Having never seen an episode of IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix, here's what I've been able to surmise from the game. Two teams, consisting of three members each, hop in robots and race around a track suspended high in the air at ridiculous speeds. While they're racing, these teams are also duking it out, and each member has their own specific role to play, such as defense, with their robot's capabilities geared towards that role.

Following the exploits of Team Satomi, the game puts players in charge of the Satomis as they strive to win the League Championship. It's up to you to customize each robot with the latest equipment, to call the shots and strategies during a race, and most importantly, to smack the crap out of everyone else in your quest for victory.

To get players familiar with the gameplay and controls, IGPX offers several video tutorials that help to explain the mechanics of each bout. They're informative, but they don't give you a chance to actually practice the demonstrated techniques. Instead, a long series of training simulations slowly wean players into the dynamics as they face off against simulations of other teams in the League. The slow rise in difficulty here really helps you to get a firm grasp of the mechanics: One match you're coming to grips with the different attacks available, and before you know it, you're assigning formations and switching between team members as you combat the rival team.

It's actually all pretty simple, and that's where the problem is. With the focus on combat, there's really not much to the racing element of IGPX. Acceleration and steering are automatically handled, and outside of the sparse obstacles that inhabit a few select maps, you won't need worry about where you're headed or even face forward. The racing aspect of IGPX literally only plays into the last few seconds of each match, after two combat-centric laps, the remaining robots sprint for the finish line and players can then activate a charged boost that will send them flying forward.

The end result is that the two combat-centric laps, the bulk of each match, can end up rather boring. There's literally nothing better to do than to hit your opponents and defend against their advances, causing the combat system to get old rather quickly. You can hit an opponent with a punch, you can smack them off to a teammate, you can even throw them to the ground and grind their face against the track, but if you're looking to destroy that opponent, you're going to be witnessing and performing the same moves over and over again throughout a match. And since an opponent's destruction is the best way to guarantee victory, if you want to win, be prepared for a lot of repetition.

That's not to say the game is completely mindless. Victory often requires smart use of the charged boost that's available during the brief racing segment. These boosts only last for a specific amount of time, and while quick use may temporarily throw you to the front of the pack, don't be surprised to see an opponent activate their boost a bit later and zoom past you to the finish line after you've slowed down. It's an exciting break from the monotony of combat, it's just too bad these segments are so short and only come at the end of a race.

Also, success in the later matches will also require players to purchase upgrades for their robots and spend some time tweaking them in the in-game garage. Those stock parts won't hold up to some of the more advanced equipment other teams are using, meaning you're forced to examine the capabilities of each robot as you proceed through the game. This helps to break things up and keeps the game from becoming too tedious.

Outside of the gameplay, there are a few quibbles to be had with the title's technical aspects. The load times can get a little excessive, especially once you realize the non-interactive non-skippable starting line cinematic that follows the loading screen just hides additional loading. Also, auto-save is sorely missed here. After countless titles auto-saving my progress after ever event, I've grown so accustomed to the convenience that there were several times I lost progress in IGPX because I just assumed the game had saved for me.