This is a game where good looks and playability meet, shake hands and go out for coffee. Yes, that's right, you can really have a game that only looks average but is still lots of fun to play. What Antz Extreme Racing does right is make a game that loads quickly, doesn't have lots of ugly characters or game environments, and still manages to convey a lot of the colorful fun that draws kids in and keeps them happy. Now don't get me wrong, because if you are accustomed to hardline racing games drawn from more mature stock, this won't do a thing for you. But, for the young set who still enjoys sitting through Antz The Movie for the umpteenth time, Antz Extreme Racing couldn't be a better romp. Well, it could be better, but what couldn't?

Although graphics were excellent, the music is hardly varied enough, voice acting is non-existent and the sound effects are pitiful. It sounds like a rheumy bum with only a toilet plunger for a prop did the sound effects, they are so poor. The buzzing sound that accompanies certain race segments may not drive kids crazy, but their parents will be screaming bloody murder before the second lap. I guarantee... Some of the nicer things are the visions of happy Antz characters running, driving and even leaf-boarding from track to track in competition.

As racing games go, there are always just 2 critical elements. First, how does it look? Having established that the graphics are perfectly decent, the second question should always be 'How does it race?' And I'm happy to say that Antz Extreme Racing is both extreme and extremely fun. The idea of racing Antz characters may not hold pure joy for all of us, but the developers have brought together a nice little package here, in terms of the structure and flow of the game. I mentioned it loads extremely fast, but compared to most racing games, it loads in a millisecond. You're hardly settling in after selecting a character and a track when - BOOM! - you're on the racetrack. I was happy to see that along with earning characters, each character has a different set of races to complete on his or her way to the final goal. It's nice to say there are 40+ tracks to challenge you here among the 6 characters, but the reality is that there are only 4 types of racing to be had. Instead of doing a Hot Wheels and switching up on you mid-race, Antz Extreme Racing has each character move through a series of challenges on foot, driving, flying and 'boarding.' Certain objectives are part of each race, but no matter what the challenge, the ultimate goal is to be first across the line.

As challenges are opened up during Single-Player character racing, you'll find that points are earned depending on where you finish in the pack. Like most Racers, if you don't finish first often enough, get used to NOT moving ahead. But, if you get all the way through to the end of a character's challenge, you'll open up new characters. All this is fine, but don't forget about the Multiplayer Mode. Here, you can select 1, 2 or 3 other racers to take part in the fun. And, if anyone doesn't want to join in, let them know they can use weapons. There are certainly no explosiony, firebally type of weapons, so no traditional stuff, but more in line with the license, you'll pick up bugs you can use against other racers to slow them down, aphids that divert racers or sticky drops to keep them off your tail. It's a competitive little game when it wants to be. And if your friends get tired of you beating them and decide to stay home, you can always race against a ghost racer representing your best time.

As a kiddie game, you might have guessed Antz Extreme Racing doesn't exactly model real-word physics down to the nth degree. What it manages to do is create a fairly responsive racing game that doesn't get too cheap too often. It does get cheap, though, and that's never fun. Characters seem to catch up with you from nowhere after they've been behind for a long while. Thing is, you can do the same thing, so everyone is happy. Competing against the CPU in some of the upper levels can be frustrating for this reason, but persistence pays off so keep fighting!

In situations where different controls are required, or special commands like the Jump feature in a running race are utilized, Antz Extreme Racing gives a brief dialog explaining the controls. This is nice, since running races are probably the less conventional aspect of Antz Extreme Racing. While driving or flying, stepping on the gas does what any good racer should do, but for boarding and running you have to take a somewhat different strategy. Boarding is exactly the adrenaline rush it should be, and in both running and boarding, the ability to get air by jumping can sometimes be the difference between winning and losing. The boarding levels are pretty short, and lacking in the powerups you'll use so relentlessly in the driving and flying sections. Using a powerup is simple. You just press a shoulder button and you're good to go. I found it a bit annoying that powerups could be canceled out by another powerup before you used what you had. Seems like this could have been done differently, but maybe the idea was that kids won't be as strategic about using powerups as us grown-up kids. Ah well, just be careful what flower you run into, 'cause you never know what powerup you'll be getting. Actually you do know, but there aren't big signs up or anything.

Nothing annoys me more than long load times in racing games. So, I was definitely sold on how quick everything moves in Antz Extreme Racing. Given the well executed types of racing featured, boarding, running and flying, this really deserves the 'Extreme' title. Luckily, even if you aren't an extreme racing fan or an extreme Antz fan, there's a solid game under this license that is worth playing. In fact, it's good games like this that make us forget how bad license games can be. Make Z proud; buy this one and take him to the championships.