MotoGP 20

Genre: Motorcycle Racing

Players: 1-8 Competitive (Local Wireless)

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Review:

MotoGP 20 is a Motorcycle Racing Simulation game, the latest in the long-running MotoGP series that has jumped from publisher to publisher and developer to developer over the years, with Namco, THQ, Capcom, and Milestone all taking turns publishing the game, with Milestone both developing and publishing these games yearly since 2013. The latest game in the series, its 2020 iteration MotoGP 20, was released in 2020 on multiple platforms.

In terms of presentation, I will say that the amount of experience Milestone has had working on this series, and on the Nintendo Switch, definitely shows in MotoGP 20, as this game is one of the best-looking games I’ve played on the Nintendo Switch in 2020. The game has an excellent framerate and resolution, good textures and character models, and a clean, professional presentation. In fact, there are only two faults I can point to here – first, the game’s load times are a bit on the long side. And second, while rainy tracks are generally one of the better-looking parts of the game, this effect is somewhat ruined by odd “noise” that appears on the bottom half of the screen, random pixels that just make things look messy.

For the gameplay, I’m going to start you out with a word of advice – if you’ve never played this game series before, play in Easy mode, and for goodness sake, keep the drive assist options set to “On”. Yes, it absolutely feels like playing the game with training wheels on, and yes, that’s frustrating, but the alternative is gameplay that’s so demanding and difficult that this might as well be considered a “falling off your bike simulator”.

That’s not to say that the game becomes easy even with all of this added help. One thing that separates this game from a car Racing Simulation like GRID Autosport is that taking a turn too sharp won’t cause you to drift or spin out, it’ll cause you to bail. Thankfully, players have access to a nifty rewind button to retry turns that go poorly. Suffice it to say, you will be using this a lot. Yeah, even with the assist stuff, this is not a game for casual players. Consider yourself warned.

There is one other complaint I can make about this game on the Nintendo Switch. The multiplayer options here are pretty awful. There’s 8-player local wireless play, and that’s it. No split-screen multiplayer, no online multiplayer.

As a result, the target audience for MotoGP 20 is likely to be extremely niche. This is a game for players who want a challenging Motorcycle Racing Simulation to play in single-player mode, full stop. If you’re a more casual player, or looking for a multiplayer experience, you’ll be disappointed here. However, if you’re the sort of player that fits into this game’s very narrow target audience, you’ll likely be very pleased with what’s on offer here.

tl;dr – MotoGP 20 is a Motorcycle Racing Simulation, and there’s a heavy emphasis on the “Simulation” – this game provides players with a lot of assistance options, but even playing with what amounts to training wheels still makes for an extremely challenging game that won’t be something most players will enjoy. What’s more, the multiplayer options here are pathetic, so expect to only play this game solo. Having said that, the graphics here are very good, and if you really are looking for a simulation-style game to play solo, this game does that very, very well.

Grade: B-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Driving/Racing Game, Best Graphics

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