When the Sony Playstation first made its debut in 1995, one of its original titles was an extreme sports game called ESPN2 Extreme Games. Later retitled 1Xtreme to fit in the series with 2Xtreme and now 3Xtreme. The Xtreme series is an extreme sports racing competition. You can choose from multiple players who can either ride a Bike, a skateboard, or even rollerblades. Characters can earn money to upgrade their transportation. Think of it as Road Rash at 20 MPH.
Sony's 989 Studios has taken this series to the next level. adding polygon characters and 3D back grounds. 3Xtreme also uses the original 1Xtreme formula. Where you have multiple modes of transportation and can mix and match when you race. 3Xtreme has been able to over come the terrible 2Xtreme.
The graphics in 3Xtreme are great. Polygon characters which act fairly real. The graphics are not extremely fast, however when racing bicycles, skateboards, and rollerblades you can't expect NASCAR.
3Xtreme tries to mimic reality. You start out slow and build up your speed. You can play fair or play to win. Much like 989's Cool Boarders 3 players can fight while racing. Trying to knock your opponent out of the race...literally.
3Xtreme is not a perfect game. In fact its a game that will grow on you. Its not extremely likable at first glance. It needs time and understanding. considering today's standards 3Xtreme is the best in the series, it just doesn't make an impression as 1Xtreme did back in the early days of 32 bit.
PUBLISHER: 989 STUDIOS
GRAPHICS: 7.5 MUSIC & SOUND: 6 CONTROL: 7
SECRETS: 9 ORIGINALITY: 8 FUN & REPLAY: 8
OVERALL: 7