MotoGP 3 (often stylized as MotoGP3) is a 2003 racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. It is the third in Namco's series of MotoGP video games, 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.
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 Antena 3 Yamaha d'Antin Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 6 Norick Abe 20 Pere Riba Fortuna Honda Gresini Honda Honda NSR500/Honda RC211V 74 Daijiro Kato None None Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 19 Olivier Jacque 56 Shinya Nakano Kanemoto Racing Honda Honda NSR500 17 Jurgen van den Goorbergh None None Marlboro Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR-M1 3 Max Biaggi 7 Carlos Checa MS Aprilia Racing Aprilia Aprilia RS Cube 55 Régis Laconi None None Pramac Honda Honda Honda NSR500 31 Tetsuya Harada None None Proton Team KR Proton KR Proton KR3 9 Nobuatsu Aoki 99 Jeremy McWilliams Red Bull Yamaha WCM Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 8 Garry McCoy 21 John Hopkins Repsol Honda Team Honda Honda RC211V 11 Tohru Ukawa 46 Valentino Rossi Telefónica Movistar Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki GSV-R 10 Kenny Roberts 15 Sete Gibernau West Honda Pons Honda Honda NSR500/Honda RC211V (Barros Only) 4 Alex Barros 65 Loris Capirossi
Legends Team Constructor Machine No. Rider Marlboro Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 1 Wayne Rainey Lucky Strike Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 1 Kevin Schwantz Repsol Honda Team Honda Honda NSR500 1 Mick Doohan Rothmans Honda Honda Honda NSR500 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 JapanPaul Ricard Grand Prix de France (1999)Jerez Gran Premio de EspañaDonington British Grand PrixMotegi Pacific Grand PrixMugello Gran Premio d'ItaliaCatalunya Gran Premio de EspañaAssen Dutch TTLe Mans Grand Prix de France (2002)Sachsenring Grand Prix DeutschlandBrno Grand Prix České republikyEstoril Grande Premio de PortugalValencia Gran Premio de EspañaPhillip Island Australian Grand PrixSepang Malaysian 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.
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