Unlike Wipeout, Extreme-G doesn't have a serious, perhaps even grim feel to it. While Extreme-G's graphics are futuristic, they have a more fantastic look to them than Wipeout's presentation of a cold, neon-sign filled future. Extreme-G's less-than-somber gameplay involves screaming down looping race tracks at such breakneck speed that learning to drive up the course wall or ricochet off of it is a necessary task. The end result is a little like super-fast Bumper Cars. It's all for fun, plain and simple.

Extreme-G moves fast -- very fast. At times the stuff on screen is moving so fast that it just can't register in your mind. The result is that you see stuff moving fast but don't feel it moving fast. It's almost a strobe effect. One minute everything's purple and flat, the next minute everything is gray and twisting toward the top of the screen. It looks cool, but the speed distanced me from the action. I felt like I was being taken on a ride, but I wasn't really controlling it. Sure, I could direct the motion a little to the left or to the right, but the result was still an unrelenting barrage of twisting track popping up before I could really react. Much of this inability to react is because so little of the track can be seen at any one time. For the most part, you really can't see what's up ahead, and as a result it seems rather like the track is flying past you without you actually going anywhere. It simply lacks the immersion of racers like Wave Race or Ridge Racer -- despite the speed at which stuff is flying by.

The control is OK, but lacking. The roads are narrow, and the control stick is sensitive. This can mean more swerving than steering. Racing in Extreme-G doesn't require much strategy other than to hold down the gas, steer as best you can, and shoot anything in front of you that moves. The constant holding down of the Z button actually gave my finger a cramp, so I recommend switching the setup so that the gas is set to a different button. My biggest problem with the control (and I guess the gameplay in general), was that it felt more like I was directing some sort of wild full motion video rather than being immersed in some fast paced racing.

In addition to racing, there's armed combat taking place on the track. Each bike is equipped with a standard pea-shooter of a basic weapon. Some bikes have stronger weapons than others, but none of them seem as strong as the secondary weapons scattered on the track. If you successfully drain the shields of an opponent, they simply come to a stop for a while (no one blows up or anything). You can pick up shield energy/ammo power ups scattered around the track to keep yourself in the race. Both primary and secondary weapon types can be difficult to aim while moving at such a high speed. Also because of the high speed, enemy attacks can come out of nowhere and leave you on the side of the road. Aside from allowing you to overtake the leader by force rather than skill, the in-race combat really doesn't add that much to the gameplay. However, if you want to shoot stuff while you race, you won't be disappointed by Extreme-G.

Extreme-G supports the ever popular Rumble Pak. As with most Rumble Pak games so far, the effect is there, but is rather unremarkable. The only times that the controller really lets loose are if you really plow into a wall, or if you land from a high jump. In any case, the rumble doesn't really seem to match the incident that caused it. It's usually too strong or too weak. The effect is still fun, but it doesn't make much of an impact, or help make the action seem more realistic. On the bright side, the game can access a Controller Pak in another controller socket, so you can take advantage of the Rumble Pak's abilities and save your game without that o-so annoying "hot swapping" of controller accessories.

Extreme-G's multi-player modes add quite a bit of value to the game. There's a deathmatch-like seek-and-destroy game, standard multi-player racing, and even the option to hold a 16 player tournament. Keep in mind, however, that with the exception of the deathmatch mode, beginning players may not have fun racing against more experienced players (or vice versa). That seems to be the bane of multi-player racing, and Extreme-G doesn't really do anything to change that. Still, if you and your friends love racing games, you ought to be able to have some decent multi-player fun with Extreme-G.

Extreme-G really is pretty fun -- for a while. Unfortunately, holding down the gas and seeing the almost strobe-like change in scenery gets repetitive rather quickly. After a while, I just didn't feel like I was part of the action. Without really being drawn into the race, the gameplay got kind of dull. I highly recommend renting it for a change of pace (literally), but if you're thinking of purchasing it (and I can imagine many of you seeking some fast paced racing are thinking of doing exactly that), you should rent it first to make sure that the speedy graphics are worth your hard earned cash despite the simple, and somewhat unimmersive gameplay. Depending on your individual tastes, it might actually be worth the dough. On the other hand, it might not.