As I don’t like racing games that much, so I may just be the perfect reviewer for them, as I have no preconceived notions on how racing games should feel. This game sits somewhat uncomfortably for me, sitting between being an “arcade” and a “simulation” style racer, with out being one or the other, causing this reviewer to become a little frustrated with a game that has quite a lot of potential as a new “illegal street bike racing” game.

The game has a number of modes in both single player and multi-player, but it’s best to learn how to play the game by attempting to get your license. The license mode sees you attempting a number of moves and tricks in a certain time limit to get a ranking of gold, silver or bronze. I got bronze, and never tried again, so I am not sure what, if anything, you get for higher, apart from the knowledge you know how to handle your bike well.

The moves and tricks you learn are detailed in the book, but it’s good to practice them in this mode to get a real feel for the games mechanics and the motorbikes’ handling. And handling takes some getting used to, as there is a heap of buttons to learn and remember. The initial configuration of the controller is a little funny to other racing games – A is the throttle, X is the front break, B is kick/punch, Y is powerdown, and white is powerband. The left trigger is trick, while the right trigger is rear break/skid. The alternative is a little more familiar, with the left trigger as powerband, the right trigger is throttle, A is the trick, X is the rear break, B is kick/punch, Y is rear break/skid, and white is powerdown. And this is my first complaint about the game – I wish you could map your own button configuration to the controller because I like using the trigger as a throttle, so used the second configuration, but even then I was constantly looking at the controller to press the right buttons.

Now, you’re probably wondering what the hell “powerband” and “powerdown” are. They’re just fancy terms for “turbo” and “power slide’, respectively. As you race, fight, dodge cars, and perform tricks, you build up your powerband gauge, and once it’s full you can use your powerband to turbo away from the other riders. Powerdown is used when trees and poles fall in, or semi-trailers cross, your path, and you need to slide under them to miss crashing into them. Usually the word “powerdown” will flash on screen, and a flashing arrow will appear above the obstacle, and generally if you hit the button immediately, you’ll avoid the object by sliding under it. I say usually, because on a few occasions I’ve done it at EXACTLY the right time, and slid but popped up before the obstacle, and crashed into it. This could have been my bad timing, if only my friend hadn’t been playing at the time, and did the exact same thing in the same place.

In both Single and Multi player games you have the option to do a Single Race, a Meet, a Time Attack Race, a Trick Attack Race and playing Head To Head. Single Race is just that; a single race on your chosen track with computer controlled players, and a friend in multiplayer. The Meet mode is the meat of the game, where you race on three different circuits to unlock the next circuit. Finish all Meets and you unlock two options for ALL game modes, Mirrored Tracks and Traffic. Mirrored tracks option allows you to reverse the track direction, and Traffic allows you to turn off the traffic. Time Attack is just you versus the clock; no other traffic, no other riders. Trick Attack is where you have to perform various tricks within a certain time limit, and head to head is you up against one other rider, either computer controlled or against another human.

If that’s not enough to keep you busy, once you get the best times for ALL races available, thus unlocking extra bikes, you also unlock Grand prix mode. In single player you race against other riders, and it’s the only multiplayer mode where you can have four players. I must admit I never got this far, so reluctantly I can’t tell you if it’s on new tracks or not. Furthermore, on each race, there are respect challenges. Respect is earned by performing various tricks, like “8 powerbands” or “kick 4 riders” or “handstand for 150 meters”. These can be attempted in Single Race mode as well as Meet mode, and unlock even more bikes and extras.

With all these modes and unlockables, how could you possibly become bored with the game! Well, maybe it’s just me, but the controls really put me off. There’s just too many to think about. To do a trick like a handstand, you need to hold throttle, kick and trick, as well as steer. Trying to get to each checkpoint with the clock ticking down, other riders trying to knock you off the bike, on coming traffic as well as traffic that comes from the side and behind while you try to remain in first place for the finish line is already enough to worry about, let alone doing a powerdown to avoid a tree that’s fallen down, and performing tricks to keep your powerband meter up so you can turbo. It gets even worse when it’s raining or snowing, as the roads become really slippery and you lose control on every corner. Then, on top of that, there’s police, who if they catch you take a whopping 5 seconds off your time! Luckily, the AI isn’t very smart, or perhaps it’s very smart and has the same difficulty in playing the game, as the computer-controlled riders seem to crash as often as I did. This made the game a little more fair and less frustrating than it could have been.

Graphically the game is excellent. The sun glare on some roads is frighteningly blinding in some cases, while the rain and snow on other tracks looks real, with water spraying across the road as you skid out around a corner. The weather has a real physical effect on the bikes too, which is good too, although at other times the physics is a little over exaggerated. For example, sometimes you can get crazy air going over jumps. The sense of extreme speed is well represented, especially with powerband. The tracks are all very bright and colourful, reminding me of SSX with all the flashing and what have you, and the amount of bikes in terms of style, colour and rider uniform is also superb. Crashing looks cool, which is good because you’re going to be doing it a lot in this game. Sound wise it’s not too bad, standard motorbike sounds alongside standard traffic sound, but there’s no option to use your own soundtrack, so you’ll have to put up with the games’ idea of a “adrenalin pumping” techno-rock soundtrack, which get tired after a while.

Speed Kings is not a bad game; it’s a solid attempt at creating something a bit different from your run of the mill racing bike game. Maybe it packs too much in, tries to be a jack-of-all-trades in terms of whether it’s an arcade or a simulation type game, and thus doesn’t excel in either field. But it is a lot of fun, gives a good sense of the “speed” and “danger” of illegal street racing, and has a lot of different modes and unlockables that will keep you playing for a while if you can get over the frustrating controls.

Pros:

Very colourful tracks.
Lots of modes and unlockables.
Gives a good sense of the “speed” and “danger” of illegal street racing.
Great fun if/when you get the hang of controls.

Cons:

Too many functions on the controller and can’t map them to suit your style.
No custom sound track, No System Link and No Live support
Doesn’t know if it’s an arcade or simulation style racer.

Score: 75/100