Re-Volt

The Good
Pretty darn near everything. The interface is good for an arcade-style game, the graphical quality and speed is excellent, the settings are perfect, and very well represented, particle effects are used in all the right places, the control system is very simple, the physics are the best anywhere, the sounds are great, the music (while it can get annoying after playing continuously for many hours) fits the levels well, and the AI is top-notch. Most of all, the cars and tracks are almost infinitely editable!

The AI really is this good: Imagine you're driving towards the finish line in second place, and you're almost there. The car in front of you hasn't yet crossed the line, so it stops, turns around, fires three rockets at your car, and backs over the finish line, winning the race. The rockets send your car spinning into a wall, pointing the wrong direction. Just as you're about to right yourself, the 3rd place car comes up from behind, and instead of zipping past you to take 2nd place, it turns, fires a pulse wave pickup at you, throwing your car 5 feet into the air and off the road. That car takes 2nd place, and by the time you're back on track, you're in 5th. This happened to me, in several variations, more than once. It really is that good.

The Bad
The story. It was a last minute Acclaim addition, and is lame. Re-Volt is an arcade racer, pure and simple. Just ignore the story.

The Bottom Line
Worth the money, every last penny. Hands down, the best arcade racer available.