Sonic Riders

Notably, the Sega Carnival and Sega Illusion stages, both of which are unlockable courses, feature numerous references to several other Sega franchises, including Samba De Amigo, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, NiGHTS Into Dreams, Super Monkey Ball, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5, ChuChu Rocket!, and Fantasy Zone. Additionally, the Crazy Gear is a board in the shape of a taxi where players must "pay rings" to use it; this refers to the fact that the taxi is from the Crazy Taxi game.

The game also features three stages in the Survival Battle Mode for the game: Dual Towers, Snowy Valley and Space Theater.

[edit] Extreme Gear

These air vehicles are called "Extreme Gear" which consists of bikes, skates and boards. There are 54 Extreme Gear in total [3]. There is no "trick" button; tricks are done by moving the control stick. Each character has a default gear, for example, Shadow uses a modified version of his air shoes called "Darkness", while Eggman uses a bike called "E-Rider". Most characters have gear that is exclusively for him/her, however most gear can be used by others (Eggman can only ride bikes, Ulala can't ride bikes, and E-10000G and E-10000R can only ride boards.)

[edit] Reception

[edit] General reception

Sonic Riders was at times viewed in a positive light, but, overall, the game spawned mixed reactions from many resources as seen below:

• Nintendo Power: 8.0 out of 10 [4]
• GameSpot: 6.6 out of 10
• Gamesmaster Magazine UK 65%
• IGN: 6.2 out of 10
• Games Radar: 5 out of 10 [5]
• X-Play: 3 out of 5

[edit] Criticism

The game received some criticizing comments when it was first released in the U.S for a multitude of reasons. For one, it was stated from sources such as IGN.com that even for dedicated veteran gamers this game can be significantly difficult. Players increase their level, air capacity and initial stats of the gear being used by collecting rings, with the highest possible level being 3. However, if a player is attacked, that player loses all rings and goes back down to level 1 regardless of their current level or situation. Depending on the level of the attacking computer player, the player attacked could also be stunned for several precious seconds. Loss of all rings also occurs when the player falls off the track in certain courses.

The game was also referred to having "hidden catches" since after obtaining certain gears, they are not automatically added to your collection. They must be purchased from the shop instead, and this was sometimes seen as a misguided attempt at increasing replay value. The game also received numerous other criticisms by fans for various opinionated reasons.

The game was also criticized by others for one of the levels entitled "Digital Dimension". In this level "Heaven" and "Hell" elements were constantly present, adding a different perspective to the track and game as a whole. Religious connotations made some fans feel slightly uncomfortable (although a similar concept was used in Sonic Adventure 2 with the "Hero" and "Dark" Chao gardens).

Sonic doing tricks. As a result of this, the air gauge will refill.

[edit] Game errors

The game is also noted for having quite a few contingency errors, mostly with regards to characters, as listed below:

• In Rouge the Bat's official art her eyeshadow is blue, but during races, on the tailing map at the bottom of the screen, Rouge's icon has pink eyeshadow.
• The Sonic Riders instruction manual doesn't mention anything about Amy, even though she is a starter character.
• In the CGI animated cutscenes, Sonic and the Babylon Rogues are the only characters to keep their full racing costumes: Tails loses his goggles and Amy reverts to her normal costume that she wore since Sonic Adventure.
• The announcer will also sometimes shout "<name> must have grown wings because he/she's flying!," even for characters such as Rouge and the Babylon Rouges, who have wings, and NiGHTS, who cannot walk and only flies. Additionally, when playing as any character, after performing a few tricks, the announcer will occasionally say "she" instead of "he" or vice-versa.
• During the story cutscene before the "Babylon Guardian" race, Amy Rose is wearing her normal red dress, but when the race starts, she is wearing her pink racing clothes. Then, after the race, she is wearing her red dress again.
• In the last CG movie, Wave rides as a left rider (with the left leg leading), but during gameplay, she is a right rider.
• In the Xbox version of the game, both Jet and Storm's board descriptions say "Standard Type W (Wave)."
• In the Hang-On gear's information, there is a typographical, claiming "It has great Value". The Super Hang-On gear doesn't have the error.

These errors did not detract from the overall impression of the game, per se, but they were noted by many.

[edit] Trivia

• The High Booster Gear has a pattern similar to the Shadow the Hedgehog game insignia running down the side of it.

• The Turbo Star's name is a name of a vehicle in Kirby Air Ride, a game to which Sonic Riders has often been compared.

• On the back of Heavy Bike, there is an inverted picture of the American flag.

• The Archie Sonic Comic issues #163 and #164 include a loose adaptation of Sonic Riders, even using the same animation style used in the game's title sequence.

• As of December 2006, this is the last Sonic game to be released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox. In a recent interview, it was revealed that Sega still intends to support the PlayStation 2 for at least 2 more years with games like Sonic; however, there is no confirmation that a Sonic title is currently in development for the PlayStation 2, or either of the other two systems. [6]

[edit] Music

Overall, the music in the game was received positively, although some claimed it did not "fit in with the Sonic series" but they did suit the levels the music was designed for.^{[citation needed]} Runblebee performed the themes "Catch Me If You Can" and "Sonic Speed Riders". They have been also slated to compose some of the tracks found in Sonic and the Secret Rings. The game is also noted for the fact that it is the first post-Sonic Adventure console game, excluding Sonic Shuffle, in which Crush 40 did not perform any theme songs. Team Hero's theme, "High Flying Groove", is Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' first pure instrumental theme song since the original Sega Genesis titles. Noted, too, was the fact that the invincibility jingle in this game is a loose remix of the tune from the Sonic Heroes main theme song of the same name.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, in reference to the game of the same name, when riding the "Hang-On" or "Super Hang-On" gear, a music track from the same game replaces the normal course music track.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Possible Sequels

• In an interview with Eurogamer, Takashi Yuda (the producer of the original Sonic Riders) announced that Sega would release a Sonic Riders sequel on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. [7]
• In the same interview with Eurogamer that talks about the next-gen sequel, Yuda suggests that Sonic Riders may be ported to the PSP, but nothing has been decided yet.
• In an interview with Nintendo Power (March 2006), Yuda says he doesn't know much about the Wii; but based on what he does know, he believes that the system could bring Sonic Riders "to the next dimension" [8]

[edit] External links

• Official US site
• Official Japanese site
• Official European Site
• Sonic Riders at MobyGames