Reviewed by Eva Cekanska
Sega brings to mind a few things. Once upon a time it was the foremost authority on good games, with the success of the Genesis and the Sonic franchise in particular. Well, while the console war may have been lost, Sonic remains the lovable little hedgehog we all know him to be. In Sonic Riders you control the cute and spunky Sonic along with his gang of friends while racing. Now I don’t know about you, but to me, that pretty much spells out entertainment.
Now Sonic already known as quite the speedy fellow and I know I was expecting to race on foot or in some kind of a small four wheeled vehicle. Pleasantly surprising is the hover-board innovation, which are just as fun and delightfully wacky as the tracks. But don’t let me misguide you into thinking hover-boards detract from Sonic’s speed capabilities. On the contrary, this game is extremely fast-paced, and there were times when I almost felt dizzy watching my little platform hero warp-speed his way through the worlds in front of me. Sadly, thats probably also the most frustrating part of the game. Because it is so fast, it’s easy to lose control or simply not be able to figure out where it is you’re going! It’s all in those reflexes though, and they can be worked on.
So the premise behind the game is of course centered around the illusive Chaos Emeralds. I trust we’re all avid Sonic fans here and that’s not the least bit meaningless. For the non-avid fans, don’t worry, it’s way too complicated and not particularly important. But the storyline basically follows this tournament, where Sonic, Knuckles and Tails race these evil thieves called the Babylon Rogues. There’s some explanation of Babylon as an island, which, as I take it, has nothing to do with the actual Babylon located near modern day Baghdad. But it is legendary and thus you care. Storyline aside, let’s speed right along to the racing.
The most complex aspect of the game is probably controlling the racing mechanics. Basically, as I’ve mentioned before, you’re on a hover board and as such you have the ability to boost using air. This is pretty important before you learn the tracks, and can be easily depleted. When that happens, you have to stop at a pit stop and recharge, losing precious time! Be careful with your boosts and patient with the track! But note that never did I say slow and steady wins the race, because Sonic is all but slow and steady, and you should know this by now, if you are to have any chance at winning this game. Another great aspect of the game are the turbulence streams created by the other racers. You can pick up some speed and pull off some great tricks. Of course if you land them correctly, you’ll be rewarded with air boosts. Pretty straight-forward, right?
I do have some bad news. As one would expect, the tracks are complicated, with loops and all that jazz. Hoopla abounds. Unfortunately, it can be rather difficult to navigate through these and if you don’t take those turns and round them corners perfectly, you’ll be thrown off course and this can be oh, so frustrating. The tracks are pretty spiffy though, although that does not always make up for the problems you’ll encounter.
The learning curve is minimal and while you’ll probably require a bit of time to get the hang of grinding and the like, it’s not overwhelming in the least. What I would recommend is trying out the multiplayer, prolong the fun and get a friend in on it too. Especially if you find that the often predictable AI just doesn’t do it for you anymore. My personal favorite is the mission mode, in which you perform specific tasks to beat out those pesky Babylon Rogues. The other modes, including tag and survival, are really fun too and add many hours to the overall play time.
The game looks great, and it is a lot of fun to play. While it can be a little but frustrating, the multiplayer and the gorgeous graphics do a lot to make up for that, although I have to admit that it does leave a little to be desired. But for the Sega loyals, Sonic fans worldwide and those of you who simply enjoy racing at super fast speeds, make sure you at least rent it. Sonic Riders definitely delivers.
Special thanks to Jennie Sue and Sega for providing a copy of this title.