Parents' Guide to Ride

Ride is a competent, full-featured, and surprisingly approachable motorcycle-racing game, but it lacks the graphical finesse and innovation found in the very best racing simulations. The robust world-tour mode will take most players weeks (or longer) to get through, motivating them to keep playing with a seemingly never-ending stream of better bikes and gear. The straightforward parts-upgrade system results in noticeable and satisfying boosts in performance with nearly every purchase. And while motorcycle enthusiasts ought to appreciate the authentic bike physics and handling -- which involve leaning, hunching, and paying attention to the load placed on front and rear suspension systems when coming into turns and accelerating down straightaways -- these elements shouldn't annoy rookies too much, thanks to a heaping dose of optional assists designed to keep new players from constantly wiping out.

All of this said, there's very little in the way of originality. The structure of each mode and method of progression will be instantly familiar to racing fans and does little to keep a sense of monotony -- a constant threat in racing simulation games -- from setting in. What's more, the visual presentation is uninspired compared to other modern racing games, thanks to bland surface textures that don't always convey the proper look and feel of substances such as metal, plastic, and asphalt, as well as the cookie-cutter architecture lining most circuits. Still, bike-racing enthusiasts -- who are typically poorly served in the video game realm -- likely will just be happy to have a big, realistic, and generally pretty fun sim into which to sink their teeth.