Now I'm not the biggest follower of MotoGP and ever since the glory days of Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan ripping up the tracks in the 500cc, my interest in motorcycle racing waned slightly. Now though, with a couple of Aussies, Chris Vermeulen and Casey Stoner showing the world, particulary the Italians and Spanish how to get things done, the time is ripe to jump back on the bandwagon, wave the Aussie flag and jump on Xbox Live for some two wheeled action.

Last year, XBW staffer, Peter Lutz mostly enjoyed his time spent with MotoGP3 and while he agreed that it was superior to MotoGP2, the arcade direction that the series was taking wasn't totally to his liking. I'll have to check in with him and see what he thinks of MotoGP06 as that angle is still the one that Climax prefers for the series and even with some fantastic graphics and the return of some truly excellent online game modes, this latest game does little to make you feel that you're getting anything really that new. When the series first hit the Xbox we were blown away by the awesome looking bikes, great looking tracks, excellent feeling of speed and those funky water droplets splashing onto the screen during rain soaked events. In its first incarnation on the Xbox 360, Climax has continued the series' great form with everything we've enjoyed in the past refined and graphically upgraded all in High Definition splendour.

As you've probably been able to tell already, MotoGP06 doesn't turn the series on its head with amazingly radical changes but takes the experience that Climax have tweaked and refined from the previous 3 games on the trusty old Xbox and brought all that plus totally upgraded graphics to the Xbox 360. If you've been tearing around the tracks of London and New York lately in PGR3, ripping the handbrake on for that insane drift action and don't know how to drive any other way then you'll spend the first 30 minutes of MotoGP06 watching your rider tumble painfully into the kitty litter or roll, roll and roll in excruciating fashion on the tarmac while the rest of the riders zoom past you.

Now I've never driven a monster motorcycle at 300kph so can't attest to how accurate MotoGP06 is but the handling is an excellent blend of arcade feel but with momentum and weight constantly reminding you that you're pushing the limits of the amount of grip that two tyres can give you. Hitting the corners too fast will see you crash and slowing down too much will see you lose momentum and the sweet spot in that racing line. While the game's controls aren't what you would call ‘true-sim' you're still required to hit the corner at just the right speed and lean at just the right moment to keep in front of the pack and on the track.

There's a real ‘subtlety' at work with the controls in MotoGP06 and even on the easiest difficulty you still face the risk of crashing out repeatedly, but if you're struggling you can always cheapen the experience slightly by using the ‘B' button for braking which is sort of like an ‘auto brake' (otherwise the front and rear brakes can each be applied separately with the triggers) that automatically tries to apply just the right amount of front and back brake that you'll need to take the corner. It does a pretty good job but online against other racers that have taken the time to master the braking you'll find it hard to stay competitive. The controls are responsive and, as mentioned, have a great feeling of weight and momentum that greatly adds to the overall experience. A feature always welcome is that the controls can be remapped in just about any way that you like. Prefer the triggers for changing gears instead of the bumper buttons, fine, have it your way!

The two game modes in MotoGP06 are the Grand Prix (set in the 2005 and 2006 seasons) and Extreme Mode that is included, yet again, probably to attract the Fox news watching, worlds wildest police chase loving Americans. For the fans though, the Grand Prix mode is excellent. Each of the 17 tracks from the MotoGP season are faithfully reproduced, all of the riders are present and their colours and even the track order changes between the two seasons. If you don't like what's on offer then you can customise just about everything of your riders appearance from the helmet, leathers and bike in the games editor. The official MotoGP content is all there and fans should have excellent fun with the game but unfortunately the presentation is fairly light on.

With other sports titles giving you that ‘television' experience by blending in television style introductions, or commentary from old British geezers it's a shame that progression through the series is simply handled by flicking through menu after menu. There's no recap of the last race, no commentary or even a fly through of the track to get you ready and while there's plenty of tweaking options available, it would have been cool to have a bit of team management available with the option to hire and perhaps train up a second team rider as well. The other negative point that I must bring up is the A.I of the other riders. Most of the time they seem fairly oblivious to your existence and appear quite happy to plow straight into you. They don't seem to share the same feelings of self preservation that actual real riders would have.

Once you've completed your first Grand Prix season you then unlock the Extreme season mode which contains 17 fictional tracks that feature wider turns offering plenty of overtaking opportunities and high speed action. The controls even feature a more arcade feel than Grand Prix mode as well as slightly more forgiving physics that allow you to throw the bikes around the corners with a little bit more agility and gusto. Winning races awards you cash which can then be spent on some upgrades such as increased horsepower or reduced weight, ie; the standard racing offerings and if you find the tight twisting corners, and almost knife-edge racing sensation provided by the Grand Prix mode frustrating, the extreme mode is always waiting for you to blow off some steam. Why it must be unlocked first is beyond me though.

In either game mode however, the tracks feature extremely high levels of detail and the tracks in the Grand Prix mode are almost flawless in their representation of their real world counterparts. The lighting is particularly well done with ultra sharp texture work, highlights reflecting off the bumpy track surfaces and great looking shadows from the bikes themselves. The polygon count of the bikes, as you can see from the close up screenshots, looks incredible as well and the bikes look amazing, easily the best seen yet in the series and just about any bike racer released yet. If there's one thing to have a small gripe about though it's the framerate. Where the past games in the series always managed to stay at a rock solid 60 frames per second, unfortunately MotoGP06 suffers from a bit of slowdown, particularly when zipping around the corners with other riders close by and on a console with as much supposed grunt as the Xbox 360, it's disappointing that it couldn't be smoothed out.

If you're looking to jump online with MotoGP06 you won't be let down as the game features a great range of online modes and almost lag free gameplay (against other Aussies) for up to 16 players. If you don't have broadband then you can play offline in system link, or have 4 players in split screen mode. The stunt mode (where you're required to pull off power slides and other tricks to rack up as many points as possible, think Kudos, then also finish first) and tag races are heaps of fun and I enjoyed this multiplayer mode the most (you tag sections of the track by setting the best time in that particular area) as it encourages disciplined racing between all the riders. The racing's ultra smooth and with the options of pure Grand Prix racing, or taking part in multiplayer Extreme Mode races, there's plenty of variety and longevity to be had.