MotoGP 4

MotoGP 4 is Namco's last console MotoGP game (barring the 2005/2006 season PSP game and the China-only System 246 arcade game based on the 2006 season), now featuring all tracks and every class from the 2004 MotoGP season, as well as a more serious motorsports game feel compared to their previous titles.

It also pays a tribute to Daijiro Kato, in a similar way to how Dale Earnhardt was playable in NASCAR games released years after each respective fatal accidents.

Sub-Pages#

Notes Bugs

Unused Riders/Teams#

The executable/SLUS file contains filenames referencing teams and riders that are not present in the game.

Team names refer to official 2004 FIM entry list and may not reflect intended in-game name.

Team Bikes for Player#

2004 Riders#

Note that there are six blank string ID slots for 250cc riders and two for 125cc riders.

Legends#

While there are only seven legend bikes in the game (three of them representing the same rider, to boot), there is a mention of bike_legends_c8_sl and bike_legends_c9_sl in the SLUS file, in case there are two other legend riders to fill out the roster (possibly Kenny Roberts Sr. and/or Freddie Spencer, who did not return after MotoGP 2, or the 2001 version of Daijiro Kato as a 250cc legend).

Others#

While bike_extra_p01_sl appears for the used BMW 645Ci safety car, there are four other files named in that convention, bike_extra_p02_sl to bike_extra_p05_sl. Given some of the unused rider name strings, these appear to be intended for Pac-Man (string ID 65), Ms. Pac-Man (string ID 66), and two other safety cars (string ID 67, "Pace Car 2" and (string ID 68, "Pace Car 3"). Likely, Pac-Man (and Ms. Pac-Man) would have been similar from his appearance as a special machine in Ridge Racer games.

Unused Track#

Within the portions of the game's executable file, in areas dealing with tracks, there is a mention of a track file with name of TrainingNight (complemented with TrainingNightR for its wet version), which would have been the night version of the fantasy Training track.

Additionally, all mentions of tracks in the game's executable are sorted in each track's first appearance in the series (from 500 GP to MotoGP 4), with new-to-MotoGP 4 tracks sorted in their appearance in the 2004 MotoGP calendar.

Regional Differences#

To do: The European version seem to have time trial passwords for an internet ranking event?

Default Player Country#

The default nationality setting for the player rider reflects each version of the game: JPN (Japan) in the Japanese version, GBR (Great Britain) in the European version (when the game is started in English with no save file), and USA (United States) in the US version.

Network Adapter Support#

To do: Is the USB headset support US only as a result of online multiplayer?

The European version uses the Network Adapter for LAN multiplayer, while the US version uses it for online multiplayer powered by GameSpy Arcade (which resulted in that version being delayed by a year compared to the other two). The Japanese version removes support for the peripheral entirely.

Melee Mode#

Melee Mode, an option in Arcade Mode that makes opponents race closer to each other and allows the player from start from any position on the grid, is called Dead Heat (デッドヒート) in the Japanese version.

Oddities#

Incorrect Castrol Font#

Wayne Gardner's bike uses a period-incorrect font for the Castrol logo on the bottom of his fairing, using the 2001 font despite the bike being representative of his 1992 season machine. This mistake was a carryover from his previous appearance in MotoGP 3, as all legend riders in this game (except the 2003 version of Daijiro Kato) come directly from there.

Playing as a Legend Rider in Season Mode#

If you play as a legend rider in the Season Mode using the Use a real rider from the MotoGP! option, the post-race feedback screen will use the Yamaha Team's (the Gauloises-sponsored factory team) staff regardless of what team the legend rider belongs to.

Daijiro Kato (2002, NSR500) in Time Trial Mode#

If the 2002 NSR500 version of Daijiro Kato was played in the Time Trial mode, the team's name will read "Telefonica Movistar Honda '01" (string ID 36) instead of "Honda Gresini '02" (string ID 35 for that version) when it appears in the Previous Trial section in the post-race records screen. No team with that name exists - Telefonica Movistar sponsored Suzuki's factory team that year, while Gresini as an organization took sabbatical from top-flight Grand Prix motorcycle racing that same year. However, Kato did win the 2001 250cc championship that year with a team listed as such in the FIM entry list.

This does not occur with his 2002 RC211V or 2003 version.

Youichi Ui in Split-Screen - Grand Prix#

If the player changes their rider in middle of a Split Screen - Grand Prix game, Youichi Ui will not have a biography profile. The "(2nd)" versions of Max Biaggi, Alex Barros, and Nicky Hayden will also have the "(2nd)" suffix missing from the motorcycle name in their biography data.