Superbike 2001

We've said it before and we'll say it again: bike games don't work. A sweeping generalisation, clearly, but the truth is that they don't quite manage to convey the control and immediacy of their four-wheeled counterparts. Simulating a superbike is no mean feat, and, left to your own devices, it's near impossible to stay on the track. In fact, it's no word of a lie that riding an actual superbike is a great deal easier than an unassisted simulation, as so much of it involves the shifting of body weight.

As we've come to expect, this is of course the same game as last year, with the addition of a number of minor modifications. The developers seem to have taken on board the fact that the previous model had a vicious learning curve, and have attempted to remedy this with a number of player aids. Braking and acceleration can be assigned various levels of help, and staying on the track is subsequently far more likely. However, attempting to find the point between a decent challenge and an interactive tour is something of a game in itself. Turn all the aids off and you'll be tossed around like a rag doll at every turn, switch them on and you might as well get a trained orangutan to stand in for you. Consequently, all they've really achieved is the shifting of the learning curve along its axis.

Nevertheless, this is the best superbike game available, and inherent dynamic complications aside, it's an extremely polished affair, blessed with EA Sports' trademark authenticity and slickness. Fans of the sport will lap it up, whereas non-enthusiasts won't buy it.