Didn't Carl drive a Castrol Honda?
Affirmative.

Is he in the game?
No. There are few named drivers and Donington Park is referred to as 'Leicester'.

What's a nice heavy metal venue like that doing in a place like this?
It's Britain's superbike circuit, too. Anyway, they don't still do that 'Monsters of Rock' thing, do they?

How does the thing handle?
On the bog standard, 'Rookie' settings, you can happily coast through the field (that's the other racers, not a meadow!) and take the chequered flag. But then, you do have assisted braking and steering as well as arrows letting you know when the next bend is due.

You bloody cheat!
But you can also play in Novice, Amateur, Semi-professional, Professional and Ace modes. And you won't be doing much 'coasting' by the time you progress to the top level. The level in which you choose to race determines how you tackle the circuits. You can have the most horrendous crashes and smash your bike up badly.

How does Castrol Honda stand up visually?
It looks a tad pixelly when compared with the more sophisticated PlayStation games and the frame rate won't have you on the edge of your seat, either. However, the bike and rider animations are excellent. The rider looks quite realistic when he shifts position, moving his knees up and back to the side when taking sharp corners. This is definitely the most impressive part of the visuals. As far as other spot effects are concerned, the bike engine noise has a pleasing growl and the developers have forsaken the usual heavy metal soundtrack in favour of... just sound effects. Hurrah!

Two-player...?
Yup. Split-screen.

So...
Um, when all's said and done (and at the end of the day etc... yawn), Castrol Honda is distinctly underwhelming as a gaming experience. The only real sense of speed to be had is when you use the in-shield view - then it zips along. But it still isn't as much fun as the original Moto Racer. Sorry. Hardened bike fans may glean satisfaction from it, but most will just sigh. Sigh...


*13 championship circuits
*Accurate Honda RC45
*Wealth of customisable options
*Not particularly quick...
*... or pretty