I was always a fan of motorsports, and I tried any game that recreated the feeling of racing, either on four or on two wheels.  MotoGP 08 was one of those games that I thought it would be the ultimate racing game for bike fans, but SBK-09: Superbike World Championship made me change my mind. I didn't play the last year's installment in the series, and I'm happy not to, otherwise I would have never tried the last one.  Seems that SBK-08 brought low sales and a big disappointment for all the racing fans, with cheap graphics and a bizarre handling system, but somehow Black Bean had the courage to continue the series creating this time a brand new game that impressed most of the critics, including me.

I will not forget the good balance between arcade and simulation present in MotoGP 08, but  SBK-09 brings a wider area of options from which you can choose the way you want to play it. Present in the older version of SBK series started by EA, the simulation aspect here is at its best. From the dynamics of the bikes, to the level of set ups that can be applied to the bike, and damage system, everything shows that this game is a milestone further than its predecessor.

You can choose from the beginning if you want to start a training session, a challenge session, a quick-race, a weekend session or the whole championship. The challenge sessions offer different tasks to the players that are in general straight- forward: pass a specific section of the track in the given time, perform a wheelie, a burnout, or drift an amount of time in a given section of the circuit. In total there are twenty challenges which will help getting used with the bikes and tracks if you are new to this type of games. You will spend most of the time in this mode by getting the Platinum medal which can be acquired only by completing any of the challenges, faster than the best given time. Every Platinum medal will grant you access to special photos of the Alfa Romeo Mito (the official SBK car), or of the pit-stop girls.

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Definitely the best part of this game is the championship season, which offers the complete list of teams from the 2009 championship including the new Aprilia Racing or the BMW Motorrad Motorsport. You will also get all the tracks from 2009 including the newly entered Kyalami, Nurburgring, Imola and Portimao. Besides these new additions a full rendered pit area stays at your disposal where you can access any of the weekend's events but also analyze you performance by getting telemetry fresh data or important advises from the team's engineer. Here you can also setup your bike, from the tires to the suspension, gear ratio or chain length.

From the graphical point of view, the game looks amazing. Black Bean used a new graphical engine (similar to the one present in MotoGP 08, if not the same!) and obtained a significantly improvement compared with the former one. There have been made improvements also to the track and bike graphics, but the environment still features low textures. For the first time the damage is visible to the riders and bikes, but the whole effect is actually a collection of scratches on the bike's skin. At least it is a beginning.

The good thing is that the damage will influence the bike's handling. Even a short trip outside the track can affect the suspension, the tires or the brakes.  Every damaged part will influence the handling on any realism level. Even if you play on Arcade settings, the bike still needs to be driven with precision; the only difference is that you don't have to worry about traction control or blocking breaks. If you think that you are prepared for the extreme simulation level, you are wrong. This realism level is extremely difficult to master, especially if you use a keyboard. A gamepad would probably be the best solution when playing on this difficulty, but you have to always be aware of wheelies, over-steering and even realistic inertia when breaking. Let's not forget the weight of the rider which will unbalance the whole bike while accelerating or breaking.

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Conclusion

SBK-09: Superbike World Championship is a title worth mentioning, which makes the series become popular on all major platforms. Its good graphics, up-to-date teams, tracks and bikes and the extreme simulation level makes it a veridical experience that has no comparison at this moment. There are still graphical issues to be fixed in a new SBK-10 game, but until then, this version is the best out there.

Gameplay: 81

There are not many things to say about a sports game, especially a racing game. Either it is good or not. SBK-09 is included in the first category featuring a deep realism in terms of physics that will make you play the game over and over again. For the ones that are not used with simulation games, there is also an arcade setting where you don't have to bother about the dynamics of the bike, but you still have to pay attention and to drive carefully not to fall down. The addition of all official teams, bikes, riders and sponsors makes the game the most authentic Superbike experience, and as a bonus the game features also a Challenges mode where you can try out any track or bike by completing different tasks in order to improve you driving skills (wheelies at their best!).

Graphics: 85

SBK-09 features a whole new graphical engine that improved the overall image a lot. There has been an immense work put into recreating the tracks and there correspondent environment, giving a high level of details to the bikes, riders, close commercials, pit lanes, etc. The problem is that the sky and the "far" objects have low textures creating a deserted ambiance on some of the tracks. Rain has not been forgotten, and makes its presence with lots of drops falling on you helmet's visor, and long showers that spring out from the back tire.

Multiplayer: 75

You will get the same modes in the multiplayer. Quick Race and Championship have the same structure and are similar to the ones in the singleplayer, but with the addition of Team Championship the replayability of the game is increased. In this mode you can play with players on the same side as you, trying to win the championship as a team. The simulation side and the tweaks available at the pit-area are not present anymore in the multiplayer, allowing the players to play like in an arcade racing game, hitting their opponents to get a better position. Matches can be created and customized by any host, but you have to be patient in order for someone to join your game. The most crowded multiplayer sessions can be found on XBOX Live, due to the networks popularity. With the PC version tested in this article, I was unable to find someone online.

Sound: 80

I always considered that racing games should have no in-game soundtrack. The beauty of the engines' sound should be always on top priority for the developers, but most of these games feature also a soundtrack just for the sake of commercialism. SBK-09 makes no exception featuring a mix of rock and techno tunes. The playlist is not long so the game uses a 'heavy rotation' function to repeat the tunes. In the end I was forced to completely shut down the music because it was getting unbearable. Probably commentaries like in FIFA series would have been a great addition and a step forward in creating a real image of a TV broadcast.

Hardware:  79

Compared to SBK-08, this year's title runs better, with much shorter loading times. Unfortunately the loading times between the main menu and the in-game are still long without a reason.  Some flickering moments at the pit-lane have been also encountered along the test.