If you liked Turok's graphics, you will also like Extreme G's graphics. There is not as much fog like in turok but it is still there. Not very annoying to me and kind of adds to the atmosphere except in some places, like the desert or in space. When is the last time you went to either of those places and have seen fog? The fog also prevents pop up but still annoying sometime. Oh well, it could have been worse like in Turok. Frame rate is very high most of the time but there is some slowdown in battle and other multiplayer modes. All of the bikes have their own unique and different features and looks to them. The bike selection screen allows you view the bikes at all angles and boy are they sweet looking. The atmosphere in Extreme G is realistic in most cases. Bikes become illuminated in light areas and dark in areas such as caves or under bridges. All in all, the graphics are ok but Acclaim should have done some slight tweaking with them.
audio
Extreme G has some nice sounds and tunes in it. The engine sounds sound very realistic, you can hear the engine revving up and down as you pick up and lose speed. The music is great, keeping up with the pace of the game, giving it that fast feeling of a racer. Although it's not something I'd listen to on a daily basis on a stereo system , Extreme G has some nice music, no doubt.
gameplay
This game is very very very fast!! Hardly any skill is required on this game, you can hold down the acceleration the whole time without steering and still complete a race without problems (unless there is a jump or something like that). Game should have required more skill, no doubt about that but even though there isnt that much skill needed, you still need to have some skills with this game. Using the "R" shoulder button is essential for those curves and turns and building up speed right before a jump is also well needed. There is only one course basically where you can fall off the track at virtually any time. This one would be the fire course which is one of my least favorites because you fall in too much, some major skills needed here. You dont have to make very much use of the brake button in this game as you would have to in the realistic racer Top Gear Rally which kind of sucks and takes away realism but hey, who said this game was realistic. The game is one of the best I have ever played in terms of fun factor. The loops, corkscrews, jumps, long hills, speed, everything makes this game fun filled and action packed. Most racing games say you are going 100mph (ex. TGR) when it does not really feel like 100mph, which that is not the case with this game. The speedometer says 200 + miles and that is what it feels like. The tracks are kind of long but dont take long to complete which is normal considering you are going 200 and even sometimes 400 or 500 miles per hour. Speaking of tracks, there are a plenty of these, one of my favorites being the 2nd desert track (I just love those 2 tunnels where you can flip around them). Another thing that gripes me is that the courses do not have individual names, what is with that, please Acclaim, dont tell me you forgot about course names. AI is very well done, make no mistake about that. The computer is a huge challenge. They wont just sit there driving around the track watching you win or whatever, they will blow you away if they get the chance and fight to the end of the race for that first place spot (which they sometimes get). Options are not rare with this game, you have choices of racing in a contest (1-2 player) which will earn you new bikes and tracks if you get enough points. If you beat 1 skill level you will have to move up to another, with each victory comes a reward. There is also single player action for people who dont always have someone to play Nintendo 64 with, choose from time trials, practice, or a fun little game called shoot em up, where you must shoot as many things as possible before you complete 3 laps.
multiplayer
Multi-player mode also has quite a few of options to choose from such as head to head (2-4 players) where you and friends can race against each other. Cup Challenge is 2-16 players where only the first 2 control ports are available for use. You and up to 15 other people can compete in a tournament to see who is the best of them all. Battle Arena, another option on multiplayer, is battle arena fun, you may ask.... the answer is simply no. Battle arena just plain sucks and comes nowhere near comparison to GoldenEye's battle mode. The arenas are very tiny and weirdly shaped and the vehicles move much to fast to even aim at the opponent, yuck yuck yuck. If you are looking for a game with awesome battle mode, skip this game, battle just simply sucks. There are a lot of weapons in this game, some good, some bad. Weapons vary from missiles to shockwaves that will send players flying off road. There are also weapons for those first place people trying to keep others off of their tails, backward shooting missiles. Overall, there are a nice selection of weapons to choose from with the "$#%^ you factor" that Acclaim was talking about.
overall
Extreme G is brilliantly designed racer. I would prefer this game to anyone who likes F-zero or just wants something to keep them busy while waiting for F-zero. Sure the battle mode sucks but just the racing part is fun enough for me. If you are trying to decide whether or not to get this game, rent it because not everybody will like it. We'll see how F-zero does in the future, until then, I have Extreme G.
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