HSX HyperSonic.Xtreme

"A surprisingly good game at a budget price"

Ok, now I've read the other reviews, and in some aspects they are right about this game...at first. When I first played this game I thought it was utter garbage; I couldn't control my vehicle, I kept blowing up, and frankly, the instruction book is fairly useless. However, if you give the game a chance and get used to the controls suddenly (gasp!) It's a prety cool racer. Ok, so on with the review!

Graphics: 7.5 / 10

The graphics aren't perfect, but they are pretty good. All of the vehicle designs are fairly interesting. A lot of people have complained about the ''annoying'' ''crappy'' etc. weather effects, but honestly, I think they're pretty darn cool. Seeing the snow and rain hit your screen is nothing new, but added to the actual track atmospheres and designs, it works pretty well here. The game does run pretty smoothly, without much clipping or slowdown. The only problem is that unless you're moving incredibly fast across a near endless speed strip, the game doesn't have the sense of speed it feels it should. Some of the tracks and areas are a bit bland, but for the most part there are some pretty good designs and areas. The few bad ones don't detract from the good. Also, when you're hover car is damaged, the way it starts to flame up is a cool idea, but really impairs your view of the racetrack. So drive carefully :-p

Controls: 5

Ok, HSX suffers here. the controls are VERY loose, and until you perfect using both the top L and R buttons AND the joystick together for steering, you'll crash a LOT. I mean like every 30 seconds. Once you get the hang of using the top buttons in conjunction with the joystick, HSX becomes much easier. After a while, it will become second nature, but just practice. After three days, of owning the game, i've managed it.

A.I.: 8.5

WOW! The computer is HARD! On difficulty 1 it's still a fight for 1st place. The computer reacts well, will block your way, and also, get this: it's fair. They make mistakes and run into walls and blow up the same way you do. they drive well, but not perfectly, and are capable of error. This is great in my opinion, it lends some realism to the game, as if you were playing against real people.

Sound: 3

the sound effects are pretty cool, but nothing too notable. The music is BAD. Cheesy, crappy, generic techno eats. I've made better beats on my music generator for crying out loud. I've nothing else to say about this. If there's ever a sequel, this should be fixed first.

Replay value and fun factor: 8.5

First and foremost, the Trak Editor is amazing! Unfortunately, you can't use it's full potential until you unlock parts in the game, but even from the start it's great and gives you an amazing amount of freedom to create your own tracks. This creates endless possibilities. And the fact that the game is fun already just makes it even better. The game is great against the computer, fun againts a human opponent, and just a good racing game overall. All this for $10!

Overall, I'll give this game a 7 / 10. While not perfect, it is fun, and at the price ($10) you can't beat it. It probably won't be for everyone, but for the price, it can't hurt to get it, you can buy HSX: Hypersonic Xtreme for the price of 2 rentals.

So why are you still reading this, go get it!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/03, Updated 03/29/03