Developer: Pyramid Games
Publisher: Ultimate Games
Platform: Switch
Tested on: Switch
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator Switch – Review
Working on motorcycles is not that easy in real life, you need the knowledge, tools and space to work on your trusty iron steed. For some mechanics, a motorcycle is an ideal way to learn the basics because parts are cheap and it is more accessible to work on. With the rise of many mechanic simulator games, it was only a matter of time before a motorcycle variant came out. In this game, you will work on customers’ bikes, buy auction vehicles, fix them and sell them for profit.
Story
You are a mechanic that starts on his own with a small garage, some money, and a dream. At first, you will have to take jobs from customers and fix their bikes. This allows you to gain more experience and invest back into your company. Later, you will get certifications to work on other models, thereby expanding the workshop. Story-wise there isn’t any story or background to the game, which isn’t that bad as you can just jump into the game and start playing.
Graphics
The graphics are horrible; simply said there are mobile games from the early 2000s which look better. Backgrounds are of very low quality as there is barely any attention to detail. The bikes themselves look sort of doable, yet their visible damages are rather simplistic. The only things that look good are the character pictures that are just taken from some kind of stock website of real people. There are a few other models like cruisers, dirt bikes, and choppers. Overall they don’t really differ, and parts are all the same.
Sound
The music and sound effects are identical to the graphics, very disappointing. You do have sound effects that correspond with done actions, but due to them feeling so cheap, it makes the whole experience remind you of a mobile game. The background music is pretty calm, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but most mechanics like a spicy soundtrack playing on the radio.
Gameplay
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator is, as the name implies, a simulator about running your own garage and fixing motorcycles. Some people might not have a great knowledge of mechanics and want to learn about them in an easier way, while others want to test their skills in a simulator. This is where Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator would be a great middle-range game for both parties, that is if the game was decently made. To start, the controls are absolutely horrible, navigating through the menus is harder than flying a passenger airplane or managing a train. If you want to interact with things, you will notice that there isn’t a direct way to do so, and it feels like inputting cheat codes just like in the old days.
When you get your degree in controlling the game, you can start by working on clients’ bikes. At first, they all know more than you and will happily tell you what is wrong and what needs to be replaced. This will happen in the first cheap fixes but as you get to know the game, you will know how to spot damaged or broken parts. This is solely done by adding rust to parts. While this is a normal way to do so, it is way too easy to spot the broken parts. Better mechanic games have a full gradient from bad to pristine and this can hide the lesser parts so the player must be really focused. If you remove something, sometimes you will get a prompt that a previous part needs to be removed first. This can be easily bypassed as you just select the lowest part and smash the interaction button, stripping the bike in seconds. Removing parts is without any real interaction and you grab them off like Lego bricks.
Parts will have a certain condition as green means new, yellow means revision and red means scrap. Yellow parts can always be refurbished to green parts at no cost and because this always works, it kind of defeats the purpose of buying new items (when used parts are available). Refurbishing these items is always done in a small mini-game and most of them just consist of you rubbing off the rust. There are a few games that require a bit more interaction such as choosing the right wrench and loosening a bolt or replacing a worn tire.
If you are fed up with the low income that you get from fixing bikes, you can always head over to the auction house. Bid on a bike, rebuild it and sell it. First, you bid against a few other people for a vehicle and most of the time you either get it at what it is estimated worth or overpay by a bunch. Next, you rebuild the bike and while you have some fun in picking up cheap parts, refurbishing and building, the selling section isn’t interesting. What we have seen in ‘Car Trader’ is when you try to sell a vehicle, it will get auctioned and this little interaction is always fun to watch to discover how much profit you will be making. In Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator, however, you just sell it and will see if you made any cash or lost money.
The Overall gameplay is pretty boring, you don’t have much progression as there are only a few licenses that take quite a while to acquire. With these, you get to work on other kinds of bikes, from dirt bikes to cruisers and choppers. The strange thing is that there are no performance bikes or scooters present, which are amongst the more popular models out there. However, getting a new license will only keep you interested for a few jobs as the gameplay is highly repetitive and there is no real progression to unlock.
Conclusion
There are many good simulator games out there and Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator for the Switch isn’t one of them. There is a game with the same name on steam that is highly rated, yet has nothing in common with this broken piece of software. Controls are unresponsive, navigating through menus is headache-inducing and the overall bad quality doesn’t really feel inviting. There is a slightly good thing about this game and that can be found in the refurbishing mini-games. While these are quite simple, it is fun to have a bit of interaction while repairing worn down parts.
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