Motorbike racing games

Tomi on 30/6/2013 at 12:40

I know that 99% of you guys here couldn't care less about racing games, but I thought I would ask for some recommendations anyway.
Hell, even I don't really care about any kind of racing anymore, F1 used to be somewhat interesting years ago and bike racing can be quite exciting, but it's not very popular in this country I guess.

However, I have fond memories of playing a game called GP500 more than a decade ago, I remember it being pretty awesome. In fact, I think it still looks pretty awesome:

[video=youtube;5NAyOlqQkHA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NAyOlqQkHA[/video]

I tried getting back to it a few years ago, but the game has quite a steep learning curve, and I guess I wasn't just patient enough to start all over again (and I think I had some trouble getting some patches/mods to work properly too). It's not one of those games where you can just start playing and immediately win races. No, you got to learn how to control your bike, then you spend ages trying to learn each curve and the best racing lines of each track, and only then you may think about actually racing against your opponents... and even then you'll probably suck and fall during your first lap. :p

On the top of that, you can/will have to adjust your bike settings to suit the track, and that's where it all gets a bit too much for me. I don't mind choosing what kind of tyres I use, even the gear settings are somewhat okay for me, but come on, I don't even know what some of the other technical terms even mean. Rebound damping, stiffness progression, spring rate, etc... :erg: They're briefly explained in the game manual, but I still have no idea what they do and how I should change them.

Despite of that, I still managed to find a suitable difficulty level for me and I remember having some really exciting races. I think that GP500 found almost the perfect balance between arcade and simulation (with my game settings, at least) - it wasn't desperately difficult to learn but definitely not easy either, but the feeling of actually achieving something was awesome when you finished your first race higher than the last position. :p I don't think I ever won a race, but might have gotten on the podium a few times... Oh, and I was never good enough to play with the first person view - I wish I had been because it looks so much cooler than the arcadey third person view from behind the bike, but it's a lot more difficult as well.

A few years later I wanted to try something new, and I saw this game called MotoGP 3: Ultimate Racing Technology that looked really good. (Note the emphasis on the word "looked".) It had gotten some rather good reviews so I bought it... and it turned out to be quite a disappointment, unfortunately. Even on the higher difficulty levels with the driving aids turned off it seemed like an (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvggNIq4OAc) arcade racing game, where pushing your opponents off the track was an effective strategy, and if you fell off your bike or crashed into the other drivers it was alright, because you were instantly back on your bike and ready to go again. I do enjoy some arcade racing games like Flatout or Trackmania, but if I want to pretend to be a MotoGP racer I'd like it to be a bit more realistic experience. If you drifted off the track in GP500 it usually meant falling off your bike, and falling off your bike just once practically meant that you had no chance of finishing anywhere near the top anymore. It was very punishing, but I liked that, because it made the races much more exciting (and often a lot more frustrating).

Anyway, before I start rambling any further, I'll just get to the point now. :p

*ahem*

I'm looking for a somewhat realistic bike racing game, but do these even exist anymore? "Somewhat realistic", because it doesn't have to be just as realistic as real racing where every little mistake could probably end your race, but the feeling of danger has got to be there, so reckless arcade racing is a big no-no. And the less emphasis there is for adjusting your bike settings the better - I don't know a crap about bike mechanics. :erg:

So, if anyone knows a game that could potentially fit my very vague description above, please let me know. There's a new game called (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1fgltrlEKE) MotoGP '13 that looks quite interesting, but I think I'll wait for some more reviews before wasting my money on it... Hmm, there seems to be a playable demo of it available on Steam... k gtg bye! :o

demagogue on 30/6/2013 at 14:13

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuLTDueMZVI) GP Bikes is what the racing sim sites mention as the most realistic bike sim.

Most realistic sims these days have difficulty settings so if you don't want it too unforgiving it will fudge the turning and braking just a little. IMO it's better to play a realistic sim on "easy" settings than a more arcade game even on its "realistic" setting... With a real sim, you can feel how realistic it is that an arcade racer can't match.

Jason Moyer on 30/6/2013 at 15:09

I haven't tried the new SBK games, but AFAIK GP500 is still the best bike sim.

Tomi on 30/6/2013 at 17:09

Thanks, that GP Bikes game looks pretty good, but the game still seems to be far from finished. I didn't find a single video of it with other drivers on the track for example. I might still give the demo a try when I have time though.

I watched some gameplay videos of (http://youtu.be/7LkkJCdq9eQ?t=35s) SBK Generations 2012 on Youtube, and while it looks really nice, it also looked almost as arcadey as MotoGP 3: URT. Perhaps I'll just try to install GP500 again. :o

EDIT: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElHfaTIxzsA) Another SBK gameplay video that I found looks more promising.

EvaUnit02 on 30/6/2013 at 20:33

An obvious answer.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_Trophy_%28video_game%29)

demagogue on 30/6/2013 at 22:27

Quote Posted by Tomi

I didn't find a single video of it with other drivers on the track for example.

For the record, there are some (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCirIbhHP14) videos of group racing. I'm not 100% sure about its status either. The videos that say "beta" are from 2010, so I figured it'd be finished now, but you never can be too sure.

Edit: The fact that its forum is pretty sparse isn't a good sign either.

Jason Moyer on 30/6/2013 at 23:04

Tomi, if you don't mind something older, Superbike 2001 (published by EA) was actually remarkably decent. I don't remember it being as good as GP500 but it's been years.

Tourist Trophy is Gran Turismo with bikes. I doubt it's as believable as what Tomi is looking for but some people seem to like it. It's not much different than MotoGP, aside from the content.

Chade on 30/6/2013 at 23:24

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Dz6Wtm1Go) Elastomania.

Although, I understand that you can't do all the same physics tricks on modern computers.

(EDIT: I should add, this does not fit your realism criteria even slightly. I just thought it was something a bit different that might be fun: a five minute time waster rather then a serious contender for something you want to spend lots of time on.)

Yakoob on 3/7/2013 at 03:19