'MotoGP 2' among best racing sims

After more than 30 years of riding motorcycles, I have finally reached the top -- I'm the MotoGP world champion.

I won the title fair and square, outracing the world's finest two-wheel racers in the sport's top class. And I did it all without leaving my rump-sprung recliner, thanks to "MotoGP 2," Climax and THQ's excellent racing simulator for the Xbox.

While auto racing has dozens of titles to choose from, motorcycle road racing has been given short shrift. The original "MotoGP" set the standard, and the latest version is even better.

The game does everything right.

It features the top racers from the 2002 season -- Max Biaggi, Valentino Rossi and America's most recent world champion, Kenny Roberts Jr., among others.

The bikes are all there -- the holdover 500cc two-strokes and the new 1000cc four-strokes.

The real tracks are in the game, too, 16 venues from Suzuka in Japan to Valencia in Spain.

You can choose your favorite bike, then customize it with paint and decals. You can make your leathers and helmet match.

The game is extremely realistic in its design, right down to the vagaries of weather. You might spend one day practicing and qualifying on a sunny track, only to roll out to the grid on race day in a downpour.

The weather also affects the racing in a highly realistic way. A wet track requires a more delicate touch than is needed when it's dry.

The racing physics are spectacular. Learning to corner well is as hard in the game as it is in real life. A delicate hand on the controller stick is needed to pick the right line and lean angle. Come too close to the inside of a turn and, just like in real life, you will run off the outside of the track. Too much throttle will also send you off the course in a hurry, and the wrecks in "MotoGP 2" are so realistic, they hurt to watch.

The sensation of speed is there in spades, and when the speedometer says 160 mph, you really feel it. You can wheelie, or slam on the front brakes for a "stoppie," which lifts the back end off the ground.

THQ offers a garage full of playing modes, including allowing up to four players to race against each other, full online support, an arcade "quick race" and the excellent career mode.

You can also adjust the difficulty, adding to the replay value. In the easiest setting, you really have to be ham-handed to run out of the top three. In the hardest, you'll be hard-pressed to finish ahead of anybody.

Anything missing? Well, it would have been nice to be able to create your own tracks, and you can't do much actual fine-tuning of your racer, as many auto racing games allow.

Graphics get an A. This is a great-looking game, with excellent renditions of both the bikes and the tracks. While race tracks aren't usually full of interesting details, what is there is reproduced better than it's ever been done before in a motorcycle title.

Control gets a B+. You can't say the bikes are easy to control, because you need a delicate touch that comes with practice and experience. But the controls work as designed and the bike will do what you ask, even if that means running off the road or into a wall.

Sound gets a B. Bike sounds are accurate, down to the deep drone of the four-strokes and the high-pitched whine of the two-strokes, and there's plenty of aural entertainment with wrecks and squealing tires. The music is an undistinguished collection of rock and there's no commentary. It's hard to argue with spending development money on the racing experience, but the sound could have been better.

"MotoGP 2" gets an B+. This is the best console motorcycle racer available. If you're a fan of racing games, this is a must-have for your collection.