MotoGP

"A great bike racing game"

Gameplay :
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3D bike racing game based on the 1998 official 500cc world championship.

There are many different views, first person, third person, helicopter, pillion view etc .... (for the very hardcore, try playing the game in first person view all the way round, the bank of the bike and the associated banking of the view is great to watch).

There are 5 tracks that are available when you start the game, with 5 more that are unlocked (see replay section).

The same goes with bikes, there are a few dozen of them with varying stats and paintjobs.

Also a 2 player horizontal split screen mode too !!

Story :
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You have a bomb on your bike and you have to come first or it will blow up. Well not really, just come first to get points and win the championship. By coming first and getting good times you unlock extra things (see replay sction)

Audio/Video :
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Biking has never sounded so good. The whine of the engine when you change down gears and the growl as it accelerates is smart. The helicopter view even has helicopter sound effects. The music is dumb n bass / jungly / techno and makes for good driving music. A friend of mine asked if i could rip off the audio tracks for him as MP3's, so that goes to show the quality of it.

The graphics aren't bad either, in fact they are pretty damn good. When you lock the wheels up you get a skid mark which stasys for the duration of the race. The racing line is marked by dark rubber marks on the track. The bikes and rider move realistically (judging from watching bike racing on satellite).

When you are near other bikes, the picture of the rider pops up breifly over the bike so you know who you are racing with. Would have been great if there was a photo-fit so you can make you own face to show when you are racing (maybe for Moto GP 2)

One thing people may complain about is the fact that there is no anti-aliasing, so there are a few jaggies, but when you are blasting around the track, you hardly notice.

Replayability :
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Loads of bikes, real teams / riders, 10 tracks in total and a great handling system (you have got to play it in simulation mode, trying to keep the backend in check is so fun and very well done).

There is a challenge mode where you have to do tests like in Gran Turismo to get extra features (tracks, bikes etc ...). Also winning races and championships unlocks things as does doing time trials and getting past certain times.

To buy or to rent ? :
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Buy it, play it, play it some more, get your mates round and play it split screen (2 player) against him/her.

Then go back to playing it more. As you can guess I'm hooked. This will certainly keep me going till Gran Turismo 3 is released.

Conclusion :
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If you like racing games get this, if you don't like racing games, that's it. Some people will complain about lack of anti-aliasing, but that's about it they can complain about. Bike games are all about handling and tracks, and this game has got both by the bucket load. Go get this game.

Thanx
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Thanx goes to Steve @ Games Console (http://www.games-console.com) for the review copy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/00, Updated 10/20/00