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Almost real, a racing fan's delight

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 18
Date: May 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've been waiting for the release of this game for some time and am delighted at the quality of it now that it's mine. My favorite gaming genre is vehicular racing. MotoGP resides in the slot between arcade and sim racer, taking the ease and quick simplicity of an arcade-style racer and combining that with a beautiful audio-visual realism of a sim racer. This is my first MotoGP videogame and I'm speaking from the point of view that Test Drive: LeMans was the best racing game on the Dreamcast system. A couple of the same tracks are in this game as well.

The rookie level of difficulty makes it easy to jump in and race competitively (against 19 other bikes) and turning up the difficulty makes it extremely challenging for those who want to invest the time and develop their skills. You earn credits for finishing well in the races. These you can distribute among various racing skills such as acceleration and corning, similar to an RPG.

The control scheme is unusual compared to the standard XBox racing scheme but is nicely optimized for the intricacies of a motorcycle. Not too difficult for casual racers and offering subtleties for fans to delve into.

For those who get motion sickness, you may want to rent the game first, unlike most car racers, the horizon swivels as you lean into the turns, and there's alot of leaning in a race. Weather effects are done very well. The bikes and riders are extremely-well detailed and animated. The sky flashes brightly from lightning in stormy weather and the sun flares (sometimes wildly) depending on your position to it.

For those with XBox-owning friends, you can network race via the ethernet link cable and if you have a hub you can network 16 XBoxes together and race with 15 other friends. I haven't had a chance to try this yet but I've played with 7 others this way on Halo and it was a blast. No need to splitscreen (though that is an option if you are not LANing).

Grease monkeys, sorry, no tinkering allowed other than applying credits to your riding abilities. Racing fans in general, you'll most likely love this game. It's as beautiful as Rally Sport Challenge and in my opinion has a couple more bells and whistles.

The bottom line for me is that this is the third jewel in the XBox crown of vehicular racing games (Project Gotham, Rally Sport Challenge). Another shining example that makes the XBox the best platform for console racing.

An ONLINE *motorcycle* racing game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Most motorcycle racing games are basically car-racing games with motorcycles. The controls are identical, and aside from a dramatic case of understeer, they generally play identically.

MotoGP, on the other hand, is dramatically different than most car racing games, and it's both its strength, and its weakness.

The control is the heart of the game, and with an independent front and rear brake, and the ability to control not only the side-to-side lean of your rider, but the front-to-back lean, you have an unprecedented amount of control over your racer. Anything from powerslides to endos are possible, and the subtlety of the control scheme makes the game feel distinctly like a *motorcycle* game, than just a generic racer. On top of the unique, and fantastic controls, the animation of the riders, and the graphic quality are outstanding. The textures for your custom rider are a bit sloppy-looking, but the models of real-life riders look quite accurate. The graphics are on par with other xbox racers, like PGR and Rallisport, so there's plenty of eye-candy to be had. When your screen is blurred from racing down a straightaway at full tilt, and you pass by another rider, and he turns to see which direction you're coming up on him from, it's a simple little animation that lends a whole world of realism to the game.

The downside of the unique controls is that there's a steeper learning curve to this game than most. Even going through a single turn takes a few minutes to figure out, and it'll probably be a few hours before you can go through a tight U-bend at speed, with any sort of consistency. The payoff's worth it, however, as the races are tense, and the sense of speed is uncanny.

If you're a racing fan, looking for variety, it's definitely worth picking up. If you're a motorcycle racing fan in particular, there's no reason you shouldn't already own this game.

ADDITION: MotoGP is going to be Xbox Live compatible, even though the packaging doesn't indicate this anywhere. You will be able to play multiplayer online through XBL, extending the replay value of this game virtually indefinitely.

Good Racing game, but not as fun as the real thing.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: May 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Not too shabby at all. The biggest benefit to Moto GP is the controls. Controls are laid out in a similar manner to a real bike (analog control for weight distribution of front, back and left right, separate front and rear brake).
The graphics are crisp, although there isn't all that much detail overall. Then again, since the tracks were based on 10 of the 16 real Moto GP tracks, there's not all that much more to add. What is there looks great. The bikes are nicely detailed, rider animation is superb and the weather effects are stunning.
Moto GP offers plenty of reasons to come back time and time again. There is a training mode, arcade mode (where you rack up points for showboating...similar to the Kudos system in Project Gotham racing, a single race mode and, of course, the Moto GP full circuit. Each of these, while basically the same game, spice things up enough to keep you interested for multiple hours of play.
In general, Moto GP is a solid racing game. It's the first bike game developed for a console that feels even remotely similar to riding a real sportbike. The developers at THQ were able to balance real-world riding with a game that isn't so hard that casual users and non-riders will find it intimidating. That's not to say that Moto GP isn't difficult. It does take time to get a good feel for how the bike controls and how to take corners. If you ride, you will have a leg up over your non-biking friends. That, in and of itself, is solid proof that they did a nice job of making this a realistic biking experience.
One complaint I have is that while being more realistic than any other console bike racer on the market, it feels just a touch too much arcade and not quite enough simulation. When riding a real bike, if you use too much rear brake, your back end should swing out. If you come in too hard into a corner and don't get proper traction, you should wipe out in a lowside or highside. In Moto GP, though, the worst that will happen is you'll careen off the track and into the grass or gravel. If nothing else, there should have been a sim mode where things ramp up a bit for people wanting just a tad more realism in their game. If I make a major mistake, I want to see a realistic outcome of that mistake. It seems as though the game is cheating in this regard and you're being robbed of a proper experience.
Moto GP is definitely worth picking up. It's plenty of fun for non-riders and riders alike. It even allows you to do stoppies, wheelies, burnouts and other foolish little squidly tricks. All this and no chance of being arrested by the cops. What more can you ask?
By the way, there is no such thing as an F5. The bike that came after the F4 is the F4i (the "i" stands for fuel "i"njection).

A must for racing fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I give this game (Moto GP) 5 stars due to it is the best racing game I have played. But if it is racing in general you are looking for then I don't think this game could compete with some of the others.
Well looking at the game the bikes that you can use are very realistic. You can also use well known tracks. But one of the things is that the graphics could have been just a bit better and then it might just have been able to compete with other racing games
If you are a motor biking fan then this is the game for you, also it is a must for you.

If you are a motor biking fan then this is the game for you, also it is a must for you.

Games this addictive should be illegal.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Wow, I'm really impressed with this game, MotoGP on the Xbox. Don't confuse this game with games having the same title but built for other platforms, the similarity ends at the subject matter. Top notch excitement that will take a long time to tire of. Like any video game it has many differences from the real thing but the designers made the similarities all the right ones. You really need to learn each track to hope to get around it at a decent speed, even then the intensity is intoxicating. Don't ride too fast if you don't know what you're doing or you'll be running wide right off the circuit. A keen sense of timing and cool head are required to run with the fast guys. Sit up high and catch the wind as you grab a fingerfull of front brake to slow down just in time to lean her over hard into that tight corner at the end of the straight and start to feed in the power through the exit. Now this is motorcycle racing! I'm particularly impressed with the computer controlled bikes and the realistic nuances they demonstrate.

Gotta go get some more time in the saddle!

Solid Motorcycle Racing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: July 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you've ever watched Moto GP on TV, then played this game, it's hard to tell the difference. The game is THAT realistic, but this can be a mixed blessing. If you're more into the arcade racing games than this might not be the game for you, but if you love intense motorcycle racing and simulation games, then you'll love this game.
I'm not a hardcore racing simulation fan, so that's why I gave the game four stars instead of five, but other than that, this game hasn't skipped a single detail in the Moto GP racing world. Worth a good look at!

doesn't get any better!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I highly recommend this game for anyone interested in motorcycle racing games. Unlike several other games moto gp is very challenging and most likely you won't be able to pick it up and win right away and if you do there are three levels that will surely challenge you. It is very life like, for instance it has a front brake, a rear brake and a very real throttle. Most importantly the competitors actions are so real when you make just a small mistake they go racing bye, this game doesn't allow you to crash and still win the race on its most difficult level, of course unless you have mastered it. Good luck it is a great game!

Outstanding!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I played a demo version of this game in a store on XBOX and thought it was great. At the time I didn't have an XBOX so I picked up Moto GP 2 for PS2 thinking it would be the same just better graphics on XBOX....Boy was I wrong. This game is excellent. The PS2 version doesn't even come close. I've only had it for a week and I've already logged more hours on it than I have with the PS2 version and I've had it for over 3 months. BUY IT! You'll love it! If you don't believe me and you're lucky enough to have a PS2 and an XBOX, rent it for each system and judge them yourself.

The standard for hi-speed racing genre on Xbox

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: June 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Killer Graphics, Uses the Xbox Soundtrack feature, System Link/Online play (using GamespyArcade) Lots of real-world tracks, riders, licensed bikes, and stats, game modes and unlockables. Plus it's really, really fast! A hands-down must for all race/driving fans. Easily my favorite Xbox game to date.

P.S. - This IS NOT the same lame MotoGP from Namco on PS/PS2, only the title is the same.

Excellent Gaming Experience

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Moto GP is an outstanding game. Even if you are not a huge motorcycle racing fan, which I am not, this game will be fun for you if you like racing sims.

Gameplay: 9
The most realistic physics engine ever used for a Gran Prix motorcylce game (confirmed by a friend who has driven them). The training mode helps you move up the learning curve and build up your own character. You also unlock riders and other extras through winning races in two different modes: arcade and the GP circuit. You can even do tricks, which will actually help you in arcade mode.

Graphics: 8
Top-notch graphics. Could they be better? Sure, but for this experience they really don't need to be. Excellent detail and shading on the courses and the bikes themselves.

Replay: 8.5
The only reason this is not a 9, or even a 10, is that I feel there could be more courses. Ten courses is not too shabby, though. The action in both single player and multiplayer is enough to bring you back for more... and more...

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