Catering to both racing and extreme-sports enthusiasts is a tricky balancing act. While both audiences crave high-speed thrills, the racer's focus is on lap times and finish lines, while the extreme-sports fan is more concerned with high-flying tricks. Nevertheless, Disney's new high-octane ATV racer, Pure, is an attempt to fuse elements from the racing and extreme-sports genres. We had a chance to strap ourselves in and take the game out for an off-road spin.

　　The courses in Pure (at least the ones we were shown) were all roughly the same length--about a minute and 15 second per lap. Each of the 32 tracks in the game is filled with jumps (some spanning hundreds of feet) for executing your arsenal of tricks, and each track features a multitude of paths blended well into the scenery. The courses are all set in outdoor off-road sceneries ranging from snow-covered mountaintops to massive desert dunes. While the courses feature great detail, such as blades of grass that sway back and forth in the wind, Pure's visuals still have an over-the-top feeling. The terrain is color-rich to a nearly overwhelming extent, and there's a background blurring effect during boost usage. While both dispel the realistic element of the game (if the 200-foot jump didn't already), the game's speed makes them work. Although Pure uses only 30 frames per second, the game plays smoothly with 16 concurrent racers (1 player and 15 CPU) and without any visual hiccups.

　　With 15 other racers traversing the sometimes narrow mountain passages, finding the path less traveled is crucial for victory.

　　The game's controls are designed so that your fingers won't need to move around too much, which is good because you won't have time to fumble with your controller. The left analog stick is used for steering, jumping, and trick selection; the triggers are used for acceleration and braking; and the left bumper (L1 on the PlayStation 3) and the face buttons are used as trick modifiers. The controls make Pure a great pick-up-and-play game, even for those unfamiliar with console racers.

　　While the controls are simple, the depth and strategy of the gameplay should appeal to hardcore audiences. Although it's possible to race in Pure without doing tricks, you will discover quickly that it isn't effective. The reason is that gameplay in Pure centers around a boost meter that you fill by executing the various tricks. This boost can then be used to substantially increase your ATV's speed (like a stream of nitro) or to unlock greater tiers of tricks.

　　At the start of every race your boost meter will be empty and your racer will have access to only the lowest tier of tricks. To perform a trick you will first need to prep the jump by holding down on the left analog stick for a moment before pushing up as you hit the jump (the longer you hold down, the more air you'll get). While some jumps offer only enough time to perform one trick, other jumps will have you plummeting hundreds of feet, giving you time to get off multiple trick combos. Each of the three trick tiers features 16 unique tricks, though you will have to unlock many of them in the World Tour story mode (there are more than 70 tricks total).

　　As you perform tricks and accumulate boost, you will be given access to more potent tricks. While executing the higher-tier tricks takes slightly longer, they will increase your boost by a greater extent (and look cooler too). When your boost meter is full, you will gain access to a special trick, which, when executed, will again fill up your boost meter.

　　Large jumps can often be a test of how many tricks you have the guts to string together. Just make sure you stick the landing.

　　Of course, there is a risk in saving your boost as well. Every time you wreck, you lose a healthy portion of your boost meter; the portion lost increases the higher your tier is (in fact this is the only penalty for wrecking since you respawn quickly). This adds an element of strategy because skilled players (who rarely wreck) may wish to save their boost until they have earned the special trick. Once the trick is earned, they could then use up their entire boost meter to hasten their speed and use the special trick to regenerate the meter again.

　　In addition to the World Tour story mode, Pure offers three different game types for single-player and online racing: Race, Sprint, and Freestyle. Race is the basic option. Sprint mode offers track variations that are slightly shorter in length (30- to 40-second laps), but otherwise it's similar to Race. Freestyle is Race with power-ups scattered across the course. All online races require 16 participants, so any unfilled spots are filled with CPU-controlled racers. Pure also includes online leaderboards with metrics for best lap times and best trick combos.

　　Another feature worth mentioning is Pure's "build your ride" feature. Here you can customize your ATV from the ground up, with options ranging from chassis selection to what type of shocks you want. The interface is well laid out, and tutorial speech breaks down every aspect, detailing strengths and weaknesses. Assuming you know what you're doing and have unlocked the necessary parts in story mode, you can put together a new ATV relatively quickly. You can store up to 10 custom rides in your garage.

　　Although Pure's implementation of doing tricks to generate boost isn't realistic, the mechanic seems to work well in the game and adds a competitive purpose to doing tricks. If conventional racing games seem a bit dull or extreme-sports games seem pointless, this may be a game to try out. We'll bring you more information on Pure as we learn more. The game is set for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in September 2008.