Sony (PS2) Game   •••½ Graphics/Sound   •••

Don’t dismiss this as Saturday-morning drivel — Jak X is much cooler than its cartoon aesthetics imply. Like a toxic, tricked-out Mario Kart, it revs to a techno-metal soundtrack and roars with a destructive dose of nuclear artillery. Sure, you’ll be cruising through laps like any proper racer — online, even — only instead of ’toon-style whimsy, things get heavy. The flames of freshly exploded vehicles will scorch your front ’n’ rear, but it’s those centimeter-close encounters with rogue missiles that’ll sear the hair on your arms. Alas, all that adrenaline is tempered by an annoying smack-yapping sidekick named Daxter (roadkill, anyone?).

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