SBK Superbike World Champ

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $19.79
Today's Bonus: 34% Off

I bought this over the Capcom MotoGP series after checking out some GameSpot reviews. Couldn't be more pleased. After getting wet with this game I went ahead and downloaded a demo of MotoGP. It had a pretty clunky feel to it, from controls to animation. Maybe THQ needs to buy back that franchise. Everyone dogs the tutorials for this game but when it comes down to it, you really just need to pound out 2 or 3 hours and it all starts to sink in. Upon installation I immediately shut off all the aids, but eventually went back to having a linked brake button and auto rider weight positioning. The L & R steering movement on the thumbstick needs all your attention. Having to integrate back & forward movement for rider lean using the same stick is just too damn much. The challenges are great and help build upon your skills and understanding of the physics. Graphics are on par with PS3 standards and, although I ain't a pro, the respective bike manufacturer variation seems to be pretty true to life. I guess it doesn't take a big name gaming label to get this sport right after all.

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After buying and playing MotoGP 08 for about a week before returning it, I was very hesitant to pick up another motorcycle racing game, but fortunately this one delivers where MotoGP did not and for just $30!

The Good The graphics are pretty good not great, but pretty good. The sound is also pretty decent. The variety of rider views is fantastic and they did an excellent job with the 1st person views in particular. The settings cover quite a wide range of playing styles from basic/arcade to extreme (which I have not tried yet) and the overall flexibility of the game makes this game fairly easy to get into. The ability to customize the bikes is also pretty impressive, being able to adjust everything from chain tension to suspension. The tracks look pretty good, even though the background is a bit lacking, but the intensity of the racing really makes it a moot point. Most importantly, this game is fun! Every aspect of this game is WAY beyond anything MotoGP 08 offers and at half the cost!

The Bad For starters, the tutorials (5 total) are worthless. I would not, in any way, consider them tutorials, just very basic challenges. A tutorial should teach you how to do something, not just set a general goal and set you loose to figure out how to achieve it. Also, load times can be pretty long and can take away a lot of momentum between sessions. The flexibility of the bike mods also fall into the "bad" because the learning curves is awfully steep. You can consult your engineer and simply chose the "recommended" settings for qualifying or race, but more than that will leave the average player scratching their heads for a while.

Overall, after just a little practice, this game is a lot of fun. With decent graphics and pretty good flexibility, this game is a welcome addition to my collection. Also, at half the cost of the piece of poo that is MotoGP 08, this game is a great buy that you can get into after just a few practice sessions, and can spend countless hours trying to master at the various levels of realism. It could have used a little more polish (hence the four stars), but I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a decent motorcycle sim.

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It's a great game with great graphics. It's easy to just pick up a race or too play a whole season.

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Bought this game with high hopes and only played it a few times. The control feel is pretty good and the graphics of the rider/bike are impressive, but the graphics of the track and surroundings are surprisingly grainy and sometimes slow to draw down-track which really impacts your sense of movement and speed. On my PS2 I played Tourist Trophy by Polyphony which is derived from the Gran Turismo series and thus has amazing tracks and movement dynamics. TT had a cockpit POV that actually showed the handlebars counter-steering, that took a little getting used to, and was harder to master than the above-and-behind views but really gave you a little of the feel of riding a real bike.

I could deal with the graphics and get used to the view/feel, but the real issue that I had with this game was the load times. They aren't terribly long, but they are CONSTANT! When you are between races, setting up the bike etc. When you are in the race series mode or whatever they call it, you do like three practice sessions and three qualifying runs BEFORE the race. Between each of those sessions on the track you have to wait for several load screens and that is if you don't make any changes to the bike setup or check the conditions. I believe there were about 14 tracks in the season and to get through one track "Weekend" you there must be 60+ load screen events. It was enough to make me want to take up knitting!

Thanks,

Max

PS Anyone interested in a clean copy of SBK with low usage, I can hook you up...

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very different form driving game. you are going to have to learn how to drive the bike and this is coming form someone who ridings