I still have many, many impressions from E3 to write and other things from E3 to transcribe. Luckily, it seems everyone is still catching up on the volumes of info dumped on us, so I don’t feel too bad.

Oddly enough, one of the games I’ve been really eager to write impressions of is Extreme G3. Extreme G3 was incredibly early at E3. I played many other more complete games at the show but still – despite its early development stage, XG3 showed promise and good playability. As this E3 seemed to be dominated with more video than playable displays, this was a pretty cool move by Acclaim, and I’m glad that they chanced an early showing to E3 attendees.

I really liked the first XG on N64. It was fast, fun and had a lot of good things going for it. Therefore, you’d think the odds of XG2 being just as good, if not better would be like shooting fish in a barrel for Acclaim. Not so, and the development team Probe apparently caught a lot of flak for it. Still, the series deserves a third try and even though I played a very premature version of this game, Acclaim certainly seems to be on the right track.

How early was this game? One bike, one track. No competition but I do think weapons worked. I was just taking the game for a spin, which is exactly I think what it was there to do. I instantly got a handle on the play control, which is a always good sign. Soon, I found myself loving this XG3 demo for all the reasons I loved the first XG; it was like getting on a roller coaster and taking it for what artist Wesley Willis might describe as a “hell ride.”

The game featured psychedelic backgrounds that would blur as you went faster. Very reminiscent to some of the “trippy” blurred parts of some of Majora’s Mask’s cinema scenes; very cool looking in XG. The track already had that classic XG/roller coaster feel to it—lots of loops and winding turns. Lots of speed –your bike is built to move.

It was a demo but a tight demo. Will the game look and play as insanely fast when other racers added? How well will weapons come into play? Will the other tracks be just as insane? That’s a lot to answer for, though as easy as GameCube to develop for, here’s hoping these won’t be issues. What was at E3 was good, smooth control, twisted yet lovely graphics, fun level design—so far, thumbs up all around. XG3’s foundation is solid, here’s hoping the rest will be. I’m optimistic.

Then again, maybe I’m just eager; I loved the first XG about as much as the second game disappointed me. Take as much time as you can polishing XG3, Acclaim—it has the makings of a classic racer.

Although I played the PS2 version of the game, XG3 has been confirmed for GameCube (and X-Box, I think). If you read PGC’s recent interview with Acclaim, you’ll see that XG3 is only one of many games the company is planning for the GameCube.