Ride 2 From 125cc to full throttle

The bikes are the point. More than 170 models from 22 manufacturers, from Nakeds and Supersports to two-stroke Sport Bikes, Supermotos and Naked Café Racers, each one modelled closely enough that a bike fan can pick out the details. You build a personal garage out of them, and the collection grows as you race, win and unlock. It is the kind of list where you go looking for one machine and spend twenty minutes reading spec sheets instead. If you have ever had a favourite bike, there is a good chance it is here, waiting to be taken seriously.

Customisation runs deep. Five main areas take modifications: engine, brakes and suspension, wheels, transmission and aesthetics, with over 1200 parts and 600 liveries in total. That includes a race transmission setup with a fibreglass fairing built for the most extreme races. When the bike is done, the rider gets a turn: clothing in Street, Race and Supermoto styles, plus a pose editor that controls how your rider leans, tucks and shifts on the machine. Two riders on the same bike can end up looking like they ride for different teams. The upgrades matter on track too, since suspension and brakes change how the bike actually behaves in a corner.

The calendar mixes GP circuits, country roads and city tracks, over 30 in all, with legends like the Nürburgring Nordschleife among them. The race types vary just as much: Drag, Motard, Country, City, GP and Road events all ask for something different. One event has you threading a slalom between traffic cones; another is a flat-out drag over a quarter mile. The helmet camera deserves a mention: at high speed on a road circuit it is genuinely tense, and it is a highlight of the game. Assists are fully adjustable, so you can start comfortable and strip them away as you improve. Fair warning: the AI brakes late and sometimes ignores its own rules, which matters more on tight tracks than open ones.

Ride 2 supports online multiplayer and split screen, so a session can be as simple as grabbing a controller and settling who is fastest on the sofa. The game's social features let you share your team riders with friends, and daily and weekly challenges hand out tokens you can trade for extra customisation gear, which gives you and a friend something to chase between races. It suits the pick-up-and-race mood: choose bikes, pick a track, argue about who braked too early. With 12 modes there is always another format to try when the usual one gets decided.