Introduction

The Nintendo GameCube has not seen its fair share of "decent" racers at its young age, infact most of the consoles racers blow more chunks than Yokuzuna right after eating at an all you can eat Seafood restaruant. Burnout is an excellent addition to the GameCube’s racer library and will keep you on the edge of seat every a second.

"Don’t blink, or you’ll lose..."

Burnout is a visually and control tweaked enhanced port of the PS2 game that was released sometime in November of 2001. Unlike most racers , Burnout not only pits you against intelligent CPU opponents but as well as oncoming traffic at lightning fast speeds. It’s just a matter of time until you crash.

The game’s developer Criterion has had GameCube development kits in their hands since SpaceWorld 2000 thanks to its ties with Nintendo and their widely used Renderware game engine. Even though Burnout for the GameCube is a "port" of the PS2 version the game was actually running on the GameCube first but the PS2’s version got to see the light of day much earlier due to its massive userbase. But the GCN version is improved over the PS2 version so GameCube owners didn’t miss out on much...

Presentation

The game has some boring menus but hey, nobody really cares about those anyways. With short load times, tight control, and a constant frame rate of 60fps, Burnout presents itself quite well.

Graphics & Sound

Graphics:

You’ll notice the moment you turn on Burnout that the car models aren’t impressive one bit but that will soon become overshadowed by all the other graphical achievements this game boasts. Over a dozen vehicles can be found onscreen at once, along with the other 3 CPU opponents you have traffic charging at you in every possible direction. While all that is going on the game still manages to dish out realistinc textures, excellent level geometry, real-time lighting, and a rock solid framerate of 60 fps which delivers and incredible sense of speed.

Thanks to Criterion’s RenderWare engine Burnout boasts some kick ass graphics.

Sound:

Burnout sure as hell won’t impress anyone in the audio department. With lame ass music and decent sound effects it won’t make any difference if you play the game with the sound muted or without. But , the game does have some cool sound effects when you get into some crazy collisions but sometimes they can get a little too loud as well as feel out of place in certain situations.

Gameplay

Unlike most racers, Burnout’s core gameplay doesn’t just revolve around getting ahead of your opponents but as well as avoiding obstacles such as oncoming traffic. When playing Burnout you have to learn to take risks while you race.

Racing through oncoming traffic , nearly getting into collisions, and drifting, builds your Burnout meter. When this meter gets to its max you will earn the ability to Burnout. A Burnout basically turns racers into a rocket, soaring at incredible speeds through traffic and other obstacles. Skilled gamers (***cough*** like me *** cough) can earn multiple Burnouts in a row while driving on the wrong side of the road barely avoiding collisions with other vehicles.

The CPU AI is pretty freaking amazing as well. Drive straight towards a car on the wrong side of the road and they will try to swerve around you. I guess you aren’t the only one trying to avoid collisions.

I do have some problems with the games gameplay though. If you Burnout for like 4 minutes straight you would expect that your competition would be miles behind you correct? Well, that definetely doesn’t happen because somehow they still manage to stay right behind you. A lack of a onscreen map is also a bitch because most people would like to keep track of the distance between them and their competition. Finally, not being able to skip those annoying crash replays is a bitch! They’re annoying and can get on my nerves sometimes...

Gameplay modes:

In Championship mode race against three computer opponents. There is a target finishing position that must be met on each course in order to progress. You begin Grand Prix with 3 credits. If you fail to meet your target finishing position on a course, you can use a credit to try the course again. Once you credits are gone, the game is over and you must start again. Also unlockable in Championship mode are Marathon Championships courses which can last more that 20 minutes to complete! Championship mode is definetely the core of the mode that will keep you busy the most.

Along with Champioship mode you can race against a buddy in Head To Head, race under the clock in Time Attack ,face off against a single opponent in Face Off, or test you endurance in Survival. Survival is strictly a mode for hardcore gamers, trying to make it through a race without crashing one is pretty damn hard!

Control:

The controls in Burnout are excellent. Very tight and responsive, but sometimes it feels like the control is too good because I find it hard to fathom a car going at 140 mph is easy to control.

Lasting Appeal

With 14 extremely long tracks Championship mode can be completed in a weekends time as well as unlocking all cars. Multiplayer can keep you busy as well but only when you’re competing against a worthy opponent. The thing that will keep hardcore gamers coming back would have to be Survival, that should keep ’em busy for a long time.

Conclusion

Fans of the Crusin’ USA series should definetely check this one out because the game basically feels like a next gen version of Cruisin’ except without the hot bikini babes. The game has a short replay value but is undeniably a blast to play and I’m hoping Criterion has a sequel in the planning already. Hopefully this time it will have weather effects, liscensed cars, more cars, and more tracks. Keep your eyes on Criterion, because they’ve got some talent.

With excellent visuals, tight controls, and kick ass gameplay , everyone should give Burnout a try.