SBK Superbike World Championship (PlayStation 3)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.5 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Carolyn Petit
• Reviewed on: 05/14/2009
• Released on: 03/10/2009
• Originally published on GameSpot: SBK Superbike World Championship (PlayStation 3) Review

If you're serious about motorcycle racing, chances are you're familiar with the annual international competition known as the Superbike World Championship. If you're not serious about motorcycle racing, SBK is probably not the game for you. This racing simulation's dedication to realism is admirable, and it delivers an experience that can be gratifying, once you get a handle on it. But even racing devotees may be put off by the steep learning curve and the unforgiving difficulty that result from this game's intense, no-frills approach to the sport.

That's not to say you can't customize SBK's level of realism to suit your tastes. There are so many customization options available that it can initially be a bit overwhelming. This is compounded by the fact that it's not immediately apparent what all the options mean. You can select from five overall realism settings that range from basic to extreme, or you can toggle each of the 15 individual settings to your liking. These include whether or not you must manually shift your rider's weight, whether your bike can get damaged or your rider can be injured, whether the front and rear brakes are controlled jointly or independently of each other, and many others. And prior to hitting the track, you can fine-tune each aspect of your bike. This can be done via standard menus that provide a single slider with which to adjust your bike's suspension, steering, gears, and so on, or via advanced menus that let you make miniscule adjustments to each aspect of the bike. There are eight sliders for the suspension alone, for instance: two each for the preload, spring stiffness, compression damper, and rebound damper.

Unless you come to the game already familiar with the physics of motorcycle racing, it's difficult to get a sense of how each of these settings affects you out on the track--when to lean your rider's weight forward or back, when to use both brakes or to use just the front or the rear--and you'll likely fall off your bike dozens of times before this stuff starts to sink in. Talking to your engineer before a race will let you read some short and simple tips on each of these issues, but the physics are so complex and just staying on the bike is so difficult that it can all be daunting. A bit of instructional handholding might have gone a long way in helping new players acclimate themselves to these fine-tuned racing machines.

Even if you choose to forgo most of the realism and set the handling model to basic or arcade, SBK is not an arcade-style racer. Maintaining a smart racing line and properly braking before turns is always a must. Maneuvering past your opponents and making your way up through the ranks without colliding with them requires patience and finesse, and even a slight misstep can result in a disaster from which recovery is difficult or impossible. The game is challenging, even against the easiest opponents, and the laughably misnamed tutorial is worse than useless. It does no tutoring of any kind. It just drops you into a series of situations that will try your patience as well as your skill. You're better off bypassing the tutorial and jumping right into some time trials or races to try to get a feel for proper handling and braking on your own.

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