To say that Moto GP 09/10 is a niche product probably isn’t going far enough. It’s leaning towards being a simulation, requires time spent in menus upgrading to spec out your ride and probably needs to have a Moto GP fan holding the controller to be fully appreciated. I’ll be honest, I lean more towards arcade racers, usually don’t care about upgrades and have never watched a Moto GP race in my life. So why is it that in spots, I enjoyed MotoGP 09/10?
There’s a lot to do in Moto GP, tons of tracks, a plethora of bikes and enough modes to keep you busy for hours, although you only really need Career Mode. Here you’ll start your own team, manage upgrades, hire staff, sign sponsorship deals and eventually work your way out of the lowly 125cc championship up to the big leagues of the MotoGP itself. The problem is that you’ll have to grind through a lot of these lower championships before you even get a whiff of the heights.
A lethargic start leads to slowly acquiring engineers that will build you a bike worthy of challenging for podiums and eventually race wins. The problem is that throughout most of the first season you’ll seemingly be limited to placing between 4th and 10th. It isn’t a massive problem but after spending hours to just consistently finish just outside a podium place, it’s a little disheartening.
Putting this aside, the career mode is pretty solid. Like I said, I normally avoid having to tweak vehicles, especially in simulation style racers, but here it’s made straightforward. The whole upgrade system keeps you working towards something even if on the track it looks like nothing is happening. Then on top of this you have sponsors to deal with, a motley crew of staff to manage and great racing on the track itself.
After spending hours to just consistently finish outside a podium place, it’s a little disheartening.
Racing that is made all the better because of the risk-reward option to tuck in. While tucked into the bike you’ll have a limited turning circle but in exchange you’ll get more speed, however, you’re so limited that it’s probably worth only applying on the straights. Nevertheless, it keeps you engaged for what are normally rest periods and the overly twitchy nature of the bikes will keep you concentrating even on the open stretches of road.
It has to be reiterated though, the controls are incredibly twitchy, only made forgiveable because it’s true to life. Despite mimicking the real-life counterparts perfectly, this will put a lot of casual gamers and non-MotoGP fans off. I’ll admit to hating it at first but it only makes it sweeter when you really lean into that apex at top speed.
However on the track it isn’t the most polished game, the visuals are acceptable but nothing that will blow your mind. I know it’s such a cliché and nominal gripe to have with a game but MotoGP 09/10 looks closer to a launch title than something released five years into generation. With that being said I’m sure the niché nature of the franchise probably has something to do with it.
That’s really the only thing holding MotoGP 09/10 back, the series itself isn’t as popular enough to warrant the triple-A investment that it needs to compete with the competition. While they’ve done a great job of creating a solid experience within the limitations, they’ve only managed to please fans. That’s in no way a bad thing but it does limit who I can actually recommend the game to. If you’ve got patience and don’t mind getting into something unknown then by all means take a look at what is a solid racer, otherwise this one is strictly for fans.
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