On the fast track to gaming satisfaction

I WANTa bike. Not a pedal-powered one (I have serious reservations about the dress code), but a roaring, sleek superbike. I’ve never riden one before, never even climbed on one behind a rider, but there’s something about the prospect of bombing down the freeway on a two-wheeled rocket that has seriously put the hook in me. Someone suggested I start things off gently, on something like a Vespa, but that’s a bit like getting to the border of the Promised Land, and settling for some milk and honey from a roadside stall.

That’s because all my previous safety concerns got lost in all the dust I kicked up on Ride, a motorcycling sim that seduces with an easy charm and mouth-watering eye-candy. It’s star quality is undoubtedly the many machines purring in the garage, a gleaming selection of naked bikes and super-powered prototypes and everything in between. They look magnificent posing in the showroom, but let loose on these tracks, they gain a character of their own – powerful, dangerous, challenging; often all at once in the competing slipstreams gathered at a sharp corner.

The game’s structure is incredibly simple, yet only adds to the allure – race and win and move on to more powerful machines. The apex of that climb rests in the modern superbike category, where the front wheels rear up in excitement as an inviting straight comes into view. Reining in all that muscle is a real challenge, but one that keeps you coming back for more as you take on the track, your rivals and your own limitations in a series of tests that leave you feeling exhilarated.

It’s not the most imaginative title out there, but its simple pleasures allow it to appeal to both the petrol head and the casual gamer. Not the easiest trick to pull off.