Sonic Riders

Sonic Riders is full of hot air. Considering the game's airboard gimmick, that could be a compliment.

Even though Sonic the Hedgehog is known for his immense speed, he’s had a hard time getting into the racing game groove. His first attempt with Sonic Drift for the Sega Game Gear was quite the washout, and the sequel didn’t do much better. Later came Sonic R which took Sonic and friends from their little cars and set them running on their own feet in an adventure that was moderately fun, but too short and simplistic. Now Sonic Team is trying Sonic’s racing luck again with Sonic Riders. Combining elements from F-Zero GX and Kirby’s Air Ride, Sonic Riders puts the blue blur on an airboard and sends him on a speedy quest to recover Chaos Emeralds.

Features

- Sonic’s first new racing game in nearly a decade

- Normal Mode provides conventional racing action

- Story Mode follows Sonic’s adventures in search of Chaos Emeralds

- Multiplayer fun with Tag and Survival modes

- Unlock additional characters, racetracks, and Extreme Gear units


Super Sonic Racing Once Again
When a mysterious band of thieves called the Babylon Rogues abscond with a Chaos Emerald, Sonic and friends give chase and wind up being challenged by Dr. Eggman to a race. Eggman’s EX World Grand Prix offers all of the Chaos Emeralds up as a prize and since the thieves are apparently somehow linked to this contest, Sonic decides to enter the competition to collect the big prize. Along the way he and the usual cast of characters including Tails and Knuckles the Echidna will have to unravel the mad doctor’s latest scheme.

The cast of Sonic Riders ride around on airboards known as Extreme Gear, hovering rides that are fueled by air. As long as a Gear has air in its tank, it’ll keep moving. As such, the controls in Sonic Riders have no accelerator button. After crossing the starting line, the Gear just goes and goes until it runs out of air. Once the air tank runs empty the character riding the Gear has to run on foot until a refill can be found, so the key to Sonic Riders is to keep precious air in the tank. The L and R buttons function as a rudimentary brake, slowing the Gear but never actually stopping it. The Control Stick steers the Gear, but unfortunately the Gear doesn’t respond well to quick turns. All too often, players will see a hazard up ahead and try to steer away to dodge it, but the Gear just won’t veer away fast enough to avoid wiping out. It’s also possible to end up moving in the wrong direction on the track, but since the Gear cannot stop, it is not possible to turn around to move in the correct direction without falling behind in the race. When this happens, the screen simply fades to black and drops the offending character back on the track in the right spot. Press the B button to use a little air for a quick speed boost, while the X button takes an offensive swipe at nearby competition. Furthermore, while airborne Sonic and friends can execute various flips and twirls to gain air and, on occasion, speed.

Sonic Riders includes several gameplay modes, although they all revolve around the same basic racing mechanic. Players take a running start towards the starting line and then jump aboard their Extreme Gears for a three lap race through various Sonic-inspired raceways (jump the gun and try to take off before the green light hits, however, and an electric barrier will stop hedgehogs in their tracks with a penalty). Tracks branch out into multiple paths, but all eventually loop back to the starting/finish line. Along the way, players should pick up rings, recover air, and knock the other players back with a carefully timed press of the X button which causes characters to execute a little offensive move, such as Sonic’s power punch. Aside from the air tank gimmick, Sonic Riders follows the rules of today’s conventional racing games. Speaking of air, Extreme Gears tend to give off contrails in their wake. It’s possible to get caught up in these contrails and slide right up to the nearest competitor. Riding these contrails is a great way to catch up lost ground quickly and allows players to link together various flips and turns to pull off combos.

As far as game modes go, Sonic Riders features a few ways to play the same basic game. Normal Mode has the familiar racing formats live, such as free racing, time attack, and a standard grand prix format in the style of games such as Mario Kart. Story Mode follows Sonic and friends as they track down the Babylon Rogues through a series of races with animated segments breaking up the action to tell the story and specific goals to meet during the race (such as defeating a particular character or finishing the race in a certain ranking). Tag Mode is a multiplayer mode in which players share a single air tank while competing against an opposing team and Survival Mode involves fighting off rivals while collecting Chaos Emeralds. An unlockable Mission Mode adds a little replay value as well.

Standard Issue Speed

On paper, Sonic Riders is about what one would expect from a racing game. There’s little going on in the game to set it apart from the other buzzword-laden extreme cartoonish racing titles from this generation. In fact, it’s fairly unremarkable. There’s a decent level of challenge to be found, but most of that comes from learning to control the Extreme Gear’s quirks. Remember that it’s not possible to let up on the Gear’s accelerator, nor can the unit execute sharp turns. It’s all too easy to either fall off the track or slam into a wall because the Gear makes extremely wide turns. The game offers onscreen hints as to when the hit the air brake and jerk the Control Stick to make a quick turn, but in practice the maneuver is not so easy to execute or useful to use as using the brake, of course, slows down the Gear.

Sonic Riders continues the ongoing process of ramping up Sonic’s attitude, and as such the game sees itself as an extreme all-out turbo event. Characters toss threats at one another, vowing to "settle this during the race!", making it tough to take the game all that seriously. It’s not the first time video game characters are attempted to settle disputes this way, but for some reason Sonic Riders really seems to see itself as loaded with intense character rivalries. It’s hard to take it all seriously, partly because the new villains introduced here – Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross – have seemingly no history with our heroes. There’s some intense long-term anger beneath the surface here. Why are they fighting so harshly when they’ve supposedly never encountered one another before?

Speedy Sights And Sounds
Sonic Team has seen fit to overhaul the character models of the core Sonic cast once again. Dr. Eggman gets the short end of the stick, becoming even more rotund and now sporting an even more craggily mustache. Sonic himself seems especially slender this time around, too. During animated story segments the visuals are on the level with last year’s Shadow the Hedgehog, but during the races themselves, the environments take on a definite F-Zero GX sheen. The faster the Gear glides, the more impressive the world looks. Background music also seems to have been inherited from Shadow the Hedgehog, as there’s plenty of hard guitar and bass beats to be heard. The voice cast from the Sonic X cartoon speaks for Sonic and friends, and their acting skills don’t quite mesh with the onscreen action. There’s plenty of inflection in the spoken words, but characters onscreen do not react with rage or sadness. Other times, a character may make a power gesture and then say a line in a bland tone. Basically, eyes and ears don’t quite match.

Finish Line
All of that said, is Sonic Riders fun? It depends on one’s expectations. Players looking for a simply executed racing game will enjoy the experience, while those looking for complex elements and serious in-game physics may do better elsewhere. Sonic Riders is enjoyable, but the overall gameplay becomes repetitive quickly. The best praise that can be heaped on Sonic Riders is that it is the best Sonic racing game to date, but just remember that the competition for that honor is Sonic Drift and Sonic R. It’s recommended, but from the discount rack in six months.