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| Sonic Riders | |
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| Developer(s) | Sonic Team's UGA Division |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Kenjiro Morimoto (director / game designer) |
| Released | NA February 21, 2006 JP February 23, 2006 EU March 13, 2006 NA November 14, 2006 (PC) EU November 24, 2006 (PC) |
| Genre | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Ratings | ESRB: Everyone PEGI: 3+ OFLC: G |
| Platform(s) | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC |
| System requirements | GameCube: 1 Block; Ghost Data: 14 Blocks |
Sonic Riders (ソニックライダーズ Sonikku Raidāzu?) is a hoverboard-racing video game spin-off produced by Sega and developed by their second-party, Sonic Team's UGA Division for the Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and PC. It is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R. The characters race on floating airboards, air shoes and motorbikes powered by air, called "Extreme Gear". The game was released to start off the 15th anniversary of the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. This game introduces five new playable characters, the Babylon Rogues and the E-10000 series. A sequel to Sonic Riders, entitled Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, is being developed for the Wii and PlayStation 2.
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Story
At midnight in Future City, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna are searching for a Chaos Emerald. As Tails finally detects it on his radar, glass shatters in the background and from the city bank fall the legendary band of thieves known as the Babylon Rogues. The thieves were riding on Extreme Gear, floating airboards. Sonic attempts to pursue them, but is outmatched on this new technology and the three mysterious characters fly away with the Chaos Emerald in tow. The next day, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles see a familiar face on the monitors. Doctor Eggman announced that he has created a race called the "EX World Grand Prix". It is a competition to see who is the best on Extreme Gear. When Eggman announces that the prize is all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, and that the current racers are the same thieves they met up with yesterday, the three enroll themselves in the tournament. As the Grand Prix goes on, rivals are made. Jet thinks that he is superior, saying he is faster than Sonic. Tails gets mad at Wave when she insults his Extreme Gear. Knuckles and Storm almost get into a fight creating a rivalry between the two. At the end of the tournament, Jet uses the Chaos Emeralds to empower an ancient key and reveal Babylon Garden, the ancient ruins of his ancestors. Eggman quickly reveals his intent to steal the Babylonian treasure and flies off, with the Rouges and Sonic and friends in pursuit. Although Sonic is able to stop Eggman and settle his score with Jet, the adventure continues when the Babylon Rogues unleash an ancient spirit from Babylon, the Babylon Guardian. Once the Guardian is defeated, the true treasure of Babylon is revealed, surprising everyone with its contents, especially Eggman. The Babylon Rouges and Sonic's group part ways, but not before Jet vows to return and face Sonic again.
Characters
Characters in Sonic Riders are divided into three varying types: Speed, Power, and Flight with the exception of Super Sonic. The game introduces three new characters: Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross. The three are all members of an organization of thieves known as the Babylon Rogues, led by Doctor Eggman during the tournament until a certain point in the game. Depending on the character type and/or gear, the player can grind, knock obstacles or fly through dash rings. The classifications each of the respective characters fall under is listed below:
- Speed
Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, Jet the Hawk, Shadow the Hedgehog, E-10000R and Ulala have the highest top speed stats. They can grind on rails placed around some parts of tracks by pressing the "jump" button twice (once to jump over the rail, second to grind on it).
- Power
Knuckles the Echidna, Storm the Albatross, Doctor Eggman, E-10000G and AiAi the Monkey have the best off road durability and can break through certain obstacles on tracks. Their speed and acceleration stats are only average.
- Flight
Miles "Tails" Prower, Wave the Swallow, Cream the Rabbit, Rouge the Bat, and NiGHTS have the highest acceleration and can fly through "Air Rings," which accelerate them through the air. Otherwise, they simply hover in mid-air, slowly falling.
Courses
There are a total of sixteen courses in the game, thirteen of which appear in the game's Story Mode's and three stages in the Survival Battle Mode. 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, Super Monkey Ball, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5, ChuChu Rocket!, and Fantasy Zone. Despite there being 16 tracks in the game, some of the levels have been criticized for virtually carbon-copying each other. The track variations have the same basic setting and music, but often take place at different times of the day and have different layouts. Examples include the Metal City and Night Chase tracks, and the Splash Canyon and Red Canyon tracks.
Reception
Sonic Riders had mixed reviews ranging from average to poor:
- Nintendo Power: 8.0 out of 10 [1]
- GameSpot: 6.6 out of 10
- Gamesmaster Magazine UK 65%
- IGN: 6.2 out of 10
- Games Radar: 5 out of 10 [2]
- X-Play: 3 out of 5
- Game Informer: 5 out of 10
Game Rankings currently gives Sonic Riders 59.2% for the PlayStation 2, 62% for the Gamecube, 58.6% for the Xbox, and 52% for the PC.
Cast
- Dr. Eggman is both voiced by Deem Bristow and Mike Pollock. However, most of his gameplay dialogue are actually voice clips recycled from Sonic Adventure 2, which Bristow used to play his voice before he died in January 15, 2005.
Archie comics adaptation
The Archie Sonic Comic issues #163 and #164 include a loose adaptation of Sonic Riders, even using the same art style used in the game's title sequence. Two characters are also seen riding Extreme Gear in issue #173. Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite also use Extreme Gear in the Archie Comics.
