SBK 07: Superbike World Championship (PlayStation 2)

I got given this one at short notice, but hey, I decided I'd do it anyways. I'm not the world's greatest racer and whilst I like the genre I often find there's not much in the way of innovation, a few new bikes or cars, a few new tracks but mostly every racing game I've ever played has been a re-iteration of things like the original Need for Speed, which upon my humble 3DO was the best.

So now it's the turn of Superbike 07. An aptly named game that seems to fall into the same category as numerous FIFA remakes by EA. I say seems because it's actually by the same developer that did a previous Superbike game for EA in 2001.

Mention a bike racing game and most people will say, oh, you mean Moto GP? Now I am not fond of Moto GP at all, I prefer this game over it because it caters for the hardcore simulation fan and the casual arcade player, so kudos to the developers for remembering there are people out there who don't know every inch of a racing bike down to the smallest nut and bolt.

One of the game's strengths is that it actually feels more open to new players; it's a better accessible game than the Moto GP series. You can pick it up and start playing, tearing up the tracks and burning rubber from the get-go. Then once you're Ok with how the game plays and everything works, you can switch to a simulation mode that actually simulates the bike riding fairly well.

You don't just have a dyed in the wool mode either; you can customise your gaming experience with this one. Turn off a setting like braking assistance if you feel you don't need any help; leave it on if you're struggling with losing control of the bike around corners. By allowing you to shape the game's control system and how it plays you can get an experience you're comfortable with and that wins big in my book.

The main game focuses on championship mode, you get 11 tracks (official) where you do the rinse repeat, practise, qualify and race. You can skip the pre-race stages if you want to and if you're playing the game using just the arcade style you'll notice that you don't need to qualify for a better starting position on the grid which is a nice little touch for the casual gamer again.

You can unlock riders; choose a bike and rider from any of the 15 teams. You can change the difficulty of the game from rookie, amateur and professional. You can alter the length of the race if you really want to, but I admit I prefer to make races longer if I can so I can get the most out of the bike riding (which is a rarity for me).

The trick to the game seems to be in learning the tracks, once you've done this task you can bump up the difficulty and you'll find the AI isn't all that hardcore challenging to the casual arcade gamer even if you put the game onto professional. I'd have liked a bit more meat to the opponent AI but it's not bad. If you tire of the championship mode you can always throw your lot in with the other game modes on offer, such as: acceleration, skidding, chase games and time trial.

Do well at these and you'll win some bonus stuff.