Riding Spirits Preview

Under development by Tokyo-based studio Spike--best known for its work on the Fire Pro Wrestling series--Riding Spirits could be considered Gran Turismo's two-wheeled baby brother. The game is a sim-heavy treatment of the art of motorcycling, and, at this point, its primary play mode smacks of Gran Turismo, right down to the interface design. At its core, though, it seems to do a good job of emulating the robustness of the venerable racing series' career mode, and it boasts some pretty neat auxiliary modes as well.

What must be stated outright is that Riding Spirits feels much less forgiving than most motorcycle racers. The handling on the bikes is quite realistic, meaning that reckless (read: unskilled) driving won't get you very far at all. Riding on turf, in most cases, will result in a terrible crash, as will mistimed braking, friendly clips, and overly wide turns. Luckily, the game's career mode includes a pretty hefty training mode that is composed of around 40 individual lessons divided into two groups: safety driving and circuit driving. The former is geared more toward the basics, while the latter focuses on the practical skills required on the actual racetrack. These events are moderately challenging in and of themselves, we've found, so if they don't serve as a decent primer, then we're not sure what will.

The career mode--called the Riding Spirits mode--has a flow that is very similar to the flow of Gran Turismo's career mode. Basically, you'll race in events, earn money, purchase new equipment, upgrade existing systems on your bike, and the like. It's not quite as robust as what you'll see in Sony's flagship racing series, but then again, it isn't nearly as large-scale a production. That it seems to aptly capture the essence of this is impressive enough. In any event, the races you'll be able to participate in are limited by a variety of factors--the sort of vehicle you're currently piloting, how far you've gotten in the training mode (which is analogous to the license tests in GT), the modifications on your vehicle, and so on. As you race in more events, naturally, your options will expand, right along with the size of your bank account and the variety of bikes in your garage.

More than 150 real-world cycles are available for purchase in Riding Spirits, and some of the premier Japanese manufacturers are represented: Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha. All of these bikes can be tricked out with all sorts of aftermarket parts--which are available in the game's shop interface--so as to modify and increase their performance. Entire engines can be replaced, as can tires, gearboxes, frames, and suspension systems. You don't have as much control over these systems as you do in the Gran Turismo games, but given the sheer number of machines and parts at your disposal, you should still be able to spend a good bit of time tweaking your bike, if you're so inclined. And if you're concerned about such things, you'll also be able to purchase all sorts of helmets and racing suits to rock while on the track. Designers such as Arai, Dainese, Alpine Stars, Shoei, and others have contributed polygonal versions of their products to the game, all of which you can purchase with the loot got from winning races.

Apart from the career mode, there are a handful of auxiliary modes in Riding Spirits that'll round out the package. First up is the battle mode, which pits you against a human or AI racer on one of the tracks in a one-on-one duel. You can choose which class of vehicle you and your opponent will ride, as well as which course the race will be set on. There's also a time attack mode that functions just like it does in the Gran Turismo series--you're set on a track with a specific vehicle, and you're made to beat a certain time limit. The catch, though, is that you're forced to stay on course throughout the whole race, or else you'll fail instantly. There's a quick race mode, finally, that seems to do a decent job of throwing you onto a track of your choice on a bike of your choice for a fast go.

Though it's generally a strong-looking and solidly playing game, there are a few issues at this stage that we feel we should address. Foremost is a bit of graphical funk found in the game's engine, specifically in respect to its textures. We noticed quite a bit of texture warping in the version we played, and in some cases it was intense enough to hearken back to the days of the original PlayStation. Hopefully something will be done about this before the game's North American release. Also, there was quite a bit of shimmer to some of the tracks, especially the ones with cobblestone surfaces. On the plus side, though, the motorcycle models look very good, and the physical routines that play out when you get into an accident feel suitably tragic. In a perfect world, there would be on-bike physical driver modeling to complement the neat bail routines. But it's a decent-looking racer overall, and the frame rate is rock-solid, even when the game's crazy, yet somehow realistic-feeling physics are in full effect.

Riding Spirits is scheduled for release June.