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Of the admittedly few motorcycle racing games available for the PC, Intense
Entertainment's Castrol Honda Superbike World Champions most realistically
conveys the feeling of controlling a real bike on a real track at really high
speeds. Granted, it doesn't quite sport the terrifying reality of, say, a
NASCAR Racing 2, but there's enough sim here to test the will of any racer.
Here are a few tips to transform you from an average rider into a feared
front-runner.
1. Superbike is a momentum-based, rhythmical thing, and you must learn every
nuance of a given track before you can be successful upon it, including exact
turning and brake points. This way, you can also ignore directional and brake
indication aids, which can be late and misleading.
2. A twitchy joystick is not the ideal instrument for controlling a twitchy
bike, and it certainly doesn't help when you have to move it forward,
backward, and side-to-side. So, in lieu of PC handlebars, get a steering wheel
and pedal set.
3. Even in Ace mode, a good start can give you a good position by the first
turn. While in neutral, give it some juice--about 2/3 up the powerband--and
hold it there until the starting lights dim. Then, shift immediately into
first gear and gun it. If you rev too high you'll have wheelspin; rev too low,
and you'll come out like a slug.
4. There's just one fast way to get motoring again, and that is by duplicating
your starting procedure.
5. As an added measure against slow midrace start-ups, apply moderate throttle
if you go off-course, keep the speed up, and quickly turn to get back onto the
pavement.
6. If you're too deep into a given corner with brakes locked, feather the
brake to unlock it and then try to steer through the turn.
7. Wheelie the bike by accelerating hard in first gear, and lift the rear
wheel off the ground by braking hard to a standstill. Neither trick will help
you win, but at least you'll look cool in defeat.
8. It's not described very well in the manual, but you have the choice of two
bikes (selected from the Bike Setup menu), both of which can be used for
mechanical experimentation and racing. This effectively gives you one
qualifying and one race setup for each track, though you should make separate
notes (yes, with a pen and paper) of each alteration and how it performed
before you modify again.
9. Speaking of the garage, I nailed a pretty danged fast 21.02 second-lap time
at the Motegi oval by putting Hard Compound A tires all around and setting my
gears to Sprocket Set 5.
10. Superbike has shortcuts. You'll find one at the Allerton GP circuit just
at the end of the pit lane on the left, and another on the North Allerton
village circuit just before the hairpin and to the left. You will be hit with
a stop & go if penalties are turned on.
Don't fret if you can't wax the competition through a season in the higher
difficulty levels. Instead, take solace from the fact that the game has been
designed to make such an event an extreme hardship, and consider a
championship even at the lower levels a true accomplishment.
Entertainment's Castrol Honda Superbike World Champions most realistically
conveys the feeling of controlling a real bike on a real track at really high
speeds. Granted, it doesn't quite sport the terrifying reality of, say, a
NASCAR Racing 2, but there's enough sim here to test the will of any racer.
Here are a few tips to transform you from an average rider into a feared
front-runner.
1. Superbike is a momentum-based, rhythmical thing, and you must learn every
nuance of a given track before you can be successful upon it, including exact
turning and brake points. This way, you can also ignore directional and brake
indication aids, which can be late and misleading.
2. A twitchy joystick is not the ideal instrument for controlling a twitchy
bike, and it certainly doesn't help when you have to move it forward,
backward, and side-to-side. So, in lieu of PC handlebars, get a steering wheel
and pedal set.
3. Even in Ace mode, a good start can give you a good position by the first
turn. While in neutral, give it some juice--about 2/3 up the powerband--and
hold it there until the starting lights dim. Then, shift immediately into
first gear and gun it. If you rev too high you'll have wheelspin; rev too low,
and you'll come out like a slug.
4. There's just one fast way to get motoring again, and that is by duplicating
your starting procedure.
5. As an added measure against slow midrace start-ups, apply moderate throttle
if you go off-course, keep the speed up, and quickly turn to get back onto the
pavement.
6. If you're too deep into a given corner with brakes locked, feather the
brake to unlock it and then try to steer through the turn.
7. Wheelie the bike by accelerating hard in first gear, and lift the rear
wheel off the ground by braking hard to a standstill. Neither trick will help
you win, but at least you'll look cool in defeat.
8. It's not described very well in the manual, but you have the choice of two
bikes (selected from the Bike Setup menu), both of which can be used for
mechanical experimentation and racing. This effectively gives you one
qualifying and one race setup for each track, though you should make separate
notes (yes, with a pen and paper) of each alteration and how it performed
before you modify again.
9. Speaking of the garage, I nailed a pretty danged fast 21.02 second-lap time
at the Motegi oval by putting Hard Compound A tires all around and setting my
gears to Sprocket Set 5.
10. Superbike has shortcuts. You'll find one at the Allerton GP circuit just
at the end of the pit lane on the left, and another on the North Allerton
village circuit just before the hairpin and to the left. You will be hit with
a stop & go if penalties are turned on.
Don't fret if you can't wax the competition through a season in the higher
difficulty levels. Instead, take solace from the fact that the game has been
designed to make such an event an extreme hardship, and consider a
championship even at the lower levels a true accomplishment.