Speed Kings Impressions

At E3 this week, Acclaim is showing off Speed Kings, a motorcycle racing game reminiscent of Acclaim's own Burnout 2. The game's raceways are set in heavily trafficked streets, and all the bikes move at very fast speeds, setting up some highly dangerous events. The wrecks in Speed Kings look really painful, as it can be pretty easy to run smack into oncoming traffic, which will leave you watching as your rider is sent flying and his bike is broken into pieces. You can also try to grab or kick opposing racers from off their bikes, but possibly the coolest aspect of the game is that you can slide down under things like trucks or half-open gates and then regain balance. We tried the Xbox and PS2 versions of the game, and the Xbox version looked noticeably better, though both ran smoothly. A GameCube version is also in the works. Speed Kings is slated for release later this month on all three platforms, so expect a full review from us shortly.