Sonic Riders
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| Sonic Riders | |
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| File:Sonic riders.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Sonic Team's UGA Division Sonic Team |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Kenjiro Morimoto |
| Platform(s) | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC |
| Release |  February 21, 2006 February 23, 2006 March 13, 2006November 14, 2006 (PC) November 24, 2006 (PC) |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Sonic Riders is a racing game developed by Sonic Team's UGA Division (a second-party developer for SEGA) for the video game consoles Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and PC DVD-ROM. It is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R. This time, the characters race on floating airboards, air shoes and motorbikes powered by air, the Extreme Gear.
Sonic Riders was revealed by Famitsu on September 7, 2005 prior to 2005's Tokyo Game Show. 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. This game is Ulala's first appearance in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, although she comes from the Space Channel 5 franchise.
On August 22, 2006, a PC port of Sonic Riders was announced. The port was released in November according to both Sega of America's and Sega Europe's websites. A North American price of $19.99 is listed on Sega's Press Release. [1]. In Europe it was released at a price of 29.99€. A downloadable demo was released on October 19, 2006.[2].
Story
Plot
It is midnight in Metal City, and 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 Metal City Bank fall Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross, the legendary band of thieves known as the Babylon Rogues. The thieves are riding on Extreme Gear, floating airboards. A battle ensues and the three heroes can only watch as the three mysterious characters fly away with the Chaos Emerald in tow.
The next day, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles arrive in Metal City, and they see a familiar face on the monitors. Doctor Eggman announces that he's created a race called the EX World Grand Prix. It is a competition to see who is the best on Extreme Gear. Sonic decides to pass, but when Eggman announces that the prize is all seven of the Chaos Emeralds, and that the current racers are the same thieves he met up with yesterday, Sonic quickly changes his mind and the three enroll themselves in the tournament.
After several close-cut matches, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Jet make it to the final race on the Sand Ruins track. Sonic almost reaches the finish line during the final race, but, unexpectedly, Wave activates a bomb, blowing up his gear, allowing Jet to win. After his victory, Jet then activates the odd cube he had received from his ancestors which causes the Chaos Emeralds to fire a beam of light to the desert in the distance which causes a giant island to rise: Babylon Garden. Out of the blue, Doctor Eggman steals Jet's cube and heads off into the Garden with it and Amy in tow. The heroes give chase, and a final encounter to chase Doctor Eggman causes Sonic and Jet to race one last time, leaving Sonic victorious.
Doctor Eggman, at the front of the door leading to the Babylon Garden is confronted by Sonic who sends him swirling up a whirlwind causing him to drop both the cube and Amy. Sonic believes the cube should go to its rightful owner, and the Babylon Rouges continue past the door to find the entrance to the location of the Babylon Treasure. Just as the thieves find the treasure, they awaken a genie, and, as a result, the only exit door starts to close. Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles rush inside the room, barely making it and as the door shuts, the seven of them are confronted by a hulking evil genie known as the Babylon Guardian, who guards the Babylon Treasure.
Sonic defeats the genie on a special race track and the seven of them uncover the treasure to be a magic carpet, originally stolen by one of Jet's early ancestors. Doctor Eggman, upset that he hosted the tournament for seemingly nothing falls over in shock. The others leave as well, and Sonic and Jet promise to meet up with each other again one day.
Characters
Characters in Sonic Riders are divided into three varying types, Speed, Power, and Fly. The game introduces three new characters: Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross. The three are all members of a new organization of thieves known as the Babylon Rogues, led by Doctor Eggman during the tournament until a certain point in the game. Jet serves as Sonic's rival during the tournament, Wave is Tails' and Storm is Knuckles'. The classifications each of the respective characters fall under is listed below:
Speed
These characters have the highest acceleration and the highest top speed stats. These characters 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).
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Amy Rose
- Jet the Hawk
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- E-10000R
- Ulala (From the Space Channel 5 series)
- Super Sonic
Power
These characters have the best off road durability and can break through certain obstacles on tracks. Their speed and acceleration stats are only average.
Flight
These characters can fly as long as the character is controlled to fly through "Air Rings", which accelerate them through the air. Otherwise, they simply hover in mid-air, slowly falling.
NOTE: depending on the gear, you can grind, knock obstacles or fly through dash rings.
The following characters also make cameo appearances throughout the game:
- Omochao
- Babylon Guardian
- E-10000Y
- E-10000B
- E-10000O
- Amigo
- Billy Hatcher
- Clippen
- Captain Glur
- Chick
- Nightopians
- Axel
- Opa-Opa
Courses
There are a total of 16 courses in the game; 13 of which appear in the game's Story Modes, as listed below:
- Metal City
- Splash Canyon
- Egg Factory
- Green Cave
- Sand Ruins
- Babylon Garden
- Night Chase
- Red Canyon
- Ice Factory
- White Cave
- Dark Desert
- Sky Road
- Babylon Guardian
The other 3 courses that are not featured in Story Mode are listed here:
- Digital Dimension
- SEGA Carnival
- SEGA Illusion
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.
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.)
Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite also use Extreme Gear in the Archie Comics.
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Reception
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
Game Rankings currently gives Sonic Riders 59.2% for the PlayStation 2, 62% for the Gamecube, 58.6% for theXbox, and 52% for the PC.
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.[citation needed] 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 his or her 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 a player falls off the track.
The game was also referred to having "hidden catches" since after obtaining certain gears; they are not automatically added to one's collection. They must be purchased from the shop instead, and this was sometimes seen as a misguided attempt at increasing replay value.[citation needed]
Game errors
The game is also noted for having quite a few continuity 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 after being severely attacked, making his eyes more vulnerable, and Amy reverts to her normal costume that she wore since Sonic Adventure.
- 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 Xbox and Gamecube 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, but they were noted by many.
Trivia
- The High Booster Gear has a pattern similar to the Shadow the Hedgehog game insignia running down the side of it.
- A billboard in Metal City has the pictures of Sonic running across the Emerald Coast bridge in Sonic Adventure and him posing in the Sonic Heroes instruction manual.
- The speed pads in the game are the exact same ones found in Sonic Adventure 2.
- 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. Two characters are also seen riding Extreme Gear in issue #173.
- 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. This is probably SEGA's way of saying they will continue using PlayStation 2 for games like those of the Sonic series, considering the 'mobius' misunderstanding.[6]
- This is the only Sonic game where Tom Kenny voiced in. He provided the additional voices, according to the IMDB website.
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 also composed 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. 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.
Cast
| Character | English Voice Actor | Japanese Voice Actor |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Jason Anthony Griffith | Junichi Kanemaru |
| Jet the Hawk | Jason Anthony Griffith | Daisuke Kishio |
| Miles "Tails" Prower | Amy Palant | Ryo Hirohashi |
| Wave the Swallow | Bella Hudson | Chie Nakamura |
| Knuckles the Echidna | Dan Green | Nobutoshi Canna |
| Storm the Albatross | Dan Green | Kenji Nomura |
| Doctor Eggman | Mike Pollock (cutscenes) Deem Bristow (gameplay) |
Chikao Ōtsuka |
| Amy Rose | Lisa Ortiz | Taeko Kawata |
| Shadow the Hedgehog | Jason Anthony Griffith | Kouji Yusa |
| Rouge the Bat | Kathleen Delaney | Rumi Ochiai |
| Cream the Rabbit | Rebecca Honig | Sayaka Aoki |
| Babylon Guardian E-10000G/R |
Maddie Blaustein | ?????? |
| AiAi the Monkey | Kaoru Morota | ?????? |
| Ulala | Apollo Smile | ?????? |
| Super Sonic | Jason Anthony Griffith | Junichi Kanemaru |
| Additional Voices | Tom Kenny | ?????? |
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]