Don't worry if you're not nuts about biking. That won't stop you from enjoying MotoGP 2. It wouldn't have stopped you from enjoying the first MotoGP either - but the suspicion remains that many gamers missed out on the game simply because biking isn't as popular as four-wheeled racing.

To miss out on it a second time around would be a crime, though. MotoGP 2 offers you a brilliant, exciting alternative to the handbraking, skidding world of car racing. Whether you know anything about bikes or not, motoGP races translate brilliantly into this video game. It's stupidly, mind-meltingly fast. It offers an almost unprecedented degree of control and self-improvement, and hones your concentration into that Zen state that's only provoked by the very best video games. Hell, it's so good you'll probably even find yourself using the time trial mode. Honestly. Of course, if you did play the first game you'll know that. But here's a thing. Steady yourself: MotoGP 2 is even better.

Huge leaps have been made in the way the game looks. Layer after layer of extra detail clings to the bikes and tracks, making the game more realistic than ever. Hide the controls on the replays and it's honestly very hard to tell the game apart from TV on occasion. Bikes are ridiculously well detailed, and the colour palette seems to be far more realistic this time around. It looks mint.

The extra effort with the visuals has been matched in the aural department. Crowd noise is more pronounced, and engine noises are searing. With a decent sound setup, the feeling of being slap bang in the middle of a tight pack is superbly intense. As an audio-visual showcase, MotoGP 2 is hard to match.

But it wasn't the graphics that made us love MotoGP so much. It was the divine, subtle handling, combined with the feeling of actually participating in a race that made it so brilliantly, compulsively addictive. And both of these aspects have been bolstered in MotoGP 2.

The handling is still great, but now there's more variety, thanks to the addition of four-stroke engines. There's now much more scope for long-term improvement as the four strokes are harder to race but ultimately offer the better times. And you still feel like you're racing, too, since the other riders battle expertly among themselves. While we're on the subject of difficulty, the Champion setting is now available from the outset, so that veterans can get stuck into the challenge right away. A nice touch.

It's just all so well thought out. The single-player mode offers far more scope for creating the ultimate racing machine, since there are far more skill points to be earned. If you want to get them all you've got your work cut out: as well as the training challenges, each course has its own specific set of challenges. These all give up skill points when beaten, in addition to those gained from the races. But you'll need to go back to a lot of the challenges when your bike is more powerful, offering much more long-term challenge for solo players.

The multiplayer has been tweaked and adjusted to (hopefully) iron out all the problems with cheating that the online demo has fallen foul of. We haven't been able to play it online yet (expect an update when we do), but the measures taken should mean that online play is once again all about skill rather than knowledge of short cuts.

Firstly, a timer underneath your lap time counts up how many seconds you've spent off the track. When it reaches a certain amount, your lap time is void and won't count towards your ranking. Plus, tweaks have been made to the tracks - try and cut the first corner at Saschenring now and you'll go straight into a wall. We anticipate that once we get online with MotoGP 2 it's all going to be about the racing again. And that's the way it should be. Add in the new tracks - all great - and the brilliant bike customisation facility, and you'll find that MotoGP 2 is way ahead of the pack. For newcomers, it's the ultimate bike racer. For fans, a raft of intelligent additions and tweaks lift the experience even further. Ultimate Racing Technology? Oh yes.

Power
Loads of extra juice is squeezed from the Xbox - this looks and sounds stunning.

Style
As with the first game, everything is clearly presented in a particularly user-friendly fashion

Immersion
Prepare to be addicted to bike racing all over again - online, it be fantastic.

Lifespan
More depth to the career mode and an apparently idiot-proof Live mode mean you won't tyre of it.

Summary
Greatly improved motorbike racing that's so thrilling it make your knees bleed. And comedy bikes will rule on Live.

1. Stupendous visuals
2. Loads more to Career Mode
3. Live play should be sorted
4. New tracks are great!

1. Nothing! Hurrah!