SBK X: Superbike World Championship

Motorcycle racing is an extremely popular type of game, but learning how to ‘drive’ a virtual motorcycle can be just as hard as learning how to drive a real one. SBK X: Superbike World Championship is a vast racing simulator that has all the complicated driving techniques to satisfy the hard core motorcycle enthusiast—as well as a simple arcade mode for those who don’t want to deal with a two brake system.

Another feature that makes it easier for beginners is a new addition seen previously in the FORZA series, a line that helps guide you through turns. Although following it to the letter is likely to lead you into falling face first into a sand trap, it does help give you the idea of how turns need to be handled in the game.

If you’ve played Moto Racer 3, you’ll be familiar with the play style of the game. It’s very similar, except that Moto Racer 3 focuses more on challenges rather than races.

Climb to the top

The game features an enormous number of races divided into three different classes. Work your way up from Superstock to Supersport, and finally Superbike to come out on top and be the champion of them all.

The races happen in a variety of different settings. The arcade mode allows you to pick-up-and-play with no previous experience in motorcycle games, while the simulator mode requires a deep understanding of motorcycle mechanics.

Try to ride a race when the weather is wet and you’ll truly realize how complex the simulator can be. The realistic sim holds nothing back, and there’s no tutorial to help ease the learning curve.

Not Very Customizable

While SBK X: Superbike World Championship allows you to customize outfits and helmets in the game, it doesn’t allow much customization anywhere else. The game is almost entirely full of presets that can’t be changed.

Although this is fairly expected in motorcycle games, the ability to customize bikes or your own track would have added a lot of depth to the game.

No sense of speed

Perhaps the biggest complaint about this game is that although you are riding motorbikes often referred to as “Crotch rockets” for a reason, there’s no real sense of speed. Even in the heat of a race, play feels slow and calm, like you’re going for a casual ride.

On top of this, while the riders themselves are beautifully detailed, the scenery was glossed over, making a beautiful ride through the country side somewhat dull. In a racing simulator, the lack of speed is very noticeable, and a somewhat large drawback to the game. It’s hard to feel tense when the race feels like a Sunday drive.

Pros:

• Hyper realistic simulator
• Hundreds of races

Cons:

• Not very customizable
• Underwhelming graphics and sound

I Have Always considered superbikes the pinnacle of 'grr' manliness. Just you, some leather and a Freudian metaphor between your legs, and all for the insanity of riding at mad speeds just one mistake from total carnage. So it's strange that SBK X seems so anodyne.

The game starts promising enough, and mirrors SBK 09s range of modes. Arcade allows you to hop on and ride almost unhindered on a full range of officially licensed bikes and tracks and the console fun continues with the boost key, which drains the screen of colour as the speed ramps up. The solid scalable simulation mode is the key draw here, as you can tailor the propensity for your rider to fall off, along with braking and turning abilities to your own skill level. As with superbike's less manly cousin, F1, you're likely to witness some sickening crashes to see if riders' internal organs remain in their rightful place. Sadly SBKX makes crashes only a momentary distraction and you're back on the undamaged bike within seconds. Luckily the in-built freezecam allows you to gloat over your falls, but there's nothing to worry Codemasters crash-porn fare GRID and DiRT2.

Milestone have certainly taken a leaf from the Codies playbook and SBKX features a similar lobby system, career mode and dude rock that DiRT2 made us suffer. It's just a shame that sober reverence for the licence has resulted in a game that feels rock solid but lacks thrills. Much like the square guy from the office turning up on a 1200.