Superbike World Championship

INFORMATION
Publisher by EAsports
Sport: Motorcycle Racing
Reviewed by: Salman Siddiqui

INTRODUCTION
EASports latest title, Superbike World Championship, has finally been released. It has been a long time for someone to finally come around and make a genuine motorcycle racing game that does an excellent job of providing arcade and simulation elements for the gamer. Initially it was my presumption that Superbike World Championship would be, at best, a mediocre game. After all, EA has occasionally released games that are very mediocre and sometimes they have managed to capture the true essence of the sport, games such as FIFA 99 and Madden 99 are a great examples of what a good game should be like. I found the latter to be true for Superbike World Championship. If you have ever played the best car racing game on the PSX called Gran Turismo, then Superbike World Championship is the motorcycle-racing version of it. Perfect simulation mode and excellent arcade play makes this game unsurpassed in terms of finding a median for any gamer.

GRAPHICS 
The graphics in Superbike World Championship are excellent. Each motorbike looks just like its real life counterpart along with the tracks and drivers. I did not seem to find any glitches running the game on a Voodoo II. The one aspect of the graphics that I really liked was how well the crash animation and the distance rendering were done. I did not experience any glitches in the graphics department. Simply put, the graphics are beautiful!
Score 94%

INTERFACE
The interface is very easy to navigate through. The menu screens are easy to follow and I did not seem to find any problems going through them. The only part of the interface I found rather confusing was the bike telemetry and setup screen. The bike telemetry and setup screen is where you tweak you bike to get optimum performance for a particular track. My only gripe about the interface is that you still need to do a lot of clicking before actually starting the race, this at times can be very tedious for any gamma.  Superbike world Championship's control system is adequate. Although, it is difficult playing with a keyboard or a gamepad, eventually, with plenty of practice you will get use to it. 
Score 85%

GAMEPLAY 
Superbike World Championship offers a variety of options in the gameplay department. You can play via modem/network or even on the internet. In addition, there is a simulation and arcade option. My personal favorite is the simulation career mode. I was astonished to see the realism and precision required to utilize your bike (16 in all) for good performance. On the other hand, arcade mode is exactly what it should be, arcade. You have a plethora of options to choose from in both modes but I love the difference between the two. What I found amazing is how EA managed to find such a balance between arcade and simulation modes. As mentioned before, it reminds me of the Gran Turismo for the PSX in terms of arcade and simulation gaming. 
Score 94%

AUDIO 
The audio department is okay. The bike sounds are realistic to my knowledge, as I have been to a few bike races myself. This is sufficient for a superbike racing game. You really can't add a whole lot of sounds; perhaps a commentator in the next version would be nice.
Score 85%

DIFFICULTY 
Prepare to spend countless hours trying to finish number one. The tracks are very tricky and extremely challenging. You will definitely need to spend time practicing everything from turning to overtaking to utmost accuracy. If you decide to play simulation mode, start praying because you are going to get your butt handed to you a few times as you observe the proper adjustments for your bike, opponents and the different tracks. All in all, don't expect to become a master at Superbike World Championship. Even after three weeks of playing this game on normal difficulty, the computer opponents will often beat me.
Score 96%

OVERALL 
This is the best superbike racing game available on the market. Great gameplay, beautiful graphics, awesome difficulty and good balance of arcade and simulation racing makes Superbike World Championship a definite winner! 

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Recommended:
Pentium 233MHz
32MB RAM
8X cd-rom
3Dfx Accelerator

Cons:
- Sound
- Interface could be better
- Control occasionally

Pros:
-  Near perfect balance of simulation & arcade modes
-  Graphics
-  Difficulty
 
 

Coolinfo Bottom Line:
 - If you love superbike racing, this game is worth buying