Jet X2O is an extreme watercraft game that mixes racing with over-the-top extreme tricks.  The races take place on eight different tracks set in a variety of environments that range from woodland streams to an Artic locale, and even take you to the lost city of Atlantis.  All of the tracks are long and take from four to six minutes to run, and are start to finish affairs without the need to retread the course racing laps.  Each track has alternate paths, some of them well hidden, that can help you shave time off of your run and also add greater value to the tracks.

The tracks also feature numerous ramps, cliffs, waterfalls, and rock features that you can use to launch your craft into the air.  While in the air, pressing the shoulder buttons allows you to perform different tricks and stunts.  You score more points the longer you hold a trick, but performing multiple tricks increases your combo bonus multiplier so it's best to hold a tough, high-scoring trick for some time and then try to squeeze in as many other tricks as you can before you hit the water.  If you're not back on your watercraft when you splash down, you'll lose all of the points you generated during the jump.

Also appearing along the courses are special gates.  Passing through these gates is not required, but they will charge your power meter if you do.  The power can be used to provide you with a turbo speed boost, which is very useful when trying to pass an opponent and finish strong or when trying to really launch off of a ramp.  Power can also be used to modify tricks and let you pull off harder and higher scoring stunts.  If you let the power meter fill completely, you can use it to perform your character's signature stunt.

The races can be run in one of three modes: race, trick, or combo.  You can forgo the tricks in the race mode which is won by the first player across the finish line.  In trick mode, you are given a set amount of time to perform as many tricks as you can.  Performing tricks successfully will add to the time limit, but once time runs out your run is over.  The winner is the one who racks up the most trick points. Finally, combo mode combines the two other modes.  The final standings are determined by a combination of trick points and race time.

You can play Jet X2O as a single race, a World Tour, or in a free mode known as Big Wave.  For the single race mode, you can select a track and rider to run a race, although some tracks and riders will need to be unlocked by playing through the World Tour.  The World Tour is played as a series of races through each of the game's tracks.  Completing races or the entire tour will unlock new riders, craft, and tracks.  Although it should be obvious why you fail to qualify to move to the next event, this is not the case.  Sometimes you'll finish the race in first and score a large amount of trick points, only to be told that you need 37 more career points to continue.  There's no way to tell how your score was translated into career points or what you need to do to get enough points to continue play.

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