The Cycles

Copyright : Accolade | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The dangerous sport of motor cycling racing is the background to this first person viewed racer as you take to the circuit of some of the most famous tracks in the world, aiming to be crowned world champion.

Graphics

Bright and colourful backgrounds dominate the game window and the whole feel of the game is pleasing to the eye â?? until the lights indicate you can startâ?¦

Although the scrolling is smoother and less blocky than other Accolade driving games the developers have gone too far down the other road by making everything appear very smooth

Another major gripe is that the track is contained in a window rather than surrounding the drawing of your bike. The static bike drawing looking extremely dated even compared to much earlier titles like 3D Stunt Riderâ?¦

Your opposition is nicely conveyed through the use of large colourful sprites, however.

Sound

Standard issue Accolade driving game noises. Engine revs and whines.

Gameplay

The actual driving has potential as controlling the bike takes quite a bit of getting used to even on the easier difficulty levels. With a sliding difficulty scale, the player can learn at his or her own pace which is doubly important in a game as tricky as this.

The Cycles suffers from not giving any real sense of speed to the player. The main reason for this is the turning motion, which is silky smooth but completely detracts from the desired feel. This fluid motion means your bike will end up sledging on and off the track at alarmingly frequent intervals.

A real pity, The Cycles has the potential to be a great motorbike racing game but is left on the starting grid.