ESPN Extreme Games

Not only is this game the most fun I've had with my television set since my first few moments with TohShinDen but it's also the best naturally propelled racing game I have ever played. It is on par with Ridge Racer and Battle Arena TohShinDen as the premier games for the PlayStation launch. If for some reason you have hesitated buying this game for your PSX, I want you to put down your controller, turn the system off, put the Battle Arena TohShinDen disc back in it's case and run to your nearest game store to pick this up. Actually, I think you should hop into your street luge, it might be faster.

What's that? You say you don't have a street luge? Well, let me tell you something, you won't need to buy one if you pick up this game. It's more real than real. Not only will you be getting a street luge (actually four of them because you can buy better equipment with your race earnings) but a mountain bike, a pair of in-line skates and a radical skateboard. Sounds like a bargain for the mere price of one game, doesn't it?

There is so much enjoyment and addictive excitement packed into the Extreme Games disc that it becomes a conscientious decision to stop playing and have a real life. I guarantee you will not want to quit but remember kids, you owe it to your loved ones to try and take a break from your PSX. Or, conversely, get them addicted to Extreme Games too! Then you'll be able to play together, taking cheap swipes at each other as you careen through the curvy, twisty, hilly streets of San Francisco, or the ice capped mountain roads of Lake Tahoe, or the dusty dirt roads that run through the jungles of South America. And, if that's not enough, Sony's even thrown in a trip to Italy and a dangerous stretch of road to race in Utah. And, all of this to a soundtrack of crisp, crunchy and funky riffs that sounds like Steve Vai is close on your heels with guitar in hand. As you careen through tunnels and canyon crevices the music kicks into a bitchin' digitally processed music hall reverb.

It takes its license from one of the most brazenly smart-assed, youth oriented networks on television, ESPN2, so you can bet your beauteous butt that there's a cavalcade of youth oriented, brazenly smart-assed flourishes throughout the game. Expect to run into and over chickens and rabbits that cross your path and statues that tip over and roll along with you if scrape them as you try to pass. Also be on the lookout for well placed but ill timed street cars and trains passing in front of you, exploding dynamite cartons in stalactite consumed caverns and most importantly hordes of insane jocks trying to pave the road with you.

Extreme Games is as much of a fighting game as it is a racer. You can not hope to succeed in this arena if you don't throw the odd punch and the perfectly timed kick now and then. Except for when you're in the somewhat vulnerable looking street luge, all of your moves are equal to your opponents. As far as I've seen (there is quite a bit of hidden material in the game), no one pulls out a chain or a bat and surprises you with a thwack to the head. No, it's all good clean punching, kicking and tripping that pulls you ahead of your competitors. Don't expect them to take it easy on you though, because they want to win at all costs. Wear your helmet.

You use every button on the PlayStation pad. The top four buttons, R1&2 and L1&2, all correspond to different limbs. You'll be kicking and punching with those. The other buttons give you acceleration, the ability to jump, crouch and slow down. And, you have to steer. You'll be kept plenty busy trying to get all the hand eye coordination down, let alone trying to actually win a race.

One thing you will notice about the environments and your characters interaction within them, is how rooted in sound physical principles they are. Skateboard riders sway left and right and shift to maintain balance. In-line skaters body movements are relative to the incline and decline of the roads before them. The mountain bike riders' and street lugers' animations aren't as polished as the other two but they always maintain a sense of three dimensions. There are moments of silly impossibilities as the racers bolt through the race but the game succeeds in bringing a clearly defined and beautifully polished sense of reality which absolutely heightens the pleasure. Except for when you have to jump over the San Francisco cable car in the street luge!

Along the race tracks your objective is to scoot through as many gates as possible. There are three different coloured gates to pass through, or in most cases, smack into. The Green gates are for dough. Passing through Yellow gates translates to season points and Blue gates open secret passages or create some nifty special effects. The gates represent one more element of challenge in an already extremely (get it?) challenging game.

You'll find though, that you won't get frustrated, because of the pervasive sick and twisted humour throughout Extreme Games. Smacking into the poles, mailboxes (if Postal workers had to deal with as many mailboxes as the programmers have lined the streets of San Francisco with, it would be understandable if they went a little kooky!), barrels and fallen over trees won't get you any further ahead in the races but the animation of these collisions adds so much to the enjoyment of the game, you probably won't mind coming in last place for a while.

Although there are definite arguments to be made about the appropriation of Road Rash's engine as the groundwork for this disc, I can't say anything negative about Extreme Games. I wholeheartedly recommend this game. It is enormously entertaining. As addictive an excursion as I've ever enjoyed. I wish I had a picture of every smile this game will generate.

Pros

Cons

Bottom Line