Like it was on the PC in the days before consoles were sophisticated enough to handle that sort of thing, realistic motorcycle racing is white-knuckle difficult. Driving a four-wheeled automobile, even if you're doing so in the most mercilessly demanding sim, is one thing, but the two-wheel balancing act and the very real chance that one wrong move could lay you out on your back, skidding across the hard, hard pavement, is something else altogether. Little wonder then that there are so few games that truly explore the genre. Indeed, THQ's MotoGP series is just about your only option these days, at least until Project Gotham Racing 4 unveils its own bikes later this year. Luckily, it's a great option.

It's also one of the most comprehensive racing games available in any format. MotoGP 07, due to hit the tarmac near you before the summer is out, will feature nearly 20 of the world's most esteemed racetracks, including the first-ever series appearance of Italy's now-updated, 4200-meter Misano Circuit. It incorporates virtually all the riders and bikes from the actual 2007 MotoGP championship -- which, impressively, means you'll get to see and ride those controversial new 800cc models everyone's talking about. And if you want variety, the 07 iteration will deliver.

You can do pretty much anything you want in the game's single-player mode. You can select from the realistic grand prix class or the far more fanciful extreme class, choose a down 'n dirty quick Rrce, or contest a considerably deeper championship run. You can even partake in a career, wherein you'll craft your own logos and colors and, if you finish strong, custom enhance your attributes. Multiplayer racing includes split-screen, system link play, and Xbox Live support that features ranked and unranked events and online pink slip races where you can gamble -- and lose -— the bike you so painstakingly designed.


But it's the sophistication of the presentation that will most immediately impress newcomers. The bikes themselves, whether Ducati, Suzuki, Kawasaki, or any of the other models on display, are ultra-detailed replicas of the real thing that seemingly don't skip a beat, right on down to the unique colors of each brake housing and the drop dead awesome reverberation of each unique engine. The riders are wholly independent from their machines, quite capable of sensible, intelligent motion, and never feeling like they're somehow joined to their bikes at the hip. Even the new pre-race spectacle, jam-packed with paparazzi, milling spectators, and typically scintillating umbrella girls, is awesome.

There's no better way to get a sense for developer Climax Group's visual accomplishments than to strap on the helmet and race from the game's first-person perspective. Here, with your head perched perilously over your windscreen, you get to witness every dip, every rise, and every barf-inducing sideways variation your bike endures. You'll get to see the tarmac for what it is -- an impressive concoction of colors and shades that transforms into a motion-blurred, grayscale kaleidoscope once you punch the throttle. The pavement so realistically catches reflections, even that of your cowling, and glosses over so convincingly in the rain that you'll honestly feel like you're there. And those water droplets forming on the camera lens? They only add to the authenticity.

Furthermore, unlike the 06 iteration of the game, MotoGP 07 doesn't look as though it will grind to a stop every time you encounter other riders. In the pre-release version, the framerate feels pretty good actually -- a necessity in high-end sims where every millisecond matters -— though it did seem to chug somewhat when we ventured into a full-pack traffic jam or a particularly complex bit of pavement, sand, or grass. We were a bit disappointed when we found we couldn't unearth some of that sand or leave a few tire tracks behind in that grass, but we solaced ourselves by contemplating the rest of the scenery, which, from the 3D spectators to the overhead aircraft to the fully realized background landscapes that now stretch as far as the eye can see, is utterly convincing.