SBK Superbike World Championship (Xbox 360)

For years I've been buying motorcycle video games that just seem to have been created by people that have never ridden a motorcycle! And the games based on real world racing series (like MotoGP) seemed like the developers never took an understanding of the sport that they making a game for!

This SBK has a lot of depth. Hardcore bike racing gamers should appreciate all of the the advanced options that this game allows. Graphics are decent, sound is excellent.

The only fault is that the career mode does not allow for the creation of a custom character.

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I agree with the sentiment of other reviews I've seen, it's a good game but it's a bit outdated (graphics, physics, etc). When you have racing standards like Forza 2 or Gran Tourismo it's hard to pop this game in and be impressed. Heck even Tourist Trophy for the PS2 looked better and it's over 3yrs old.

The funny thing is...MotoGP08 (which I also had high hopes for and did NOT like) was developed by the same folks as SBK 08. How they can be so wildly different in game play quality is beyond me.

So the question I had before I bought it was "how's the gameplay?" The answer is contained in my title "Better than expected, not as good as it should be." The difference in difficulty levels is not linear and covers a LOT of ground. Just going from Basic to Arcade is a pretty big jump. "Realistic" is completely misnamed. Unless you think that lowsiding/highsiding should be possible at any angle other than straight up and down with anything over 15% throttle is "realistic", then this is the setting for you. I do like the fact that you can get it to be very hard to control but I wouldn't call it simulation. I've done a custom setting to add in Traction Control, I can still crash myself if I get crazy with the throttle but not just by breathing on the throttle. I think once you find your own handling "sweet spot" you'll enjoy this game immensely. You get all the qualifying and practice sessions as in a real race weekend so if you really wanted to simulate a race, you could take days....

The AI isn't great but on the 2nd hardest difficulty level the riders are turning lap times within +/- .2 seconds of real lap times.

My guess would be that while other genres of racing games generate a lot of money, motorcycle racing games are just not that popular/profitable in the US. To me that's very sad because after being a M/C road racing fan for over 20yrs you are seeing some of the best racing, the most amazing machines ever (MotoGP, bring back the 990's!). So with that this game is better than I expected but not as good as it could be, especially when you see other games out there LIGHT YEARS ahead in graphics, gameplay depth and physics/feel.

Here's hoping the next version is more that just "new bikes/rider/tracks" with the same level of graphics and physics....but I still can't wait to be Ben Spies on the R1 at Portimao!

For $29? Recommended.

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I want to start off by saying that I am not a hardcore Superbike fan. I thought this game would offer gameplay similiar to Forza...just for motorcycles. I expected to be able to adjust the bike (beyond just colors etc, but be able to adjust suspension, tire pressure etc) and you can. I expected that many tracks would be available...and there is. I expected decent graphics...and they actually are sub-par. What I did not expect are incessant load screens, which there are. I did not expect the handling to be so freaking touchy..downright frustrating, and they are. This game might be fun after 5-6 hours of practicing controls, but I do not have anywhere near that amount of patience.

Mind you I am far from a casual gamer, I am quite proficient and can play all genres. This game, after playing over an hour I did not win one single race. I was not close to winning one single race. The fact that I am going to trade this game in at Gamestop truly is a testament that I have complete control over my emotions since ever fiber of my being wanted to break this game in no less that 16 pieces.

I get it that some people are really into this type of game, but to appeal to a broader market you have to find some balance. Forza was a good example, you could go very deep in that game, or stay just beneath the surface. Some people lived and breathed that game, others like me had about 30 hrs into it, and found it enjoyable. This game is nothing like that. Either be prepared to invest some MAJOR time into it, or like me play it for a little over an hour and curse it out.

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