Burnout isn't the most realistic racer I've ever seen, but it's still a great looking game. The most notable thing about the game is the silky-smooth frame rate. This goes a long way in giving the game true sense of speed, especially when you have an interstate full of cars going the opposite way! The cars are nicely modeled, and while they lack some detail, you can still tell what they are (or rather, what they are trying to be). Sound is a mixed bag. Engines and crash sounds are about as good as they come, however the music is pretty lame and gets old.

On the surface, Burnout looks like a shallow, arcade racer. However, gamers who are willing to look under the hood will find that it has some real depth to it. Like most racers, the 'point' of the game is to win. Yet, Burnout takes the theme a step further by having you race on crowded streets. In order to win races, you have to build up a turbo meter at the bottom of the screen. Filling the meter isn't as easy as it sounds because the meter can only be filled by successfully weaving through traffic and avoiding crashes. Once the meter is full, your car gets Burnout's equivalent of a NOS boost - causing you car to go even faster. Of course, the speed also increases your chances of crashing.

Oh the crashes!

Even though the point of the game is to not crash, after seeing them it's hard not to resist. Although this is probably doesn't say much for me - I had more fun crashing than actually winning the race. There's just something inherently cool about seeing your car zoom head-on at top speed towards a group of cars going the opposite way. To add a bit of an exclamation point to the whole thing, after a crash, the game replays it from a different angle - allowing you to see the crash in all its glory.

In addition to the Championship Mode, Burnout also offers Single player, Head-to-Head and Time Attack Modes. New Modes are also unlocked as you progress through the game.

The drivers in Burnout are surprisingly life-like. Whereas in most games the computer rarely makes a blunder, your computer opponents are just as liable to making the same mistakes you are. Unlike most arcade racers, there is very little in terms of the 'rubber band' effect when racing. If a car gets way ahead of you, it's likely to stay ahead (barring no major collisions) instead of magically slowing down so you can catch up.

As far as controls go, this is your standard race setup. Steering has a nice, responsive feel to it, but at times it can feel like it has a little drift to it. As much fun as I had with Burnout, I still found that the replay value does tend to drop off rather quickly. Even after unlocking everything, the game does become tiresome and lacks the replay value of other racing games. This is not to say the game is worse off because of it, but as always - I just wanted more. That said, Burnout is still a great game, especially when you consider the lack of racers in the GameCube's library.