Capcom’s decision to give development duties on MotoGP ‘07 to Milestone makes a lot of sense. The Italian studio had already developed the only other PS2 motorbikesim this year – the acclaimed SBK-07 – so surely all it needed to do was carry out the videogame equivalent of a cut and paste.

The similarities between MotoGP ‘07 and SBK-07 are painfully obvious. The menus are near identical, they both share the obligatory Challenge, Championship and Quick Race modes, and both cram in all the riders and tracks from their respective tournaments. Yet there are some big differences between the two that will impact on which game you decide to buy, depending on exactly what you are looking for in a bike-sim.

The main difference is the handling. There are three physics options in MotoGP: Arcade, Simulation and Advanced. Simulation is a peach, and probably the closest you’ll get to a superbike on the PS2. It forces you to break well before you get to the bend, so you can concentrate on the timing of your turns and points of acceleration. It is a real step above SBK-07, which is erroneously lenient when it comes to mid-bend breaking. However, while SBK’s Arcade mode brilliantly simplified the dynamics of sports-bike racing, MotoGP has been lumped with arcade handling that is unresponsive, unintuitive and just no fun to play, which is irritating, and bizarre, considering that both games were made by the same development team – probably simultaneously.

When it comes to visuals, MotoGP has the edge. Milestone abandoned the more colourful palette it used in SBK and has made the riders less chunky, giving the bikes a muted, but far more realistic appearance. The tracks are also an improvement, with busier backgrounds and more detailed textures. MotoGP ‘07 lacks the sense of breakneck speed that SBK re-created so well, though, we think this is more to do with its emphasis on realism, rather than frame rate.

MotoGP ‘07 is probably the most authentic bike-sim on the PS2, and if you’re the kind of racing fan that spends hours deliberating suspension settings, and knows exactly when to use front or rear breaks, it really is a musthave. On the other hand, SBK’s superior arcade handling gives it the edge if you’re looking for a racer that’s a bit more light and accessible.

Christopher Reynolds