an amazing game, but some things hold it back.
so let's start off with the plot, the game is set in 2080 and isn't focused on Earth itself, it spans the whole entire solar system, the plot is pretty linear: "At the turn of 2080, SINN (Sports Interactive News Network) announced XGRA (Extreme-G Racing Association) had declared the Global Season Tour of 2080 was going to take place."
you are a rider and are chosen to represent a team, there are 8 teams:
terranova,
manta
vixen
palus
starcom
talon
scarecrow
and templar
you also have to pick a character who you never see (and doesn't even effect the gameplay at all really), each character is from a nation at the time. and not all of them are human..anyway.
when you begin the game, you are given access to a cheap bike that doesn't go very fast and is basically a training bike. once you prove your worth though you'll unlock faster and better rides. (or use cheat codes hehe)
once you get better rides though, sadly the control becomes more difficult.
there are a good number of tracks, each track has a a redesign, (for instance, there is a mars 1 and a mars 2) some tracks have a DAY/NIGHT mode as well.
the graphics..for it's time (2003!) and given the system it's played on it's pretty decent. in today's day and age though, it's not Burnout or NFS good.
but it's watchable/playable.
the gameplay is your standard racing game, try to finish first and try not to get destroyed. while you're racing you can pick up "orbs" that are powerups for your bike, when used they can go from unleashing a beam that steals your opponents energy-launching a GIANT beam on your opponent from outerspace. and everything in between.. your bike can go up to speeds of 800mph it's to the point where you go so fast, that the in-game soundtrack isn't even heard. all you hear is the wooshing sound of wind. when you are on the track, you aren't really on the track, you'll be going up buildings, hills, driving off of platforms, etc. as you are racing, your pit crew may call in via a video feed and tell you to pick up the slack, or the other racers will taunt you. you have a SHIELD meter and a HEALTH meter, if your shield meter depletes completely from collisions or attacks from other racers, your health meter takes the place of the shield meter. (just wait about a minute without any damage and your shield meter will replenish.)
now onto the BEST part of the game..the soundtrack. IT FITS PERFECTLY.
when you begin the game you can pick 1 of 3 stations to listen to.
1. industrial metal/punk (the main artist here is mostly celldweller, but there is also the dwarves, and noise therapy.. , celldweller's music in the game blends in perfectly btw)
2. Dance/EDM, (the main artist here is BT, his music like celldweller, adds a great flair to the game, some minor artists are also present but 80% of this station is BT)
3. Hiphop/techno (no single artist dominates this station)
the choices are pretty sparse, you have story mode, arcade mode and versus mode. arcade mode is interesting because you can pick the license rank you want to go up against, the race type, (warmonger=all weapons, peacekeeper= no weapons, extreme weather= what it says, and some more)
the game itself really does create a futuristic feeling, and while most people may think this game is terrible, i absolutely love it, and if you have some spare change (you can get it REALLY cheap now an days) and are a racing fan and are interested in the future and such..pick it up and give it a try,
the only problems i've found with the game is (as i mentioned before) the faster you go the harder it is to control, you'll be bumping into walls (which i think is funny). or you may get sick from all the spinning. other then that i enjoyed it.