XGRA's 2080 season starts you on your career in the invitation class; win this to advance to the Subsonic division - win that and then there's the Sonic class, followed by the Supersonic bikes… Choosing from the teams Manta, Palus, Scarecrow, Starcom, Talon, Templar, Terranova or Vixen off you go racing and battling at ridiculous speeds on spectacular twisting tracks that defy the laws of physics, gravity and logic. Set all over the place from various Earth locations to Mars and Saturn each setting has several different circuit layouts.

The spectacular tracks aren't new to the XG series, but slick, intelligent design is. XGRA has smoothed off the rough edges of previous games and given us upgradeable bikes that are more controllable, a large selection of weapons and power ups that actually work, and tracks that are actually fun to race on, whilst still testing your reactions and your constitution as you rocket around them.

   

Tidy rather than mindblowing graphics give us detailed bikes, massive draw distances and smooth action. There are time trials to hone your skills but the real challenge is to go racing for individual and team championships whilst simultaneously trying to earn bonuses by completing contracts; these might be to get the fastest lap, or win that particular race, or destroy rival team's trackside logos during the race, or to beat or even kill a particular rival team.

A decent soundtrack that mixes rock and dance accompanies the action, and the difficulty setting seems to encourage rather than dishearten - XGRA is a fast, spectacular and addictive future racer, and I actually enjoyed it more than Wipeout Fusion.