The checkpoints are in the forms of barricades, roadblocks and other such barriers that you have to blast or crash through to get your time. Plus, there are various enemy tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and the like attempting to terminate your existence at every turn. Oh, and your tank has a health bar, and if that runs out, even if you have time left, you blow up, Game Over. Once you get used to the kind of weird combination of race game and shooter that its paradigm presents, this game is a lot of fun. The console is motion-controlled, so that when you fire the main cannon, your seat and controls lurch backward with the recoil.
Enemies explode most satisfyingly, and crashing through the barricades is a hoot.
I've always been a little leery of motorcycle games. I'm glad I did. Driving a motorcycle game is almost completely unlike car games, despite the distinct similarity in what appears on the screen - not only because the controls are, physically, completely different, but because the response is different, too. After a couple of disastrous laps, I got the hang of it - much like a real motorcycle, you have to anticipate the turns much further in advance than when you're behind the wheel of a car. Within a couple of bucks, I was consistently finishing the race on the beginner-level track.