Roughly a year after the game's release,
Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that
ESPN Extreme Games was the biggest selling Sony-published PlayStation game worldwide. Reviewing the PlayStation version, Air Hendrix of
GamePro said
ESPN Extreme Games "doesn't push the limits of
32-bit graphics and gameplay, but it does take you on a thrilling ride." He elaborated that the game suffers from "rocky"
scrolling and overly
pixelated graphics and has few tracks compared to the similar
Road Rash, but that details in the graphics "keep the action realistic" and the racing is sufficiently intense.
Maximum gave it four out of five stars, remarking that "being able to kick the stuffing out of anyone who dares to try and pass you (especially those racing bikes) makes it a wholly fulfilling experience." They also praised the texture mapping and graphical details, though they criticized the small number of tracks and said the game does not measure up to
Ridge Racer or
Wipeout, both already released on the PlayStation. A brief review in
Next Generation said it was "not bad" and scored it three out of five stars.
Computer Game Review described the computer
port as a "good conversion from the Sony PlayStation that's worth checking out." ==See also==