Review: MotoGP 2010 - Motorcycle Grand Prix Comes To The iPhone
by Staff Writer
August 17, 2010
Overview
Racing games are a dime a dozen in the App Store but really how many car racing games can you play? MotoGP 2010 looks to change that up by giving you motorcycle racing in the authentic 2010 Grand Prix. You will need to go at high speeds with high stakes while one bump, or a too sharp turn can leave you crashed and possibly killed since you are relatively unprotected being on a motorcycle.
Features
The game features all 18 authentic circuits, and all 17 authentic drivers in the Grand Prix Championship. You get to race the actual 2010 season to go for the championship with cumulative pounce for each race. The game features two camera angles for third or first person, and there is auto acceleration with manual brake and boost.
The Good
If you're a fan of arcade racers you will be more at home with MotoGP 2010, but there still is plenty to like if you want a more realistic simulation. The boost makes it an arcade racer so you never fall to far behind, and you can catch up in a jiffy. Having to brake through tight turns makes it less of an arcade racer, and more of a realistic simulation, and the game offers a good balance between the two.
The motorcycle racing style is plenty of fun as your racer has to tilt sharply around curves, and if you brake too much you can spin out of control. You can bump up against other opponents, and you're always going at such high seeds with so many other racers. The tracks are nice and complex with twist and turns all around, and sharp u turns as well.
Playing through the entire championship will give you plenty to do, and you can always replay it after completion to play on a higher difficulty. Every race is tied together, and you can play only the race or the qualification as well, it’s up to you. The game controls well with the tilt steering controls, and easy input of brakes and boost.
The visual style is well done as you see all the bikes speeding on screen in either camera angle. The tilting turning looks authentic, and each track has its own unique style trying to represent the actual location. There is an action theme track throughout, and there are some authentic sounds from the racetrack.
The Bad
The game can't seem to make up its mind on the kind of racer it wants to be so it doesn't excel in any respect. The developers need to decide on the style, and execute it extremely well rather than trying to balance multiple styles. The controls work well for the most part, but it would be nice to see some more customization so it's not only auto steering and manual brake.
The championship is set up so you have to play through the whole thing on rookie mode to unlock the next difficulty. The difficulty is so easy that it's rather boring going through the 18 races, and barely being challenged, when you wish you could jump right into higher difficulty. The game mechanic is simpler than other racing games, and therefore gets boring quicker despite the variability of the tracks.
The Verdict
MotoGP 2010 is a solid racing game that does a good job of bringing the motorcycle Grand Prix to the iPhone. The game is well designed, though the gameplay is somewhat repetitive, and doesn't really stand out in anyway. It takes quite awhile to be really challenged in the game, and with only one style of controls you can pay this game passively.
For $3.99 MotoGP 2010 is worth considering depending on if you want motorcycle racing even if it's not as high quality as some car racers in the App Store.
