Game Reviews

SBK15 - Moves at just the right speed

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SBK15 - Moves at just the right speed
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It's really easy to fall off a motorbike. I should know, I once did fall off one that wasn't moving. It didn't even have its engine turned on.

SBK15 doesn't quite manage to capture this knife-edge danger though.

That's not the end of the world though - it's still fun, and the racing is still exciting and accessible. You might not fall off quite right, but everything else clicks into place nicely.

Just do it

The game is stuffed to the brim with features, although most of them take on a similar shape. You pick a rider, then ride around a track a few times. But that riding is so slick that it's hard not to get sucked into the world of squealing tyres and helmets.

You'll find the meat of the experience in career mode. Here you pick a rider and lead him through a season. There are qualifying sessions, more qualifying sessions, and then a couple of actual races for each track.

You can change the difficulty at each session, so if things are getting too tough you can try a less demanding setting. Elsewhere there are single races, time attack challenges, and a mode that lets you try and race faster than your friends.

Controls are tilt based by default, but there are plenty of options if you'd prefer to use joysticks. You can tweak the sensitivity too, which is welcome.

The different difficult settings edge things closer to simulation, and if you're feeling particularly brave you can turn off the various assist settings as well.

On road

The overall experience is an engaging one. You can sharpen it if you like, but there's an accessibility here that means anyone with a penchant for two wheeled racing can have a crack at it.

There are a few niggles, but SBK15 moves at just the right speed, and gives you enough to do that you'll be happy to cling on to it for a good long while.

SBK15 - Moves at just the right speed

It misses a few beats, but SBK15 is an engaging bike racer all the same
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.