The Xtreme series was never known for being all that great. Poor graphics and ho-hum gameplay has been a trademark of the series. What's kept it going? That's a good question. Maybe it's this Mountain Dew/Surge extreme-sports craze, or perhaps, the original concept of combining biking, skateboarding and inline-skating really turned some people on. Whatever it was, it wasn't the quality of the games that made them sell, and the same will be said for 3Xtreme.

For those of you who are new to the Xtreme series, it centers on races where you use skates, boards and bikes to go down a long hill while fighting off opponents with your fists. Several changes have been made in this edition. Gone are most of the obstacles, like barrels, wandering grandmothers and homeless people, having been replaced by objects such as ramps, narrow gates and rails, which are used to perform tricks. Completed tricks will earn points, which can be used to upgrade the player's equipment. However, don't be too reckless when attempting tricks, because colliding with solid objects or landing on the ground with anything less than two feet will result in a severe accident.

Though 989 Studios might have seen this trick-system as a novel idea, all it does is drag 3Xtreme to the lower depths of gaming hell. The tricks' control scheme is haphazard because it uses the same buttons as the ones used for racing. How does this work? The racing controls become trick controls once you enter airspace. The problem with this change is that when you're in the air and need to move right, pushing right will actually perform a somersault, and BAM, you'll crash! This occurs so often that you'll want to pull your hair out. Also problematic is the collision detection. Entering gates is like playing a game of Russian roulette, and rail hopping is a test of luck. Performing air tricks is equally troublesome because you never know if there's enough time to pull off a trick. Once you realize that performing tricks is simply begging for an accident, you'll want to avoid doing them altogether. 

Without a decent trick system, 3Xtreme is devoid of anything worth playing.  It's filled with an uninspiring level design, in which every track is basically the same (read: all downhill, lots of similar turns). The simplicity of the race also hurts this title.  Your speed is usually automatic, and there's no reason to slow down because you're never going fast, so all you do is move left, right, jump, and perform a repetitive trick. Combine the similar levels, simple gameplay, and super-slow speed with characters that play the same regardless of if they're riding a skateboard or a bike, and you have a boring race that can be likened to doing a household chore.

3Xtreme is so bad that even the graphics and sound will have you smashing your PlayStation to bits, if you don't slice off your sensory organs first. It must have taken some real programming skill to make polygons flow like sprites. Everything from the characters to the backgrounds looks rough and grainy, and some objects even look like they were drawn with a crayon! What will really make you scream though is the techno-metal trash that passes as music. Have some Tylenol ready because every song sounds exactly the same, with the same beat, same rhythm, same instruments and same pattern.

The ESRB needs to have a new rating symbol for games like these. Let's call it NO, which will mean Not Suitable for Anyone. The only thing Xtreme about 3Xtreme is how bad it is. It's sad how 989's marketing execs tried to cover up this horrible mess with slick gimmicks; you'll see plenty of name-brand skateboards, ads for Levis, alternative clothing, and even a music video. Yet gimmicks can't turn this stale water into wine. 3Xtreme is so bad that even the most extreme sports addicts will be repulsed.