Superbike 2000

 

Written by James Smith

Screenshots by James Smith

 

Ah the dream of every gamer to have the chance to spew out his thoughts on his video addiction. First a little about myself, I have been around the gaming scene for most of my life, I can remember when pong and then space invaders came out, what magic this new technology was. Spent many a nickel, yes only cost a nickel, Have also owned or played every system made still have Odyssey 2, Atari, Nintendo 8 bit. Once in a while will hook them up and enjoy past pleasures. Now my PC and Playstation take all my gaming time, oh the hours lost never to be seen again. But enough of me on to what we are all here for. THE GAMES.

   My first pick to review is a game all motorcycle fans will love. Superbike 2000 made by EA Sports has only one fault in that the pitstops are only drive through no action takes place in the pits, but if one looks past it great racing awaits them. Once installed eats up over 300 megs disk space and needs 32meg ram and DirectX 7 to run. All graphic cards are supported and can run on reduced settings, but hey who likes anything reduced. Give me the full meal deal anytime, have to feed this brain to keep it playing. If possible max out all settings as this game has a lot to offer your senses. There are 12 tracks to chose from; Laguna Seca, Monza and offer full information on all. Also there are 10 riders to chose from Ben Bostrom, USA, Carl Fogarty, Great Britain, also stats on all riders. There are 6 bike manufacturers to chose from with stats on each bike. Online play is available as well as a split screen two player mode. Game options run from setting cpu skill, weather, the number laps, the number riders. Bike setup allows adjustments to steering geometry, suspension, transmission, and tires. Camera views are set to either helmet cam, fuel tank cam, front fairing cam and third person view. On to the game itself as it has been quite a few years since I have rode a bike, this game comes close as one can get. Leaning to far in the corners will cost you a bad case of road rash. As the screenshots show the people at EA Sports have taken great care to add as much realism they could, the sky looks real, the sun can blind in some spots and shadow detail is good. The bike and driver detail is great, watch your rear tire if driven on the dirt and see what happens once you are back on the track, small detail but shows how much thought was put into game. Once in a race you will be faulted time for false starts and other illegal moves, which will result in a pit call for the time penalty. I suggest all motorbike fans try this game and enjoy the eye feast of the opening scene, it's great.

Happy gaming.