The Final Word game review

ESPN Extreme Sports -- Sony

Experience high-speed racing action in ESPN Extreme Sports for the Sony PlayStation. Based on the live sport, racing takes place on five different obstacle courses located around the globe. Choose from a bicycle, in-line roller-skates, skateboard, or street-luge as you compete against the computer or a friend. Hidden paths, killer ramps and fierce competition highlight this action-sports game.

Dr. Otto
This was sort of a middle-of-the-roader for me. I like the Road Rash/Skitchin' style of gameplay (i.e., being able to resurface major roadways with your opponents), so I was caught up in this right away. I'm not even going to go into the graphics or sound... If you're making games for the PlayStation and you can't program in stellar audio/visual components than GET OUT NOW before I find you on the street panhandling like so many other programmers before you (like those guys at TH*Q what programmed Race Drivin'... woof). Fortunately this isn't a problem with Extreme. The four different street vehicles (all of which I've been hit by at least twice while walking the streets of Santa Monica) all have different characteristics so you can use a variety or stick with the one that suits you best. The sticking points on this one were the lack of course variety (only five plus a bonus course), and the fact that the average joe will be put off by the sheer difficulty of trying to finish first in a given season... even on the easy setting. Conclusively, I do enjoy playing this title simply due to the fact that it's a racing game... but even so, it's only a holdover until stuff like Wipeout and Twisted Metal hit the store shelves. But, as Andrah points out, a game with exploding poultry can't be all bad...

Salamander
This game wasn't exactly all I had hoped for. ESPN seemed to be missing something... about 3 or 4 more tracks. Secret paths and varying obstacle layouts helped, but repeating essentially the same thing over and over again wore out quickly. However, I did like the range of equipment offered. Racing everything from mountain bikes to street luge added a lot of variety to the play control, and the sound and graphics were excellent through-and-through. The two-player split-screen mode is a lot of fun as well although, admittedly, I think it would be more accurately described as a brawl than a race. Not bad.

>>>>> 40.0/50 <<<<<		Dr. Otto	Salamander
Graphics		5.0	4.5
Sound		4.0	4.0
Gameplay/Control		3.5	4.5
Longevity/Playability		3.5	3.0
Overall		4.0	4.0
Total		20.0	20.0

(10/95)