GASP! RIFTS offers lots of choices!
You say that like its a bad thing. Talisanthna lists, in its core rulebook, 125 archetypes, including something like 80 races or nationalities. Open ended systems like M&M, HERO, and GURPS are limited only in your imagination and your GM's leniency.
Heck, even D20 has lots of races...especially after Savage Species was printed.
When I ran my first RIFTS campaign, I made a cheatsheet for my players, consisting of a 1-2 line summary covering each RCC and OCC I would allow the players to play, and where to find it, sorted by book. It was about 7 pages long (I didn't eliminate many classes).
Lots of weapons & equipment? YAY! A lot of sci-fi games suffer because they are equipment poor. Ever wander through a gun store or gun & knife show? Do it and you'll see THOUSANDS of weapons from hundreds of manufacturers, and that ignores the custom-made stuff or the experimental prototypes.
It is the rare established product that is unique in its field. At some point, a competitor will try to grab some of its market share- instead of 1 armed hoverbike used worldwide, you'd expect to see several designs, each with strengths and weaknesses...ESPECIALLY in a setting that presumes multiple alien and cross-dimensional civilizations living in close proximity.