Sonic Riders

Sonic Riders, somewhere around the third Sonic Racing game that's been attempted by Sega, hit magazines and TV commercials like some kind of plague. "LOOK! IT'S A NEW SONIC GAME!", a resounding yell, tends to hit all of us about every three months, because that's about the span of time Sonic Team can last from their last paycheck to the desire for a new one.

I say that cruelly, but it seems to be quite true. Ever since the demise of the Dreamcast, Sega has had one hell of a time even competing with other companies, purely because they've essentially played themselves out. Sega, for the most part, owns only one franchise that's essentially a guaranteed cash crop. While Sega has been known to throw out a semi-decent sports game or racing title from time to time, Sega is generally the "Sonic" group- that is, they pretty much pump out Sonic games and about nothing else, to the point that their icon on their website is Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now now, though. This isn't BAD, it's more like irritating. And sure as the sunrise, Sonic Team, Sega's specific team to develop Sonic games, pumps out a new title right after Shadow the Hedgehog (While advertised quite furiously, somewhat of a failure)- Sonic Riders.

Yes, you saw the game description right- this is a racing game. A racing game. With Sonic the Hedgehog. Much like Mario, it seems like Sonic has a lot of skills, and apparently one of them is jumping on a hoverboard and racing around on it at breakneck speeds. One may ask why he doesn't just run, but who knows. Dr. Eggman has suddenly decided that, for the cost of one Chaos Emerald in the pot and a ton in return, Sonic is going to race in big open areas and compete against other racers for the Chaos emeralds.


Firstly, ignore the fact that Sonic magically decides to do what Eggman decides without even questioning his motives, and also ignore the fact that he grabs a board and suddenly learns how to use it with absolutely no tutorial or guide attached. Just accept it- Sonic can now magically hover on a board.

The game itself is utter crap, which is quite irritating. While the Sonic games are intentionally fast, Sonic Riders presents itself with a game that is actually TOO FAST for the arenas it places you in, and feels cramped and irritating. A good example of this is in the first level, a large city. While the city appears large, close examination will reveal that the map only ends up having around a one minute lap, which means that the game itself ends up being 3 minutes a race, which is quite irritating when it comes to the game because within that 3 minutes, you move so fast that it is literally impossible to play.

This may be the Gran Turismo 4 person in me, but when I race, I expect that when you go so fast, you still can manage some semblance of idea as to where you are and where you are headed. But unfortunately, this is not there in Sonic Riders, and it ends up making you disoriented, and in my case, quite irritated. Trying to figure out where I am is a chore enough, trying to take the lead is so much of a problem, it is borderline impossible. All of the character models are so small (And if you do go a hunting for them on your screen, you will inevitably crash into something), you will generally have no idea where everyone else is. The transparent map and irritating GUI do nothing to help you as you careen, lost, through the game at what the game considers a breakneck speed.


Yes, the graphics are good and fit the game well. But when you barely see them and the game engine itself is so obviously flawed, it boils down to a bad game. This is an obvious sign for Sonic Team: Start making good games, stop making absolute shit. That, for the most part, means you STOP MAKING SONIC GAMES. Honestly, this game would have never gotten the reviews it got from other gaming websites if it were not for that Sonic logo. Just because you have a fancy franchise from the 90's doesn't mean we want to see it re-hashed for the three billionth time on the Next Gen consoles.

1 star(s) out of 5

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