NEW game - still sealed. From EuroGamer:
Making, and indeed reviewing, a motorcycle game is always a tricky business. On the one hand, you've got bikers who want an accurate representation of their hobby, which despite its tearaway reputation involves a lot more thought, skill and effort than driving a car. And on the other, you've got gamers, who are more acquainted with car games and Super Hang-On than the delicate physics of bike riding. Understandably, they want to get on and have fun without actually learning to ride a bike before they can play.
Thankfully for both parties, recent years have seen an underground revolution in bike games, with several titles erring on the side of realism, and shying away from slapping a bike licence on game physics which could have been lifted straight from an '80s arcade game. Rider aids and training sections are expected these days to give bike virgins a chance, and if you're willing to persevere a little with braking in a straight line, feeding in the throttle and nailing it out of a corner, you'll come to appreciate the pull of 180mph bikes which cost half the price of a family saloon car.
Superbikes Riding Challenge is the latest addition to this new generation of bike games, and it's clear that a lot of time and effort has gone into including both bikers and gamers. Italian developer Milestone has published three previous World Superbike licensed games, and if its first bike effort in five years falls down anywhere, it's through over-ambition as it has crammed almost every possible idea into one title.
Real world motorcycle manufacturers are geographically split into Japanese and European groups, and this is very much a European rival to the Japanese Tourist Trophy, designed by Polyphony Digital. A total of 40 bikes to unlock may seem underwhelming, but the emphasis is on the top models in each range, with just a few more idiosyncratic choices thrown in. The usual suspects include Hondas, Suzukis, Ducatis and British brand Triumph, but the oddballs include Moto Guzzi and Voxan bikes, giving enough variety to keep interest levels high without forcing you to ride anything dull to increase the vehicle inventory.
The tracks provide plenty of variety too, with real world locations including Valencia, Hockenheim, Laguna Seca and Britain's Don ington Park. These are matched by fictitious road-based tracks, including London streets, Scottish Highlands and Alpine passes. The tracks have been lovingly re-created, with the infamous Corkscrew corner at Laguna Seca as tricky as it should be as you career downhill and around a tight right-hander. It's possible to spot the odd tree out of place, but the only major oddity is the rebranding of the famous Dunlop Bridge at Donington, which now sports French tyre rivals Michelin.
