TT Isle of Man Ride on the Edge 2

Genre: Motorcycle Racing

Players: 1-8 Competitive (Online)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in TT Collection, along with TT Isle of Man and TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3.)

TT Isle of Man Ride on the Edge 2 (from here on simply called TT 2) is a Simulation-style Motorcycle Racing game released in 2020 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. And as my description of this game has much in common with the previous entry in the series, I’ll be copying some of the text from that review to reuse here, changing it as appropriate.

Normally when I review games in genres that don’t appeal to me, I try my best to see how the game may appeal to those who are fans of the genre. However, I will say right now that if you’re looking for a more nuanced review exploring this game in-depth, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Having said that, for more casual players, I will say right now that I don’t think this is a genre for you. While I am able to appreciate what games like this franchise and the MotoGP franchise bring to the Nintendo Switch for those who can appreciate them, these are extremely unforgiving games for newer players who aren’t already diehard fans of the genre. Even on the easiest gameplay difficulty, these games are hard and unforgiving. I’m not telling Nintendo Switch racing fans that you have to stick to Mario Kart, but unless you’re an extreme masochist or insanely dedicated, you’ll want to stay out of this genre.

TT 2 is extremely fast, but even more than this, the bikes players ride in this game are extremely touchy. Taking turns is extraordinarily difficult, as it is far too easy to be unable to find the sweet spot between “you’re not leaning into it far enough” and “you’re overcorrecting so much that you’ll hit the other side and bounce around like you’re in a pinball machine”. In fact, much of the time in this game, you’ll find yourself toppling over without colliding with anything just because you tried to take a turn too sharply.

Where the previous entry in the series suffered from some horrible blurry visuals, this second attempt at bringing the franchise to Nintendo Switch fares considerably better, although it’s still well short of ideal. The blurriness of the prior entry is gone here, but these visuals are still low-resolution and messy, with a lot of flickering in the distance. The sense of speed here is quite impressive, but everything else isn’t.

There are two more points I have to address about the Nintendo Switch release of this game. First, the load times are absurdly long. And second, the game’s standard price tag of $60 is absolutely outrageous, a full $20 higher than other versions of the game. You could argue that this is offset by the game regularly going on sale for $12, but the other versions of the game regularly go on sale for $8, so either way the Nintendo Switch version is ludicrously overpriced.

In the end, TT 2 is a much-improved sequel simply by getting rid of the blurry visuals, but it’s still well short of the MotoGP franchise. And that’s just if you enjoy this extremely niche genre – most players will find the nightmarish controls and unforgiving difficulty to make this anything but fun. But I suppose for those players who can enjoy this sort of game, TT 2 may be worth trying.

tl;dr – TT 2 is a Simulation-style Motorcycle Racing Game that’s extremely niche and not accessible to newcomers due to its difficult and unforgiving gameplay, but at the very least this release greatly improves on the horrible visuals that plagued the first game, though this still isn’t especially great. Overall, this is a game that may appeal to fans of this specific genre, but everyone else is best off leaving this alone.

Grade: C

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