Synopsis: Moto enthusiasts prepare to rejoice for the two wheel super bike racing sim, SBK X. Southpeak games has provided me with a review copy of their new racer boasting a number of new features and changes from their previous entry to make it the go to game for street bike racing fans. With multiple game modes like simulation, arcade, and online multiplayer, there is multiple ways to play through this fast paced racer depending on your liking. Players are able to make their own personal racer and choose their racing team to work their way up the ranks against 90 current racers and legends. Here is my review of the time spent with all the licensed bikes, riders, and tracks, enjoy.
Praise: How often is it that you hear unforgiving as a good thing? Being that you are on two wheels with a motor between your legs capable of sending a rider faster than they can ever dream, it is the closest you will come without the road rash. Simulator felt as technical as other racing sims out there, making sure that you can’t rely on bumping into other racers to move up to 1st place. The feeling of speed is well portrayed in SBK and starting by selecting your team and tuning your bike kept me coming back to try and make more money while having the fastest bike out there. Arcade gameplay is a LOT more forgiving if you are looking for a “sim lite” feel, putting you in the middle of races having to achieve specific goals mid race. Multiple races classes from Superbike to Superstock to Supersport give each class a unique feel and sense of accomplishment. Crashes and bike damage is beautiful and realistic, until you find yourself fighting to get back into position.
Gripes: The graphics of the tracks and environments are mediocre at best, while the bikes and racers look good, it just seems like there wasn’t the same polish put into the tracks. Being a huge fan of both the Forza and Gran Turismo series’ I was expecting more from the simulation mode, but found it to take a while to get the hang of how the bikes control before being able to place in the higher ranks and not crashing multiple times a race, by the way, the brakes are your friend in this one. Tuning, if you choose to tune your bike manually is a love hate relationship, while I am familiar with tuning of cars, I felt extremely out of my element trying to manually tune bikes, luckily I was able to trust my mechanic and his suggestions pre-race.
Overall, SBK X is a motorcycle racing enthusiast’s dream, as it puts you in the shoes of a new racer and shows the player what it is like to start as a rookie and work their way up the ranks without dumbing it down to make it easy. Patience is necessary with this title like numerous other racing sims, to get used to the bike and tracks, before trying to place first in every race. I enjoyed playing SBK X, both arcade and simulation, unfortunately I was unable to locate any matches online, but this will definitely not be put aside after having purchased Gran Turismo 5.
Mashbuttons.com gives SBK X a 8 out of 10.
SBK X is available now for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
