Sbk '07 - Ps2

[Wools]

A very low key release, sadly, of a very promising looking Motorbike game.

First things first, the handling of the bikes is incredably involved and you feel like you're learning to ride a bike again. The only game that has done this to me is the excellent Richard Burns Rally. Movment is smooth and sure with so much hidden depth yet to be ekked out, well by me anyway!

In good old PAL land their is no widescreen mode, no 60hz and not even a move the screen option so I am left with a little black bar on the right of my screen. While this is OK as it is optimised 50hz it reeks of being rushed and a little more spit and polish would have benefitted the title massivly.

Also the game is 30 Frames per second with some few dips which although understandable, harms the games immersion from time to time. But the graphic quality is immpressive with a great feel to the tracks and a huge amount of trackside detail. Replays looks absloutly brillant as well and the first person camera in game is sublime. SBK 'O7 is the perfect side order to the already excellent Moto GP '06, one is slick and sublime and the other is all about hardcore handling.

I am slightly disapointed at first glance by the framerate and the lack of some polish on cameras, in game options and some trackside detail, but all this slips away when you start putting in the laps. It's absloutly brillant.

[MartyG]

30 fps? Seemed far less than that most of the time, and given the detail on display it's not exactly pushing polygons.

The handling isn't too bad but it lacks the subtlety of MotoGP - there's no front-rear balance, and the bikes behave like they're too light, it's lightyears away from MotoGP, it errs on Arcade rather than sim. Bike setup up options are woefully limited considering the tinkering that goes on in WSB.

What's good are the bike models and race options, and the AI gives a good challenge - all the race weekend heats are in there including super pole, and these are bikes you can also buy in street form, unlike the stuff Rossi rides.

Unfortunely it's a game that's been developed on a limited budget and shows it in most respects. It's cheap, but there are far far better bike games out there.

[andy572]

How did you guys get along with this in the end? There's very little on it to watch or read on-line - and when I have found something more substantial, it's only conflicting views and barely anything on how it plays.

I'm somewhat wary but is it worth a try for a few quid? How about buying two copies for a couple of bike nuts? Is the racing good enough to drag me away from what turned out to be the surprisingly entertaining Tourist Trophy* and does it have that low-res blur-o-vision of some PS2 games (such as F1 2002, which made it unplayable for me)?

Fingers will be crossed!

[*Once the damned licence tests were out of the way! Year after year, how many must I do, Polyphony?!)