Description:

The Superbike World Championship, also known as SBK, has had some good representation in the games industry thanks to Italian studio Milestone. With SBKX it releases a labour of love that has been in development for many years. The aim? To provide the most realistic motorbike racing experience yet, while at the same time offering an accessible arcade side as well.

Whilst not to cartoon-esque proportions, reality is a little bit exaggerated in Arcade mode. You can drift around corners and you have a boost button that lets you pass your rivals ahead. Don't think it's easy though – it seems like CPU opponents ahead of you are constantly matching your speed, even when you're boosting. So you really have to learn the courses and know when to zip ahead of others.

The big draw in this half of the game is in the Story Mode, which adds a fair bit of challenge and replayability to the casual proceedings. Essentially, it's a list of specific challenges that you must perform one by one in order to progress to the next league up – you begin in Superstock, and make your way up to Supersport and then Superbike. Each challenge has bronze, silver and gold objectives, so you don't have to worry about sucking too hard on the first go.

Simulation mode, on the other hand, is the big boy's game. There's no room for error, and everything is as it would be if you were sitting on a Ducati bike racing around Monza right now. Luckily for utterly useless motorcycle racers, there are three degrees of simulation to get involved in – Low, Medium or Full.

Beyond the Race Weekend there's several other modes, including Quick Race and Time Attack, along with a fully-fleshed Career mode that gives you eight seasons to reach the top of the Superbike league. With over 80 contestants, 14 different tracks and a competitive online multiplayer mode to boot, it will be hard to resist getting sucked into it all.

Supported accessories:

• DualShock 3 Vibration Function
• Network Features

Information:

• Number of players: 1-16
• Development Company: Milestone
• Software House: Black Bean
• Video Dimensions: 3D
• Publisher: Black Bean
• Point Of View: Combination