Burnout 3 is an extremely rewarding and infectious arcade racing game that's worth its weight in gold.
Featuring a plethora of vehicles (67, to be exact), players choose their means of transportation based on weight and speed. The latter in particular is something to carefully consider when playing both 'Crash' and 'Road Rage'. In 'Crash' mode, the player attempts to do as much monetary damage as possible to vehicles within the given area. For example, a player will accelerate and typically soar from a ramp into an intersection, oncoming traffic, etc., to achieve as much wreckage as possible. The second your vehicle comes in contact with another, the player is left to wait and witness the onslaught of clinks and clanks from cars smashing into one another. If enough damage is done, players are given the option to explode their vehicle and (somewhat) choose its trajectory, adding the possibility of further obstructions to create more damage. The mode in and of itself feels like a wholly enjoyable and singular experience, and it's only one of five playable modes. In addition to that, it's the small things that help make the final product what it is (colliding with AI opponents at breakneck speeds never felt so good thanks to a 'crash-cam' (so to speak), which takes a picture of noteworthy destruction.)
The game's visuals draw from a prototypical arcade-style construct, but they're sharpened up to gold standard here. The blurred and disoriented screen when approaching maximum speed adds a feeling of realism to the mix, giving the game an inarguably pleasing aesthetic and allowing instant immersion. Of course, turning corners with ease while driving 100km/h or having such fluid control of a vehicle on the cusp of unheard of speeds could, in the hands of less skilled developers, make the game feel cheesy and derivative, but those are just some of the quirks that work exceptionally well in Burnout 3, giving it the edge over most games.
Instead of being a boring retread of past ideas (and doing anything but playing it safe), Burnout 3 reveals itself to be an unrivaled accomplishment among the many by-the-numbers arcade games. Even after all of these years, it's still arguably the benchmark for which all racing greatness is comparable.