izigame.me

TLDR: All in all an ok game. There is a lot of things that need some work, but it is playable and does not crash. Some things are missing from TTIOM2, a number of things are better than TTIOM2, and some things are worse than TTIOM2. I give it a 5/10 and cautiously recommend buying the game as long as the devs offer some fixes for the issues. I will update my review depending on what gets fixed or not. I wish steam offered a middle review as I don't think this game is a full thumbs down.

Positives:
The bike wheeling is much improved over TTIOM2, you can actually do proper wheelies now and through multiple gears.
Bike handles jumps much better and you can get a wobble just like in real life if you don't perfectly nail the landing.
Slow speed handling actually exists now unlike TTIOM2 and the bike behaves and is animated correctly for a racing bike.
The TT and other circuits are well modeled, if a tiny bit more bumpy than the real track (still better than TTIOM2 which sometimes felt like I was riding on broken pavement due to how rough it was).
Graphics are quite good for a sim game, The sun and the shade and your vision are modeled realistically
The super sport bikes are, in general, handling really well, and only need some slight tweaking.
Most of the animations are correct to the real world.

Note: before I get to the issues, I have tested both types of bikes with stock and gold parts, tuned and untuned, and my controller is configured properly. While some of these issues can be lessened slightly with tuning and parts, they are still issues
Major Issues:
Bikes do not corner right, it impossible to make high speed turns in game at the same speeds as in real life such as Ballagarey. Bikes feel like they are under-steering a fair bit more than they should be vs their real life counterparts, especially with all gold parts.
Sport bikes are a little too stiff at high speed, making hard to get turned in at corners like Ballagarey in time making just barely possible to do at real world speed. Superbikes are considerably worse off. The corner at Ballagarey is impossible to take full tilt like you can in real life on a super bike, because you can't get the bike over in time due to how stiff the handling gets at high speed.
The handling characteristics of super bikes are much closer to sport bikes than portrayed in the game, aside from the power difference, the weight is only around 10% higher, the wheels and tires are largely the same (with the same centrifugal forces). The only other difference is the engine centrifugal force is slightly higher due to the increased engine mass. Which is why superbikes are a just a bit slower to shift left to right vs a super sport bike. That mass and centrifugal force difference also makes super bikes a bit more stable on rough patches
Super bikes tend to be a bit more stable due to their slightly higher weight and higher engine centrifugal force. But in game they feel less stable.
Super bikes still have this nasty tendency to suddenly snap over 45-90 degrees (almost always to the left) while racing with the bike upright (10% or less lean angle). I've had this happen just before jumps, and particularly the corner going into bray hill and also going down bray hill. This almost never happens to the super sport bikes
Real world motorcycles tend to get the shakes not when wheeling over a jump and the rear lands, but when the front tire lands, particularly the front wheel is not perfectly straight
The rider head position is incorrect in all the views. In helmet and the other two first person on motorcycle views, the rider's head is about 5 inches too low (it is currently set where a chin camera would be, not the rider's eyes). In 3rd person the rider's head clips into the windshield when starting, and then his chin is clipped inside the tank when fully tucked. Generally real world riders tend to either look through the top part of the windscreen or just over top of the windscreen.
High speed wheelies are more stable in real life, and are not prone to shaking back and forth as in game.

Moderate Issues:
Soundscape is very muddy and muted particularly in 3rd person. It is fine for the helmet view as racers wear ear plugs, and the helmet also mutes the sound
It does not feel like the rider is shifting his weight back and forth, appropriately for keeping the wheel down when accelerating, and particularly for braking. One tends to lean over the handlebars when accelerating, and push back and up when braking (some riders even stand up slightly while braking). Also when taking a jump riders will stand up on the pegs a bit so their legs absorb the shock of landing.
I would like to have options to turn individual HUD elements on or off (such as the mini-map, the right side display with revs gear etc, and any other ones.
Why were the names of the different parts of the track removed from the HUD?
Please remember my settings for all bikes when it comes to ABS, TCS etc, or at least let me set them before the race starts.
The game has 8 circuits not 34. The 34 figure includes the 8 full circuits, and all the sections you can break the 8 into.
What happened to practice against the clock mode where I can just practice as long as I want?
It would be nice if I could feel better when the bike is about to lose grip through controller vibration better, also why no trigger vibrations for Xbox controller?

Minor Annoyances:
It would be nice if I could set the brake pressure I want for the rear brake when using a button, as that sudden full rear brake can destabilizes the bike
I personally do not care about bug splats, but they should be optional if added.
I don't care for the damage skins and would like to disable them. The idea I can pick up a bike after a 150mph crash, and the bike (and rider) just being a bit scuffed & muddied up with some dents and scrapes is kind of silly.
I also would like to get rid of that invulnerability glow when you get back on your bike after a crash.
That sharp bang sound when you come off the bike is kind of dumb, particularly for a low side or slow speed fall where there isn't much of an impact.
Would be nice if I could teleport around in free roam
Real world racing bikes all have quick shifters, the only time you need to use the clutch is going from neutral to first gear while launching, after that it is just left foot click up/down (and very quick to shift)
Most riders tend to keep the right foot down and the left foot on the peg when stopped (so you can shift from neutral to first). Only utter novices push off with their feet (especially both feet), and you move your foot up on the peg when you hit the clutch friction zone and the bike starts moving.
I am a bit confused why the people working on the bikes in your paddock are in full flame retardant gear. That clothing is appropriate when in the pits working with hot bikes and fuel, not in the paddock on a cold unfueled bike. Also no sane rider will keep his helmet on or the racing suit & armor in the middle of summer, while the techs work on the bike.

About me:
I’ve been riding for about 40 years now, raced in lower divisions at full racing speeds (mostly racing tracks though, I'm not quite crazy enough to go full tilt on road courses, but I was on the TT once as a closed circuit for a lap), and have raced a few of the racing spec bikes that are in the game (though not the same years) including the Kawasaki ZX-6R, Honda CBR1000RR SP, and BMW S1000RR. I still do track days with my own bikes, but I don't race any more.