In the motorsport racing calendar, few courses hold quite as much infamy as the Isle of Man TT. Described as "38 miles of terror" by one Sports Illustrated reporter in 2003, the time trial course has been running on and off since 1907 and sees superbikes racing past front doors and around country lanes at breakneck speeds. It’s one of the ultimate physical tests for professional riders, but it’s also claimed over 250 lives in the last century, so there’s not much hyperbole involved when it’s regularly dubbed "The world’s most dangerous race".
While Kylotonn’s digital recreation of the Manx sporting event is considerably safer than the real thing, TT Isle of Man does a remarkable job of capturing that captivating mix of high-speed, elite-level racing set amidst a deceptively pedestrian setting. One moment you’re gently squeezing the brakes as you guide your beastly two-wheeled machine into a tight high street, the next you’re gunning the throttle as you leap over a small bridge and into the island’s lush countryside. It’s a thrilling experience, and the French developer behind it (which has a history of working on the WRC series and V-Rally 4) has recreated every dangerous bend and turn with impressive accuracy.
Depending on the level difficulty you opt for, TT Isle of Man ranges from a challenging course with moderately forgiving physics to a plate-spinning series of physical mechanics where the slightest misjudgement in weight shift will send you flying off your bike. For purists, you can manually shift up and down gears by tapping ‘R’ and ‘L’, while accelerating and braking with ‘ZR’ and ‘ZL’ and using the left analogue stick to control your rider’s position on the bike. When you take all those elements and launch them down a street at 150mph, the result is something frightening, frustrating and utterly exhilarating in equal measure.
The Snaefell Mountain course has been recreated with terrifying attention to detail, with its 37.73-mile route including every sharp turn, every rise and all 264 bends. It’s a monster, and with 25 official riders and 38 real-life bikes and sidecars to choose from, it’s as authentic a simulation as you could ask for. Kylotonn says it consulted real Isle of Man TT riders to get their input on the feel and responsiveness of each bike. So if you do decide to ride on more realistic settings, you really do end up wrestling with a machine that desperately wants to throw you off if you as much as kiss the side of a curb. As a pure simulation of that one race, it hits the nail right on the head.
It’s only when you’re not bombing around that famous circuit that you start to see some of the cracks in TT Isle of Man’s package. Most superbike or MXGP racing titles on Nintendo Switch – such as MXGP 3, MotoGP 18 and the upcoming MotoGP19 – all have full seasons of real-life courses to help balance out the varying levels of quality in overall presentation. This game, unfortunately, doesn’t, and a set of fictional courses around the UK and some threadbare modes aren’t enough to help round out the full experience. The career mode is passable, but there’s just not enough meat on its bones to really justify that full asking price.
This Switch port has taken a full year to make the leap from other consoles to Nintendo’s current-gen hardware, and Kylotonn has had to make some pretty heavy visual downgrades to optimise performance. There’s a real drop in resolution when playing in handheld, and almost every background asset seems either blurred, distorted or downright jaggy; it’s a good thing your attention is almost always focused on your marginally better-looking rider. Things are a little more improved when docked, but there are still intermittent moments of slowdown when playing in handheld mode that can be quite distracting in a game where the slightest error sends you flying to your doom.
There’s support for local multiplayer with up to eight players, which is a welcome touch considering there’s no one playing online at the time of writing. It’s a shame that this game hasn’t built up a community yet on Switch because the recreation of the titular course is amazing, especially when it comes to racing for the fastest lap. Honing your skills on that impressive track in solo is a fine experience in itself, even with the sacrifices made to make it run on Switch, but even the great Snaefell Mountain loses its charms without proper human competition.
Conclusion
As a specific and finite experience, TT Isle of Man is superbike and supersport racing at its most intense and exhilarating. There’s few tracks in the world of motorsport that are as challenging and downright frustrating as Snaefell Mountain, and even the most experienced of virtual riders will find their mettle tested. However, with a meagre career mode, few additional tracks and several issues with performance, this is a racing highlight surrounded by janky filler.
Comments 35
I haven't found a physical copy of this yet, the digital version is $10 more for some odd reason.
If it's not Sega Manx TT I'm not buying!
Graphics look fine for me. (I swear reviewers rate it on how the PS4 looks instead of what the Switch can do!) What I want to know is gyro steer in cockpit view?
After sinking hours into V-Rally mainly because its all the Switch has insofar as proper AAA racing, I am so close to biting on this one but there are some important questions first:
1. Are the bikes responsive and do they feel good to handle? This is the main problem with V-Rally: every corner is a total pain, for most of them you require a handbrake to even start turning (braking does nothing, nothing!) and playing docked gives you gamebreaking input delay.
2. Do the shadows paint in onto the track 5 metres in front of you? This is a ridiculous distraction which still hasn't been patched out - seriously, there is no ignoring it, it looks atrocious. Devs please just remove the shadows if the system isn't powerful enough to render them properly.
If I hear good things on these points from the community, I'll gladly buy TT Isle Of Man at full price.
@GrailUK I'd happily take some good Xbox 360 racers on the Switch.
At the moment we have cartoon racers, mobile phone racers, AA racers (I haven't been game to try those janky looking motocross games), and a couple of struggle-to-keep-up AAA attempts. I'll take a slick last-gen AAA racer for sure.
@TheFongz (Sorry for deleting my post - didn't want it to sound too harsh) I would as well mate. Switch for me doesn't need to keep up with the current gen. As long as the games run great, there are tons from previous gens I haven't played...on the go!
@TheFongz - have you tried MotoGP 18? It won't wow you with graphical beauty, but it sounds like it's a lot more solid than V-Rally.
The racing is pretty decent too, working through the championships. It's not a classic but it's entertaining enough to risk a punt on, in a sale.
Why would anyone buy this game when the developers don’t even bother including any screen shots or videos on the eshop? Just a still image of the game cover is all they show. Yeah that’s going to inspire a lot of people to drop $50 on this game. Eshop makes it look like shovel ware. Deserves to fail if they can’t figure out such basic marketing.
@SuperWeird its Bigben game aka I wouldnt touch the thing if it was free.
If it ran at 60 fps I'd give it a go, but at a choppy 30 fps with drops there's no way I'm playing this racer! I'm a bit of a hypocrite though because I would play Blur on Switch at 30 fps. That's the frame rate that I enjoy it at on PS3. I'd much rather have a lower resolution and higher frame rate, but I play Blur on TV obviously and the input delay is small enough with dejudder (motion interpolation) on my smart TV that it's playable while looking basically 60 fps. Anyways, games like Grand Prix Challenge, Gran Tourismo 3, and Gran Tourismo 4 all run at 60 fps on PS2 and look great/play great. Why isn't there a realistic racer on Switch that looks at least as good as those ancient games?! (I guess Virtua Racing is the closest we've got so far, and it's amazing)
@60frames-please considering Isle of Man TT runs at 30fps on PS4 why would anyone expect this game to hit 60fps on switch.
The developers already had to lower then visuals to hit 30fps. The game would look like a blur on the screen to hit 60fps.
Even though I've got this on Xbox I'll still get it for Switch once the price drops low enough to double dip. It is a visually stunning game and the screenshots here look impressive to me. Videos I saw elsewhere were even more impressive. The NL reviewer unfortunately wasn't aware this game has cult status on Xbox and deservedly. It may only really be one track, but what a track. For true racing fans it's a must, it's the ultimate challenge. A 6 is too low. This game is surely a lot of fun to play on Switch for those willing to put in the hard work of mastering it. This is kind of the Dark Souls of racing games. This game is a little niche but from the sound of it, it deserves a rating of 8/10.
@SuperWeird At first I thought it was just a poster of some kind cause there's no screenshots or trailer but then I see the $50 price tag and say heck no. If I don't know what it is I ain't throwing money at it either.
@kobashi100 I didn't know it runs at 30 on PS4. Pathetic!
So... slowdowns, blurry textures, jaggy backgrounds, meager career mode, and $40.
ACG gave it a "rent or deep deep sale" for PS4. Sounds like not even that on Switch.
@Lionyone I think NL tends to be rather uncharitable to what you might call "off brand" third party ports. I'm trying to track down a copy of this game. If the content is somewhat limited, I can live with that as long as what is there is quality. And from what I can tell from what I've seen on YouTube, it seems like a pretty well made game.
@SuperWeird That's actually something that really irritates me, but that's how racing games always are. It's very rare to see a screenshot of normal gameplay in any racing game promotional material. They always show the car/bike from overhead, the side, from the front, or any random angle other than what you'd see when you're playing. I don't know why.
Wow a 6/10? I have this game on both the Xbox One X and the Switch and that is a criminally underrated score for this game. It is remarkably good looking and smooth on the Switch and it is a fantastic racing sim that does a great job of capturing the feel of a motorcycle. The TT Isle of Man track is incredible and one of the best seen in a racing game. Can't recommend this enough, I have a feeling this review was written by someone who isn't into this type of game.
Switch watch review
https://youtu.be/jLLwjB5RmzM
@JayJ totally agree,been playing this all week and its great,ok theres a bit of slowdown now and again but not enough to ruin it.The sense of speed is great and really adds to the tension,one clip of the curb and you're off ,plus its not that easy,this will take a while to master.The price is worth it for the actual course alone,the others are there for practice runs.If you live in the UK it feels quite familiar racing through some of the streets.
@Microjak @JayJ would you mind commenting on the handling please? I've heard the track is great, the speed is great. But when you push the control stick, does it turn instantly? Does it turn enough? Or do you find yourself blowing out into every corner?
NL said that Saints Row was smooth as butter so I can't really trust them all the time for this stuff...
Getting this and motogp.
@TheFongz watch the switch watch review
PATCH GYRO STEERING PLEASE!
@TheFongz handling seems fine,the bike moves almost instantly when you move the stick(slight delay which gives the bike some weight) but you will NEED to brake to take tight corners,the slower you are moving the tighter you can turn,like a real bike.Bottom line is its a fun game/sim that will get more rewarding as you practice and shave seconds off your runs,if you are constantly blowing out on every corner then you are going too fast.
@GrailUK yes but we live in 2019 it's on a hybrid machine. It doesn't deliver. Of course people will look at other hardware as well. Because you're getting a game that should be looking better. But once again Switch limitation is showing how big the difference is in a simple game like this. I hope Nintendo will make up with their next Switch system to be at least as close as other hardware. I get it this hardware is more for children and gameplay is more important. But the older audience needs some love too and they already ask a lot of money for a hardware that is just as old as 2013 hardware wise. With that said. I bet this game would get a higher score if the graphics were top notch and stable frames. But hey if you like it the way it is on switch keep supporting it
Does the Switch version sync achievements/progress with Xbox/PS4 versionif one has both?
Thanks guys. I should shut up about V-Rally but I found with that game, slowing down doesn't make turning any better at all. You just coast slowly towards the wall, it's maddening, especially if you've ever played a serious game like Dirt Rally where it's all about the braking and only a maniac would abuse the handbrake.
@kobashi100 Thank you so much for that link! It was great to watch all that video and hear the comments. This will go on my wish list, but I will wait for a sale.
@TheFongz Yeah no worries, the developers of this game did a great job of giving you a feel for the bikes. The analog control is nice and progressive, it isn't anything arcadey with immediate action, you can really setup exactly how much you want to lean into the corners by how far you move the analog stick. They have also done a fantastic job with the HD rumble, the feedback really adds to the feel of riding a motorcycle and it gives you a good sense of what is going on with your bike. The lack of analog triggers can be seen as the biggest issue when it comes to a sim racer on the Switch, but so long as you leave some assists on like traction control and ABS you shouldn't have any issues.
I have played all the motorcycle racing sims I could this gen and this is right up there with the best of them. It doesn't have the customization of the RIDE series and it doesn't have the variety of tracks that the MotoGP series has but it stands out as one of the best ways to enjoy racing motorcycles with one of the most impressive tracks ever seen in a racing game.
@Pablo17 You don't need any copy, it's utter garbage
Realistic simulation racers in theory r cool and whatever but honestly most people don't want these type of games 2b 2 much like "real life" "real bikes" etc. cos it's 2 hard and there's just not enough time in the day...If I had the skill set 2 master a game like this I probably wouldn't b looking for a game like this 2 play....
@TheFongz I've played many many hours of Ride and I have to say that the bikes in this game handle GREAT. The pressure sensitivity in the L buttons takes getting used to though, especially in the 1000cc, it's not like a rally car, pumping the gas in the "game way" doesn't work to great with only 2 tires!
Epic game though, this reviewer is silly.
The Isle is the most beautiful track I've ever seen in a racing sim. Easily the most immersive and rewarding. Must-try.
@TheFongz The sticks are very very smooth. They aren't jerky, instant or sudden. You can put almost any degree of pressure in a lean and it works. Acceleration however is a bit harder to get used to. Bikes are tough to handle without good pressure sensitivity.
@JayJ
Reviewer turns off FF7 hour 400
"Okay time to get this TT review outta the way!"
@getBrutal Yeah that pretty much sums up the way most critics approach reviews for games like this.
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