Moto GP

This is the best Moto GP game ever made. Xbox Live launched with the Moto GP Live Demo. This game was so hard to find at that point as it was the only way to unlock all the tracks. I still have my Original Xbox copy and will never depart with it.

This game works on the Xbox 360. Once you learn how to control the bike it becomes fun.

I've been waiting for the release of this game for some time and am delighted at the quality of it now that it's mine. My favorite gaming genre is vehicular racing. MotoGP resides in the slot between arcade and sim racer, taking the ease and quick simplicity of an arcade-style racer and combining that with a beautiful audio-visual realism of a sim racer. This is my first MotoGP videogame and I'm speaking from the point of view that Test Drive: LeMans was the best racing game on the Dreamcast system. A couple of the same tracks are in this game as well.The rookie level of difficulty makes it easy to jump in and race competitively (against 19 other bikes) and turning up the difficulty makes it extremely challenging for those who want to invest the time and develop their skills. You earn credits for finishing well in the races. These you can distribute among various racing skills such as acceleration and corning, similar to an RPG.The control scheme is unusual compared to the standard XBox racing scheme but is nicely optimized for the intricacies of a motorcycle. Not too difficult for casual racers and offering subtleties for fans to delve into.For those who get motion sickness, you may want to rent the game first, unlike most car racers, the horizon swivels as you lean into the turns, and there's alot of leaning in a race. Weather effects are done very well. The bikes and riders are extremely-well detailed and animated. The sky flashes brightly from lightning in stormy weather and the sun flares (sometimes wildly) depending on your position to it.For those with XBox-owning friends, you can network race via the ethernet link cable and if you have a hub you can network 16 XBoxes together and race with 15 other friends. I haven't had a chance to try this yet but I've played with 7 others this way on Halo and it was a blast. No need to splitscreen (though that is an option if you are not LANing).Grease monkeys, sorry, no tinkering allowed other than applying credits to your riding abilities. Racing fans in general, you'll most likely love this game. It's as beautiful as Rally Sport Challenge and in my opinion has a couple more bells and whistles.The bottom line for me is that this is the third jewel in the XBox crown of vehicular racing games (Project Gotham, Rally Sport Challenge). Another shining example that makes the XBox the best platform for console racing.

Moto GP is an outstanding game. Even if you are not a huge motorcycle racing fan, which I am not, this game will be fun for you if you like racing sims.Gameplay: 9The most realistic physics engine ever used for a Gran Prix motorcylce game (confirmed by a friend who has driven them). The training mode helps you move up the learning curve and build up your own character. You also unlock riders and other extras through winning races in two different modes: arcade and the GP circuit. You can even do tricks, which will actually help you in arcade mode.Graphics: 8Top-notch graphics. Could they be better? Sure, but for this experience they really don't need to be. Excellent detail and shading on the courses and the bikes themselves.Replay: 8.5The only reason this is not a 9, or even a 10, is that I feel there could be more courses. Ten courses is not too shabby, though. The action in both single player and multiplayer is enough to bring you back for more... and more...

The good news is that since Xbox live comes with a demo version of this game, there will be a huge base of players on the Internet. That means there are plenty of games to pick-up and lots of friends to meet. Unfortunately, most of these gamers on Xbox Live are NOT there for this game. So it is difficult to find a good game where 75% of the people aren't just on to test out their connection and communicator. That means a lot of people crashing a few driving backwards. For those who are playing it only as a demo on Live, the game is not that easy to pick up. The physics are real, which means you are going to work to keep your bike on the track and off of the grass. For those who are racing fans, you will be pleased with the game. (Check the other reviews, which go into more of the details.) I hope, though, that the on-line play matures a bit.