Having been a fan of old-school classics such as Super Hang-On and Road Rash,  I came into Moto GP completely expecting an arcade-ish experience. Instead, I was treated to an outstanding motorcycle racing simulation that puts many car racing titles to shame. The first thing you'll notice about Moto GP is the graphics, they are simply phenomenal. The riders and their bikes are absolutely stunning in their image quality, down to the details of small patches on the bikers' leathers and sponsorship stickers on the bikes. As your rider leans into a curve his entire body will lean into it, even his head moves and the reflections change on the bike and helmet.  If you're driving into the sun, you're going to catch light flares which make it harder to see what you're doing, which is especially evident when you're racing in first-person mode.  Did you spin out  on the corner of a track ? Well, the next time you pass that corner, your skid mark will still be there for all the world to see. All of this graphical quality makes the game that much more realistic.

Moto GP comes packed with features to keep things interesting, not the least of which is the option to switch between arcade and simulation modes. If you're just looking for a Super Hang-On style experience, then arcade mode with its one-button gas and brake handling is for you. But if you're ready to show the world your skills at bike-handling, you'll want to switch to simulation mode. Simulation mode requires you to really think about what you're doing as you have to handle both front and rear breaks while paying attention to how you lean into and come out of turns and curves. Don't think for a minute that simulation mode is easy, there's actually a pretty steep learning curve as the Moto GP  physics are pretty unforgiving. I can't count the number of times I found myself lying on the side of the track, recovering from a massive slide-out. Expect to spend a few hours getting the mechanics of turn-handling wired as you have to brake and lean perfectly to maintain your position in the race. Brake incorrectly and you'll stop dead before the turn, brake too late, and you'll come whipping out of a turn and heading straight into the grass.

Some of the other features of Moto GP include:

• Licensed riders, bikes, and tracks from the world Grand Prix circuit
• A training mode that every new player should take the time to practice on
• Dynamic lighting and weather, which both effect your riding (just try riding in the rain to see what I mean)
• Split-screen and system link modes (and now Xbox Live will be coming with a version of Moto GP for online play)
• Unlockable surprises

Like most modern simulation games, Moto GP comes with a selection of professional drivers you can choose from, or build your own. Each rider is ranked in four areas; cornering, braking, acceleration, and top speed. To build up your skills you have to spend skill points which are earned from successful completion of training levels and winning Grand Prix races. You have to spend your points wisely as overspending in one skill area will create a significant (and painful) weakness in some other area. In simulation mode, you're going to need the most balanced rider possible or you'll be eating the dust of some of the world's best riders the whole time.

The controls are for Moto GP are kept nice and simple. The left thumbstick handles steering while the A button is your throttle. The triggers control your front and rear brakes while the B button allows you to sneak a peek over your shoulder to see who's riding up behind you. By pushing the thumbstick up or down, you can perform an endo (bringing the bike up onto its front wheel) or wheelie respectively. Sometimes it's just good fun to pull a wheelie and see if you can maintain it while roaring through a corner. The splitting of the braking system into front/rear systems increases the realism, but makes it much more challenging to handle turns as you can't just squeeze down both brakes at once and expect a nice easy slowdown. The realistic braking system really comes into play when you need to perform slides or spinouts, which require holding down only one brake while giving the bike plenty of gas.

Rider AI in Moto GP is pretty good for a racer. The other riders will give no quarter and expect none. Even on the easy levels I found myself getting bounced around inside packs of riders who were not going to let me get ahead of them. I swear the really good riders could tell I was inexperienced at handling curves as they would always ride up alongside me during a critical moment in a turn and give me just enough of a nudge to send me spinning off the track. The nice thing with the AI is that it's not "too good". Each rider acts and reacts appropriately for his skill levels, so if an AI rider is based on someone in real-life who's not terribly good at cornering, that rider might just be found sliding into the grass whenever he comes up on a tight turn. I liked knowing that I wasn't the only lame rider in the game.

If there's any weakness in Moto GP, it's got to be the sound, which isn't bad, it's just not as great as the rest of the game. The Dolby 5.1 is fine, with audio changing as you switch between first and third-person views. That's right, what you hear will shift as you change racing mode, which is pretty realistic. The one really annoying sound in the game is the whine of the bike engines. It can be god-awful to hear that continual engine whine during a long race. It lacks any bass, and so it starts to remind you of nails on a chalkboard after awhile. Wheel skidding and slides sound excellent, though riding in the grass sounds like something they threw together at the last minute. The soundtrack is nothing to write home about, but you can (as I did) easily switch to any custom Xbox soundtracks you may have already created. I love the Xbox soundtrack feature, and generally use it any time a game offers it as an option (as they ALL should).

Overall, I had a hard time putting down Moto GP. If it wasn't for the fact that I have other reviews to work on, I'd still be locked up in my gameroom with this game. It's one of the few racing games I've found lately that's not only a joy to play, but absolutely amazing to look at. With its combination of fantastic graphics, realistic physics, and choice of simulation vs. arcade style gameplay, it's definitely a must buy.

See screens and movies on the Moto GP media page