Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

While I have always been a big fan of racing games, I was never a person for the many Superbike games that have come out of the years.  I did play a bit of Moto Racer 2 when it came with my Voodoo FX 2 card back in the day, but beyond that I have never gravitated towards these games.  However, Deep Silver was nice enough to send over a preview build for SBK X Superbike Championship to try out on the PC and I have to admit that it looks like something that the hardcore Superbike fan will be down with when it comes out later this October.

Just poking through all the options that will be available in the launch version of the game is flat out amazing.  I mean, the modes are broken down between Arcade, Simulation and Multiplayer with each mode offering race options for each difficulty level.

First off, I went into the Arcade mode, and I found this to be the easiest of the bunch to jump on a bike and ride off into a race.  While there is some tactile feedback to the bike in regards to its position on the racetrack, you never feel like it is out of control.  I never once laid my bike down on the pavement, and I easily came in first place on the medium difficulty.  This mode does include several helpers like guidelines, assisted braking and others that keep you on the track.  It is just a good, fun race mode when you are just looking to run a few laps without much thought.  Things changed a bit when I moved up to the Simulation mode.

I knew right away when I saw the fact that I had to shift my rider’s weight during the race in order to get better speeds on the straightaway that I was in for some trouble.  Things like tire wear, rider health, bike condition after crashes, and even weather come into play.  There are front and rear brakes and each will help with different items on the track.  Hit the front brake too hard going into a turn and you may lose the back end of the bike.  And in Simulation mode, it is very easy to lose the bike on the track.  Gone are the assists like the guide that shows you the proper line.  Turns, braking and watching your speed become very important in this mode of gameplay.  It took several rounds, but I finally found myself getting into the top 10.  But it was a constant battle in each race trying to get the bike feeling just right.  This does not mean that SBK X plays badly, but that it is very competent in simulating the bikes and the track that you have to work to get a win.

The game looks like it is going to ship with a full complement of racers, tracks, and bike teams.  Just at a glance, I noticed things like the Ducati Xerox Team or the Team Suzuki Alstare along with riders like Michel Fabrizio.  Along with the Superbike SBK division, there are also the under divisions for Supersport WSS and the Super Stock STK divisions to ease your way into the big leagues of SBK X.

Now while I loved the feel of the racing engine that is powering SBK X Superbike Championship, I was a bit upset at the graphical flair of the game as a whole.  Sure, the bikes and the riders look nice, but the tracks themselves look rather bland.  Sure, I have never been to Monza, but I have seen it enough on TV that it seems like the track should have been modeled a lot better.  Maybe the track visuals were sacrificed in order to keep up the framerate with the bikes and the riders, but it is not the prettiest game.

I did enjoy my time with SBK X Superbike Championship.  I loved the race modeling, and the fact that you can step yourself from the ease of the Arcade mode into the complex Simulation mode at your own pace.  It seems like the game has been designed to cater to both markets, and does it rather well, as long as you don’t mind a little generic feel once you hit the tracks.  We hope to have more on SBK X Superbike Championship when it hits retail later this month.