MotoGP 09/10 may just be the first instance of an officially licensed racing game arriving in time for the start of the new season – although, as the name suggests, this evocation of motorbike racing's blue riband formula kicks off with the 2009 season's curtain-raiser at Losail.
This year's correct rider roster, new tracks (including Silverstone, whose glorious reconfiguration could put it up there with the likes of Spa and Laguna Seca as one of the world's very best tracks) and the new 600cc Moto2 formula will be available to download, pleasing sticklers for authenticity.
Motorbike racing games always negotiate a fine line between authentic handling and instant playability, and MotoGP 09/10 veers strongly towards the latter. It's very much an arcade-style game, rather than a simulator – even when you turn off the driver aids, you can still use other riders as a brake, and you only really risk coming off your bike when you find yourself on grass or in gravel with your knee down. The handling, too, is very forgiving indeed. But that is infinitely preferable to finding yourself half a lap behind the rest of the field.
An almost bewildering amount of game modes should satisfy all punters. Career mode is the main one: it lets you design your own livery, take on a press officer to drum up sponsorship and business, and work your way up from the 125cc formula, enhancing your reputation with every wheelie, slipstream or clean section. Championship casts you as the 125cc rider of your choice; if you finish the season third or better in the championship, 250cc is unlocked. Arcade mode puts you under time pressure, but you earn extra time by slipstreaming, pulling wheelies, executing clean sections and so on. Which will please those who are nostalgic for the likes of Super Hang-On.
Graphically, MotoGP 09/10 is impeccable, with crisp graphics in slightly washed-out colours, good camerawork, impressively rigorous renderings of the tracks and realistic-looking weather effects (although wet tracks are much grippier than they would be in real life). You can operate front and back brakes independently (the latter gives you an unrealistic rear-wheel slide, handy when you run wide in corners, or for those who favour the backing-in style), and you have to press a button to tuck in on straights (negating your ability to get your knee down), or else the other riders will blast past you. Overall, the control system – it's always tricky to evoke a feel of handlebars, weight distribution and braking using a joypad – strikes just the right balance, although those who are amateur bike-racers in real-life would argue that it is dumbed-down.
MotoGP 09/10 wasn't made with such people in mind, though and as long as that doesn't trouble you, you should enjoy it very much indeed. Another impressive British-developed game.
