GP 500 Page 2 Taking the fall The confusion while installing the game would not be my last surprise. A few seconds after starting up my Honda NSR 500 and performing a nearly perfect wheelie, I braked for the first corner and the next moment I was down on the ground. At moments like this you are grateful that you are playing a computer game and not riding a bike for real. The main problem when you start at this sort of simulations is your history as a motorracespecialist. You know every braking point of every famous circuit by heart, but from a car point-of-view. First thing you have to do is to forget about everything you know about racing a racecar. You have to break earlier, you have to line up for the corner quicker and you have to steer the bike with your complete body. MicroProse have developed a game where it is possible to control these body movements but when using the keyboard it is very difficult to control every move a rider has to make to steer his bike. It's a good thing that the developers have put in an option where the computer can control the movements of the rider's body, so you can fully concentrate on controlling the throttle, the brakes and the steering of your bike. For the first time in a motorcyclingsimulation you can use a front- and a rear-brake. But you have to look out for getting confused between both brakes. A motorcyclist uses essentially his front-brake because this brake is more powerful. So when you apply the rear-brake without touching your front-brake, the bike doesn't slow as much as it should do and you end up in the kitty litter. GP 500 offers you the possibility to control your bike with the keyboard, a wheel and pedals, joysticks, a gamepad and even RC controllers. Players who are very handy with their keyboard-controls will prefer this kind of controller, while others will go for a wheel and pedals. But we can understand that die-hard race-enthusiast will struggle with the taught of controlling a motorcycle with the wheel and pedals of a car.    Let's go all the way GP 500 takes you on a trip around the world. You will get to race in Japan, on the beautiful Suzuka-track, in Malaysia, in Australia and in Argentina. The first two races take place at the beginning of the season, while the season is closed with a trip to Australia and a journey to South-America. In between these two intercontinental sessions the major part of the season is run within Europe, where you can chase victory at famous motorcycle-tracks like Assen, where you can take part in the Dutch TT, Mugello, Brno and Jarama. The European Grand Prix at Jarama is only one of three races run in Spain, because you will also start in the Catalunia Grand Prix in Barcelona and the Spanish grand Prix, which is held at Jerez. Other tracks which feature in GP 500 are the French Paul Ricard circuit, Donington, Imola and the very nice Sachsenring in Germany. Is this arcade? GP 500 gives you the opportunity to race in "Arcade" and "Simulation" mode. In "Arcade" mode the computer helps you prevent crashes by preventing you from overbraking or overaccelerating. This means that it's very hard to get an highsider in this mode. On the other hand "Arcade" mode should help you to keep your bike on the road. Notwithstanding this little help from my friend the computer, it still is very hard to keep your machine on the ideal lines and to fight with the fierce competition of famous drivers. Since MicroProse got an 'official licence from FIM', the sports governing body, every regular participant of the 1998 World Championship is present in the game. In the "Simulation" mode it's even harder to stay on your bike. In every corner the bike tends to slide away underneath you from the moment you are a bit too enthusiastic in entering the corner. It is also very difficult to keep your machine from making wheelies. A wheelie is very nice for the audience, but it's better to reserve this kind of crazy-ness till after the race or until your advantage over your adversaries is big enough. In "Simulation" mode your bike starts to perform a wheelie every time you apply the throttle too hard. Next Page Up Previous Page If you want to review your favorite game, or if you work with a computer game company and want your products reviewing, mail info@playdevil.com. All contributions are welcome. Any problems and/or suggestions are always appreciated on webmaster@playdevil.com Nothing of this entire Site, animation & logo's included, may be reproduced, stored, saved, transmitted, in any form or means, electronic, written or otherwise without the prior permission of PlayDevil. Other Logos & Names are Copyrighted Material of its respectful owners. All Rights Reserved. PlayDevil Productions © 199/8-199/9-200/0 "rip your own stuff"