DUCATI - 90th Anniversary

My Saturday night racing sessions have covered a lot of ground - kart racers, open-wheel sims, MotoGP titles - so when a game promises to walk you through the entire history of one motorcycle brand, I pay attention. DUCATI - 90th Anniversary is Milestone's stripped-down spin-off of RIDE, built around a single manufacturer and structured as a Historical Tour through 39 licensed Ducati models spread across seven eras, starting with 1950s classics and rolling all the way up to modern superbikes. If you have ever wanted to ride Fogarty's Ducati 996 or the 1954 125 Gran Sport Marianna back to back in a single session, this is the only game that lets you do that. The core handling is lifted straight from RIDE, which is both a comfort and a limitation. Controls are accessible enough for casual players - there are assist options that take the edge off traction management - and the game does ease you in gently with the slower vintage machines before the pace picks up through the modern eras. That progression curve is probably the nicest thing I can say about the structure: riding a fragile 1950s single-cylinder into a corner and then eventually throwing a 1199 Panigale into the same bend feels genuinely satisfying as a contrast. There is also an in-game museum with historical details on each model, which is a thoughtful touch for actual Ducati enthusiasts. Here is where the wheels wobble, though. The track roster is thin - eight licensed circuits and five country tracks, most of them recycled directly from RIDE - and the progression system is medal-gated rather than money-based, meaning you unlock bikes automatically rather than earning them through any meaningful economy. Bike customization is basically absent. You race in the same livery, the same rider kit, lap after lap. Community feedback flags persistent camera shake in helmet and dashboard views as a genuine comfort issue, and some players have noted that the online leaderboard servers no longer respond, leaving a minor but nagging error message after every race. For a game released in 2016, the visuals were already considered behind-the-times at launch, and they have not aged up since. If you already own RIDE or any of its sequels, this game adds almost nothing you have not already got - except the Ducati branding and the historical framing. If you have never touched Milestone's motorcycle catalogue and the red Italian badge genuinely means something to you, the Historic Tour mode gives you a focused, if shallow, bracket to work through. It is not built for four friends on a couch - no split-screen, no local multiplayer energy to speak of - and it is not a serious sim for wheel-and-pedal setups either. Think of it as an interactive brand brochure that sometimes lets you draft through Misano. Riley, Scout Team

Valve rates this game Steam Deck Playable. Runs flawlessly on Linux out of the box. Based on 5 ProtonDB community reports.

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