"Kind of reminds me of Road Rash...."

... without the fighting, without the characters, without the bad mouthing, without the cops, and without purchasing of bikes. Not without, however, the fun. Super Burnout is a motorcycle racing game that I had never heard of before. I bought a huge lot of Jaguar games from eBay and this game came with it. I had no intentions of playing it more than to make sure it worked. However, when I tried it, I found it to be actually fun.

Game Play
Super Burnout is very simplistic. You basically race your motorcycle against 6 other people on tracks all across the world -- from Australia to Germany to the US to Japan. What I like about it is that it is not involved at all. In other motorcycle games (like Road Rash) there are levels and new bikes and a multitude of other things you have to go through. Not true for Super Burnout. You basically just race and see if you can break the record time. Doing so is very easy too because I set several records my very first time playing. I also like how you can set the abilities of the other racers, from easy, average or hard. You can also set the amount of laps. Four is default but 2 is probably best because with the lack of fighting the other racers, the game will get boring. Another aspect I like it how fast the game moves. You can go Right turn, left turn, right turn in a matter of seconds and if you aren't careful, you will crash. Crashing isn't bad though because you get right back up on your bike and only lose a few seconds. The best part of it, I think, is that there is a line on the track that is like a trajectory line. If you stay on the line, or inside of it when going around corners, you are much less likely to go off of the track and crash.

Score 9

Graphics
The graphics are very well done in Super Burnout. The game moves at very high speeds at times and the graphics do not experience any slow down. While there isn't a whole lot of detail, what is there is excellent. I really enjoy in the first level how it gradually gets darker as you go along and the headlights on your bike come on. It's so subtle that you don't notice it until it has already happened. There are light time and day time levels to give the graphics some variety. The trees along the side of the track are nice looking as well. One criticism of the graphics, I suppose, is that when traveling around the world, you don't see any thing specific of the country you are in. It's not something that major but something I have noticed.

Score 10

Control
The control of Super Burnout is, for the most part, good. Different bikes have different handling and as such, when playing with a poor handling bike, the control will feel real bad. However, when playing with a bike that has good handling, the control is fine. Going around corners is pretty easy for the most part. Sometimes your speed gets so fast that you do not have time to react, but the more you play, the better you will become. One thing I dislike, and it is more of a Jaguar problem than the game's problem, is navigating the menus. When inside the menu, if you press the C button you start the game, where when you press the A button, you go back to the previous screen. Because the Jaguar's buttons are backwards from other controllers, you might find yourself starting the game before you have all of your options set. It is a minor inconvenience but one that needs to be noted.

Score 10

Sounds and Music
I have said it before, and I will say it again. I do not like video game music. The music in Super Burnout is pretty generic. It isn't bad, but it isn't good either. One good thing about it is that it is audible throughout the game, unlike many other Jaguar games where the music is only there in certain parts. I do, however, enjoy the music during the credits (as well as some of the funny messages at the end). The sound is great. There is a voice that tells you how many laps you have left, if your time for that lap was the best of the race, and if you set a record. The voice is loud but not overbearing. One thing that isn't really there is the engine noise. It would be nice if there was engine noise.

Score 7

Overall, Super Burnout is one of those games that is fun that is never talked about. There is also a good simultaneous two player mode which a lot of motorcycle games of this time period were lacking. Worth picking up if you are into racing games or the Jaguar in general.

Pros:
1. Great graphics
2. Simple and yet fun

Cons:
1. Music isn't anything to write home about.

Overall Score 9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/05