First impressions: SBK 08 Superbike World Championship on PSP

Technically speaking we've been falling over more times than Michael Schumacher's recent attempts at bike racing in trying to bring you a preview of SBK 08, sequel to last year's – yes, that's right – SBK 07. Honestly, it's a long story.

Still, that hasn't stopped us clocking up plenty of track miles with a preview version of the game (which is out later this month) and we'll quickly follow with a more in-depth look at the game but for now we'll leave you with our first impressions.

In a nutshell
It's the official game of the Superbike World Championship, featuring all 22 riders and bikes, as well as the tracks of the 2008 season. The game is the follow-up to last year's relatively well received SBK 07 and is being developed by Italian racing game specialist, Milestone. The feeling is very much of a simulation with great emphasis on realism, but while it caters for the hardcore bike racing fans, there are plenty of options to keep things accessible for the more mainstream crowd.

Key features
Six modes – Quick Race, Time Attack, Race Weekend, Championship, Challenges, Multiplayer (four-player ad-hoc) – cover just about every SBK-related desire, with Challenges being the least obvious of the gang. Effectively, it involves a series of acceleration- and skid-based tests, along with head-to-head and sim mode trials.

Also worth mentioning are the options, which include a very impressive list of detailed features that can be tweaked to tailor the experience to individual needs. Want to operate both front and rear brakes with one button, need help off the start line, or feel the need to race with tyre wear on? You can, and much, much more.

Look and feel
Graphically things look rather impressive, with very solid and convincing track recreations, while rider and bike animations are also competently handled. This visual accomplishment doesn't come at the cost of a sense of speed, either, with the four views on offer delivering a speedy experience.

Underpinning the speed is what feels like a suitably comprehensive handling system. It's perhaps a little on the weighty side, particularly when using the D-pad over the analogue option, but it remains responsive, predictable and rewarding once you compensate for how bikes differ from cars on the track.

First impressions
From our experience so far, SBK 08 comes across as a serious and promising attempt at a handheld racing simulation that should delight Superbike fans. It's certainly detailed enough to cater to that group yet appears accessible to less committed followers of bike racing, too, with plenty of options available to ensure an accessible, more arcade-like experience.

Certainly the dynamics of the bike appear well conveyed and what we're keen to find out is how good the racing itself turns out to be – on the default and medium difficulty settings we had little trouble leaving the racing pack behind once we got used to a bike's slower change of direction ability, even on unfamiliar tracks, although that should hopefully change once we increase the realism in the expansive options list.

And the fact we're looking forward to finding that out is clearly a good sign.