Black Bean's super-powered racer wheelies onto PlayStation 2...

Whilst Lewis Hamilton finds himself at the top of the Formula One World Championship, another Brit is also leading the pack in another motorsport, this time of the two-wheeled kind. Six races into the 2007 Superbike World Championship, James Toseland is 35-points ahead of his nearest rival, seven days ahead of the Championship's second visit to the UK this season. Coincidentally (or not) the run up to the race at Silverstone is marked with PlayStation2 release of the official game to 2007 Championship, SBK-07: Superbike World Championship from Black Bean.

Featuring all of the races, riders, and constructors (not to mention their associated sponsors), SBK-07 has been developed by Italian studio Milestone who have worked on numerous racing titles in the past - including Atari's Racing Evoluzione for Xbox. Despite working on racers since its inception over ten years ago, the outfit hasn't really been able to push many of its titles into the mainstream gaming consciousness, so they (along with Black Bean) will no doubt be hoping that SBK can finally raise their exposure.

As you'd expect from a motorsport title, most of the gameplay in SBK-07 rests with the Championship mode, with thirteen races spread out into several events over the course of a 'Race Weekend' including Practices, Qualifying rounds, Warm Ups, and two Races. One off Race Weekends and Quick Races are also open for players along with Time Attacks, and a Challenge Mode that really does what it says. The PlayStation2 version also offers offline multiplayer for two players, though it'll be more interesting to see how many gamers will be able to get together over Xbox Live when SBK arrives on Xbox 360 later in 2007.

Acknowledging that racing games attract both casual and hardcore gamers, not to mention that riding along on two wheels on a track is a bit more difficult than on four, Milestone has built two pre-defined gameplay settings into SBK-07: Arcade and Simulation. With automatic gear changes, automatic weight transfers, and the biking equivalent of ABS, the Arcade settings provide a straightforward ticket into the SBK experience, and it doesn't take long before players will push the difficulty settings beyond the default 'Rookie'. But if the Arcade settings are a touch too sedate for you, SBK-07 also gives players the option to switch off any of the assists, changing the game into much more of a racing simulation.

Split breaking, manual weight distribution, and zero traction control are just a small sample of elements that can be turned on or off by gamers, depending on how brave they are, through SBK goes one step further than that by giving player the option for riders to be injured in a crash. It's when these assists are turned off that the level of detail poured into SBK-07 can be enjoyed to its most challenging, as players are forced into taking intelligent lines and fluid changes between acceleration and deceleration through corners. Apply the brakes too hard when the rider is leaning forward onto the bike, and the back end of the bike will rear up; going full throttle without leaning forward will conversely bring the bike up into a wheelie. Thankfully with this sort of requirement for subtle adjustments to rider position and acceleration, SBK has is implemented with a control system that works particularly well with a dual analogue stick gamepad. With one stick controlling the throttle and front brake of the bike and the other used for weight distribution and bike's direction, it's the relationship between the two that successfully captures the experience of riding a super-charged vehicle.

The sense of weight distribution is remarkably accurate in the game, to the point where players can feel when they've taken a corner too quickly, or pushed the lean into the bend to far a split-second before tumbling down the tarmac. Twitchy reactions to the sudden fish-tailing of the bike's back wheel in the run up to the fast approaching corner, and the need for subtle use of the rear brake to pull the vehicle into the apex, creates a solid and realistic racing experience that we honestly didn't expect SBK to feature. Whilst these sorts of things are taken for granted in the more high-profile titles like Tourist Trophy and SBK rival MotoGP, to experience this level of depth in the game comes as a surprise but drives us to support this underdog of motorbike racing even more.

Weather has also been built into the game, with four different conditions (Sunny, Cloudy, Clear, and Rainy) opening up some level of variety for players to experience, though we have to wonder whether the thunder clap sound effect used in the game was the only one Milestone could afford to use. It's used so frequently than we're surprised that it wasn't used during sunny races! A downpour of rain offers one of the more dramatic changes in race conditions, especially if the simulation settings are activated, increasing the break distances and making cornering even more twitchy. It's not just a 'pretty' effect to have on screen; the weather does have an impact of the gameplay that is utterly tangible.

Beyond the Championship itself and the other game modes built into SBK, Milestone have actively tried to expand its longevity by throwing in a series of unlockables from race videos to Ghost laps of the developers. Unlocking these extras, which are spread across three colour-coded decks of cards, is achieved by completing in-race challenges such as getting a podium finish to coming into the top three of the Championship. It's a neat enough addition to a game that already enjoys more depth than it would appear at first glance, and is something that some of the more hardcore fans of the motorsport will enjoy unlocking after winning the Championship.