The range of racing choices is pretty standard and not one of the outstanding features of this title. The one innovation is that you may decide to go to Jeff’s Race School, in which you may view a set of videos providing driving tips. You may play in Championship (standard tournament), Arcade (single track) or Practice modes. The Championship mode has three seasons: in the first, you race ten tracks with Jeff Gordon as your mentor; in the second, you race against all the others plus Jeff Gordon, whom you have to beat in the standings to move on; and in the ultimate third challenge, you race one-on-one against Jeff on a track you have never seen before. You may use a well-implemented Instant Replay option (which is curiously silent) to see exactly what you did right and wrong as you progress. Making it through all of these seasons is a real test of your driving mettle.

A small number of tweaking options is available. In Arcade mode, you may alter the number of opponents and laps present in each race. In all modes, one can choose between automatic and manual transmission and tight and loose steering. (After playing with the settings a bit, I do not know why anyone in his or her right mind would choose the loose steering option.) There are four viewing options available — hood, cockpit, behind overhead and overhead — that you may alternate between while racing. It really would have aided in replay value and in the feeling of being able to customize everything to one’s own tastes to give racers a bit more to tinker with here.

Overall, there are ten tracks plus an extra hidden one to race on with one of six cars. It is in these two categories that this offering’s distinctiveness begins to show. The track design is among the most exciting I have seen in a long time, and the track titles give a taste of this: Cloverleaf, Industrial Strength, Pepsi 2000, 7-Eleven Spectacular, Accelerator, Fritos Twister, Gambler, Drop Zone, Neon Canyon Run and Future City. Only someone who loves racing challenges and arcade thrills needs to try these twisting up-and-down raceways (some remind me of the racing classic Whiplash). The cars are reminiscent of being at an auto show and seeing dream vehicles from the 21st century. All of them, including my favorite one, the Spectr, simply scream with aerodynamic fluidity.

My continuing bugaboo about racing games — the locking of tracks and cars — is present, but it is not as severe as in many titles in this genre. You have access to four out of the six cars from the start, giving you the immediate ability to drive most of the vehicles. While you do only have access to less than half of the tracks at the outset, to open them up, you have only to complete the tracks in Championship mode, not win them. So while I would still prefer everything to be available at the outset, Jeff Gordon XS Racing utilizes a more reasonable locking system than most racing titles I have been testing of late.