Post by TJP on Jun 22, 2007 7:35:12 GMT
Finally got my hands on a PAL copy of the game. The Aussie release was yesterday, my copy arrived via the post today. Here is a brief summary of what I've found thus far:
Graphics: very ordinary. Bikes & riders are blocky, low res renders with the track and surrounds being very, very basic. I don't expect too much from the aged PS2 hardware, however, SBK 07 isn't pushing the hardware much at all!
The framerates are the saving grace - smooth & very little slowdown when racing with a full grid.
Sound: quite good. Bikes sound as they should, with each bikes exhaust note being distinct. One annoyance is the bikes share the same "popping" sound on deceleration that makes me believe each bike has a hole in the exhaust ;D
Non-descript crowd noise & illegible trackside announcer make up the sound FX. The music is so-so electronica crap that I hate.
Gameplay: good depending on the "mode" you choose. Arcade is easy & with the bikes handling very well. The bikes will weave under braking which looks cool (to me anyway)
Switching to the Sim mode the bikes is an unwieldy, understeering pig that is a pain to control. Get used to front end tucks anytime you attempt to trail brake into a corner.
I haven't mucked about with the sim settings a great deal, as I posted earlier it appears that turning on the anti-lock option on the brakes & using traction control on the medium option makes the same more enjoyable.
Presentation: solid. Menus are laid out in a logical sequence. The much vaunted loading screen grid girl pics look like Milestone raided the brolly girl archives from Yamaha-Racing.com.
Loading times are barable but are on the slow side.
Value for money: I'd rent before buying. The game cost me less than $50AUD so I'm not all that worried that from my P.O.V SBK 07 is a 6/10 effort.
Despite the ordinary graphics, the gameplay in arcade is fun & worth spending time mucking around in. My limited time in sim mode resulted in a very frustrating 60 minutes.
SBK 07 on the PS2 is not an improvement on SBK 2001 (which I own for the PC). Hopefully the Xbox360/PC versions expand & improve on the 2001 legacy.
Graphics: very ordinary. Bikes & riders are blocky, low res renders with the track and surrounds being very, very basic. I don't expect too much from the aged PS2 hardware, however, SBK 07 isn't pushing the hardware much at all!
The framerates are the saving grace - smooth & very little slowdown when racing with a full grid.
Sound: quite good. Bikes sound as they should, with each bikes exhaust note being distinct. One annoyance is the bikes share the same "popping" sound on deceleration that makes me believe each bike has a hole in the exhaust ;D
Non-descript crowd noise & illegible trackside announcer make up the sound FX. The music is so-so electronica crap that I hate.
Gameplay: good depending on the "mode" you choose. Arcade is easy & with the bikes handling very well. The bikes will weave under braking which looks cool (to me anyway)
Switching to the Sim mode the bikes is an unwieldy, understeering pig that is a pain to control. Get used to front end tucks anytime you attempt to trail brake into a corner.
I haven't mucked about with the sim settings a great deal, as I posted earlier it appears that turning on the anti-lock option on the brakes & using traction control on the medium option makes the same more enjoyable.
Presentation: solid. Menus are laid out in a logical sequence. The much vaunted loading screen grid girl pics look like Milestone raided the brolly girl archives from Yamaha-Racing.com.
Loading times are barable but are on the slow side.
Value for money: I'd rent before buying. The game cost me less than $50AUD so I'm not all that worried that from my P.O.V SBK 07 is a 6/10 effort.
Despite the ordinary graphics, the gameplay in arcade is fun & worth spending time mucking around in. My limited time in sim mode resulted in a very frustrating 60 minutes.
SBK 07 on the PS2 is not an improvement on SBK 2001 (which I own for the PC). Hopefully the Xbox360/PC versions expand & improve on the 2001 legacy.