MotoGP 3 explained

MotoGP 3
Developer:Namco
Composer:Hiroto Sasaki
Tetsukazu Nakanishi
Rio Hamamoto
Go Shiina
Genre:Racing
Modes:Single player, Multiplayer
Platforms:PlayStation 2

MotoGP 3 (often stylized as MotoGP3) is a Grand Prix motorcycle racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2003, it is the third game in the Namco series, which coincided with the THQ series for a number of years.

Gameplay

The gameplay is very similar to past games by Namco, like MotoGP (PS2) and MotoGP 2. MotoGP 3 is based on the 2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, but with the introduction of four stroke bikes, the gameplay has some slight differences. The new 990cc 4-stroke bikes are faster but harder to handle, while the 500cc 2-strokes are slower but slightly better to handle.

Features

MotoGP 3 has far more tracks than the previous game, with 15 real world courses which include Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Paul Ricard, Motegi and Mugello. There are also a combination of fantasy layouts. When starting the game up for the first time, players can create a custom rider. After that, they will be brought to the menu screen where they can access a number of options. The first is arcade, where the players can choose the bike they wish to ride, number of laps, weather, difficulty and settings to do a race. Season mode puts them into a season with any team (depending on difficulty) and the player races on a combination of circuits to try and win the championship. Time Trial is like Arcade, except that rather than racing against a number of opponents for a number of laps, the player races against the clock to try to get the best time for as long as desired. Challenge mode is a series of challenges that players can play. They range from beating another rider, riding between cones, setting a specific lap time in Time Trial or winning a race at a specific track. Completing challenges will unlock riders, movies and pictures. Multiplayer allows players to race against up to four other people. Legends mode is, like Time Trial, similar to Arcade mode, except rather than facing riders from 2002, they face riders from past seasons, including the likes of Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan to name a few.

Riders

2002

Team Constructor Machine No. Rider 1 No. Rider 2
6 20 Pere Riba
74 None None
19 56 Shinya Nakano
17 None None
3 7 Carlos Checa
55 None None
31 None None
9 99 Jeremy McWilliams
8 21 John Hopkins
11 46 Valentino Rossi
10 15 Sete Gibernau
Honda NSR500/Honda RC211V (Barros Only) 4 65 Loris Capirossi

Legends

Team Constructor Machine No. Rider
1 Wayne Rainey
1 Kevin Schwantz
1 Mick Doohan
5 Wayne Gardner

Fantasy

The game also includes fictional riders based on Namco game franchises. Susumu Hori is only available in the PAL and Japanese version of the game.

Team Constructor Machine No. Rider
Namco Team Unknown Unknown J Jack Slate
Namco Team Unknown Namco-drillmach1 0 Susumu Hori
Namco Team Unknown Namco-nfr990h 76 Hitomi Yoshino

Circuits

The game features 15 circuits based on the 2002 season of MotoGP.

Circuit Country Grand Prix
Suzuka Grand Prix of Japan
Paul RicardGrand Prix de France (1999)
Jerez Gran Premio de España
British Grand Prix
Motegi Pacific Grand Prix
Gran Premio d'Italia
CatalunyaGran Premi de Catalunya
AssenDutch TT
Le Mans Grand Prix de France (2002)
SachsenringGrand Prix Deutschland
BrnoGrand Prix České republiky
Grande Premio de Portugal
ValenciaGran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana
Phillip Island Australian Grand Prix
SepangMalaysian Grand Prix

Reception

The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. MotoGP 3 was successful in Italy: Sony Computer Entertainment Italia reported just under 100,000 sales by March 2004.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Multiplayer.it Business to Business . www.multiplayer.it . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040823065932/http://www.multiplayer.it/b2b/articoli.php3?id=10959 . 23 August 2004 . dead.