Sonic Riders

By Spencer . March 3, 2006 . 12:27pm

Purchase at Play-Asia

 

If Mario can play soccer Sonic should be able to race on a hoverboard. It fits the Sonic theme of being fast and suits the blue hedgehog’s edgy attitude. Since it’s such a natural fit you have to wonder what prompted Sega and Sonic Team to create Sonic Riders. Was it the desire to make more Sonic spinoffs for a quick buck? Or was it to evolve the franchise?

 

When you start the story mode in Sonic Riders you’re treated to a slick FMV of Sonic sporting some new sunglasses riding a hoverboard and chasing the Babylon Rouges. The rouges are a group of thieves from a lost island. Sonic and his pals will be racing against for most of the game during Eggman’s “extreme gear” tournament. Throughout the story mode you’ll rotate characters from the heroes side and have to score in the top three to progress. Later on the requirements ramp up and you’ll be forced to be first or have to try the race over.

 

As you probably guessed Sonic Riders isn’t about the story, it’s about high speed hoverboarding action. You start out races in a “mini race”. In front of you and the track is an electric gate. Touch it before the race starts and you’ll get stunned. The goal is to take Sonic or whoever you’re in control of and run past the gate just as the race starts. If you time your run correctly you’ll miss getting shocked and get a nice speed boost. Once a race gets underway it’s what you would expect from any other racing game. You’ll move Sonic with the analog stick and use the circle button for a quick speed boost. However, if you use the speed boost too much your hover board will overheat and you’ll be forced to walk on the track for a little while. A quick break in a pit stop or snagging a cool down power up can prevent you from overheating. Besides random powerups rings are scattered on each track. Collect enough rings to level up. Each level up increases your top speed and the power of your speed boost. Rider level does not carry over to other races, so you’ll always be back at level one at the start of a race. Since capturing rings gives a huge advantage in a race, it might be a good idea to focus on snagging rings on the first lap so you can level up as quickly as possible. Rings only regenerate once per lap, which gives the rider in first place an edge for snagging rings and an early level up.

 

One great thing about the races in Sonic Riders is they feel fast. The game runs smoothly as objects blaze past your vision. To emphasize the speed you’re riding at the designers added in turbulence. Turbulence is left behind when you or another racer jets down the track. Savvy racers following behind can jump on the jet stream and surf on the turbulence. There are a couple advantages you get by doing this. First you’ll ride faster than if you were running on the ground. If you catch up to the competitor that’s causing the turbulence you’ll get a chance to hit and stun them for a couple of seconds. Turbulence also serves as an auto pilot around a tracks nasty tight turns and other pitfalls. However you just can’t plan to ride turbulence to win a race. At times streams of turbulence can lead you right into a wall or worse off a cliff if you aren’t paying attention. Also if you’re in the front of the pack other players will be jumping on your turbulence trail. It’s an interesting system that allows for quick comebacks.

 

However, the speed in Sonic Riders doesn’t mesh well with the track design. Each level, whether it’s a futuristic race track or the middle of the jungle has plenty of sharp turns. The only way you’ll be able to tackle a turn and maintain speed is to memorize where each turn is and drift on it. Sonic Riders also throws a few curveballs in each track. One early race track has robots pop out, which you’ll need to dodge. Another gameplay element added in is automated scenes where you’ll need to spin the analog stick instead of racing around. While it’s cool to watch Tails ride a flying worm or see Sonic surf on the rapids these scenes are dropped so suddenly you’ll need to know where they are.

 

Probably the most disappointing point in Sonic Riders is its trick system or lack there of. You can do flips, grabs and spins just by rotating the analog stick. All you have to do is pay attention to how you land. If you land right you’ll get a speed boost, land wrong and you’ll lose some speed. Since it’s so simplified there was no reason for Sega to add in trick based tracks.

 

If you’re a huge Sega fan it’s worth it to play through the story mode. Sega has a bunch of surprises for you as unlockable characters. One of the racers was a huge surprise back from the Saturn era. Beating story mode also gives you a new story mode to play except this time you’ll be playing as the misunderstood Babylon Rouges.

 

Sonic Riders’ high points are its speed and the creative use of turbulence. On the other hand its disappointing trick system and wonky track design won’t win gamers over.

 

Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 0

Of course the US version is in English, but there’s also a language selection option in the options menu if you want to play the game in Japanese.

 

US Bound?

Sonic Riders made its debut on 02.21.2006.

 

+ Pros: Slick presentation and plenty of surprises for Sega fans.

 

- Cons: Chaotic races where you’re drifting one second then spinning the analog stick in circles the next.

 

Overall: As an extreme sports game Sonic Riders is at the back of the pack. However, if you’re a huge Sega fan looking for a racing game Sonic Riders might be up your alley.

 

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