On the Nintendo 64, Extreme-G Racing was the first racer that truly emphasized speed, hitting the console a full year before F-Zero and Wipeout 64. When the sequel was released, it brought back the sense of velocity and the weapons system of the original, but its competitors managed to outshine XG2 with tighter controls and a smoother framerate. Nintendo console racer history, seemingly, has repeated itself, and XG3 is the sole contender in the fast, futuristic racing field, especially with no future iterations of Wipeout or F-Zero on the GameCube horizon. Fortunately, XG3 isn't merely the best choice by default.

At its core, each race in XG3 consists of two laps around an elevated track against eleven other riders. Initially, the thrust and weapons systems will be offline, but the riders gain access to these capabilities early in the first lap. The thrust systems (which boost the bike's speed past normal capacity) are tied to the shields, so that a speed boost will deplete shields, and a badly damaged bike won't be able to boost at all - similar to F-Zero X. On the other hand, the weapons bank is independent from the shield meter. Both shields and weapons can be recharged by driving through fluorescent "pit lanes" located around the tracks - purple lanes for shields and green for weapons.

While well-conceived, varied, and even amusing, XG3's weapons system doesn't add a whole lot to the depth of play. There are ten different weapons to choose from (apart from the standard mini-cannon), ranging from various explosives to more exotic choices that can disable opponent's weapons, cause them to lose control, or drain their shield energy. Three optional weapons can be selected up front, and the rider is free to toggle between them during the race. All three draw from the same weapons power bank, with heavier weapons draining more power. Generally, however, attacking opponents does little to slow them down - aside from depleting their ability to boost - and yet does little to damage them. Often, unloading an entire payload of ammo won't be enough to destroy an opponent, and even if it is - there's still ten more to go. That's not to say there's anything "wrong" with the system - it's just that a player would be better off concentrating on effectively racing and boosting.

With a control system as intuitive as this, however, it's not that hard to be an effective racer. Steering, naturally, is handled by the left analog stick, and the A button is used to accelerate. The B button switches to a rear view, the X button fires the active weapon, and the Y button engages the boosters - and all are easily accessible while holding down A. The Z trigger and the D pad are both used to cycle through weapons. The C stick is used only to toggle between first- and third-person perspectives. My only qualm with the control scheme lies with the use of the L and R triggers as air brakes for either side of the bike. It seems that the brakes are missing analog sensitivity, most likely because XG3 was ported straight from the PS2 version. While the digital brakes are adequate, analog brakes would have made for increased precision in sharp turns.

The racers of XG3 are a varied bunch, if only in personality and backstory. The twelve human (or humanoid) racers are paired off into six teams, with five of the teams immediately selectable. Each team has a "selling point" or a theme - Vixen, for example, touts that it's staffed completely by women. While curious and interesting, however, the riders don't really distinguish themselves in competition. I didn't really notice any significant difference between riders in terms of speed, handling or shield strength, despite the manual's statements to the contrary. Nor did I notice any variation in rider behavior, though, overall, the opponent AI is fair and well-balanced. Even if the riders do have varied attributes, the game interface doesn't let the player know what those attributes are.

XG3 offers the standard array of racing game options, and then some. Arcade mode allows one to four players to race on any track previously unlocked with the weapons of their choice. The tracks (and extra riders) must be raced in Career Mode to be unlocked, however. In Career Mode, the player chooses a rider and races in three circuits of three tracks each, through four difficulties before qualifying for the penultimate race through the deserts of Pion 6. After each race come cash earnings, which are used both to qualify for later races and to outfit the bike with new weapons as well as engine and shield upgrades. Often, success in the next race depends on a wise purchase, or, perhaps, on saving up for a bigger-ticket item later. XG3 also features a Team Career Mode where two players can choose a team and play through Career Mode together. Since prize money is earned individually, but savings are pooled, players in this mode will have to learn both to share and to pull their weight.

Visually, XG3 is quite a feast, as far as futuristic racers go. Earlier games in the series had lush backgrounds but suffered from a drop in framerate, while F-Zero X, kept up a fast, steady framerate, but only offered sparse, flat environments. With the boost in power, though, XG3 manages to offer both. The framerate is both high and consistent, and while I can't judge for certain that the game runs at a rock-solid 60 FPS, it's certainly smooth enough to be a non-issue. The backdrops for the various courses are visually busy (though not very dynamic) but aesthetically original and often beautiful - the windmill-spiked canyons of Verdegrand and the rain-swept, cavernous city of Atradaitoshi look as if they could have been pulled straight from the footage of the upcoming Star Wars flick. My only (small) qualm with the visuals is the camera placement - I would have preferred an option to pull the camera up slightly to give a bit more advance notice of upcoming turns. To be fair, most high-speed racers grapple with the same issue.

The music and sound effects of XG3 are adequate, at best. The game's soundtrack generally consists of club beats, but the music selection just isn't as interesting and catchy as what would be found in the Wipeout series. One track consists almost entirely of a man yelling "Hey DJ! Gimme a phat beat!" over and over and over again. Generally, the music isn't bothersome, and sometime it's even pleasant, but I can't help but wonder how much more fitting a few orchestral pieces - or even some less generic-sounding club beats - could have been. The sound effects are appropriate but unspectacular, although the warning messages are helpful, especially when a player isn't accustomed to the cryptic meter graphics on the sides of the screen.

Appropriate but unspectacular - those words basically sum up the overall experience of XG3. It's fast, for certain, but it's not any faster than other games in its genre. On the other hand, it's certainly the fastest racer on the Cube, and it looks as if it will be for some time. Speed demons with no other console options would be wise to race to the store, while casual racing fans should at least take a test drive. XG3 fills a niche for the GameCube, and it will give you a fun ride, but the lack of depth and dearth of tracks might cause players to lose interest - fast.

· · · Burgundy