I'm making threads to talk about the Sonic series and played these two games recently:
You all remember Sonic's past attempts at racing? No, not the All Stars Racing series (which are amazing and are stronger then Mario Kart at points). We got Sonic Drift 1 & 2 on the Game Gear (which are decent handheld racing games but not the best ever made) and Sonic R (made a thread about this classic here. Super Sonic Racing XD!) but the Riders series is very strange.
Instead of making a Sonic R sequel or something where everyone runs.....Sega thought "Mmm.....Tony Hawk + Racing + Hoverboards......this could work, people loved the snowboarding in past 3D Sonics. Okay, guys, lets make this racer
!" and thus we got Riders 1 on PS2, GC and Xbox.
The original game is tricky, as it has a STRONG learning curve X(.
You have the following mechanics to deal with:
-Air Gauge that acts as your fuel; run out of it and you start running (which is slower then riding)
-Three types; Flight, Power, Speed. Flight has you flying through rings, Power has you punching through objects on the track, Speed lets you grind on rails
-Trick System that has various grades. The higher the grade, the more Air you get when you land. You hold the A button before jumping off ramps and then flick the stick in any direction many times. Land on the ground before your trick ends and it counts.
-Boost: Every character has an attack that gets better as you level up (talk about that soon). Uses Air Gauge for attacks.
-Drifting: Lets you turn sharp turns with the L/R buttons. Uses a lot of Air so don't over-use this.
-Leveling up: You level up to three times. Each level makes your attack stronger and raises your Air Gauge amount level 3 is giant compared to the medium-size level 1)
For a what should be a simple kart racer? This is a lot to take in when you boot up the game XD! I know I hated this when I played it when I was little. But going back to it a few years ago, I really love the hidden depth.
Nailing a hard trick, grinding rails back to back, not loosing air at all during a race and finding the hidden short cuts; it feels really rewarding and makes the hidden depth of this game all the more stronger.
The visuals and music are strong, though the latter is the best part of the package. Its very heavy on the techno-sound for the ost and it works really well when mixing in other elements like with the Sand Ruins track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JxGAycoH0E&list=PL099F2A351C0C81F8&index=10
Also love the theme of Babylon Guardian too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek8l_1E-AxM&index=13&list=PL099F2A351C0C81F8. The Sega Carnival track is an amazing unlockable with a strong track for the level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kYkJYRY-QE&list=PL099F2A351C0C81F8&index=19
The rest of the OST is here but its a good soundtrack I feel.
We also got a Story Mode for both games, with two stories to explore. For a racing game, they are decent and well acted. Considering the OTHER Sonic's coming out at this time (2006; one year after Shadow and the same year as 06), its very strong honestly.
The visuals are decent:
Looks to run on the same Engine as Heroes and is a nice mix between future and colorful locations.
The big issue is the amount of tracks, as there are only 5-7 tracks in the whole game. This happened with Sonic R too but unlike that game, we have a lot of content to sink into; story mode, a mission mode which is quite long, and a number of MP modes to play.
Overall, good racing game that is very hard to just jump into.
- - - - - - - - -
Sonic Riders got a sequel in 2008 called Zero Gravity and I personally really enjoyed this game a lot.
Like the original Riders, it has a two stories to play through, lots of missions to complete and some fixes over the original Riders.
Unlike the original Riders, tricks are now mapped to using the A button/X button at the right time during ramps, making it a lot more inviting compared to the original. Gear also works differently, as the leveling up system is gone and replaced with a new mechanic called Gear Change. Every ride you get has 2 or 3 changes that can be activiated when you collect X amount of rings on the track. These also unlock new forms for your rides to activiate the different element abilities (Speed, Power, Flight); gives grater importance to ring collection on the track.
Fixes over the original continue with no more fuel for your ride; it works naturally and its replaced with Gravity powers. You can use the B/Square button to do a Gravity Drift, which can either let you navagate tricky corners or actively race on walls. Another power is the Gravity Boost, which lets you fly in the air forward, with every thing you hit giving you more gravity to continue the boost.
If this all sounds easier then the original game, it is. That was why I love this more; just easy to play through a few races with simplified mechanics.
The tracks are more frequent (with 12 tracks instead of 6) and the music is really damn good.
Ungravitify
Trough Traffic
Aquatic Time
Sealed Ground
The Core
Main Menu Theme
I love all these tracks and they really make race stronger. After using gravity powers, the tracks shift and move to different parts of the track (tempo gets higher for example). Overall, a really strong soundtrack.
The playable cast increased over the original, with Silver & Blaze joining in on the fun. There are also secret Sega characters in both games and if you want to know who they are, spoilers.
The Wii version and PS2 version are different from one another; the former supports the GC controller and had online leader boards. The PS2 version is more or less the same.
Zero Gravity is a game I have a lot of respect for, as it felt like Sonic Team 'got' the racing style they tried to make with the original Riders. Its a much better game to me at the very least and overall, solid racer. Just use the GC controller if you are getting the Wii version; motion controls suck for racing game like this :l.
Some screen shots of the Wii version, as it looks better compared to the GC original:
You all remember Sonic's past attempts at racing? No, not the All Stars Racing series (which are amazing and are stronger then Mario Kart at points). We got Sonic Drift 1 & 2 on the Game Gear (which are decent handheld racing games but not the best ever made) and Sonic R (made a thread about this classic here. Super Sonic Racing XD!) but the Riders series is very strange.
Instead of making a Sonic R sequel or something where everyone runs.....Sega thought "Mmm.....Tony Hawk + Racing + Hoverboards......this could work, people loved the snowboarding in past 3D Sonics. Okay, guys, lets make this racer
!" and thus we got Riders 1 on PS2, GC and Xbox.The original game is tricky, as it has a STRONG learning curve X(.
You have the following mechanics to deal with:
-Air Gauge that acts as your fuel; run out of it and you start running (which is slower then riding)
-Three types; Flight, Power, Speed. Flight has you flying through rings, Power has you punching through objects on the track, Speed lets you grind on rails
-Trick System that has various grades. The higher the grade, the more Air you get when you land. You hold the A button before jumping off ramps and then flick the stick in any direction many times. Land on the ground before your trick ends and it counts.
-Boost: Every character has an attack that gets better as you level up (talk about that soon). Uses Air Gauge for attacks.
-Drifting: Lets you turn sharp turns with the L/R buttons. Uses a lot of Air so don't over-use this.
-Leveling up: You level up to three times. Each level makes your attack stronger and raises your Air Gauge amount level 3 is giant compared to the medium-size level 1)
For a what should be a simple kart racer? This is a lot to take in when you boot up the game XD! I know I hated this when I played it when I was little. But going back to it a few years ago, I really love the hidden depth.
Nailing a hard trick, grinding rails back to back, not loosing air at all during a race and finding the hidden short cuts; it feels really rewarding and makes the hidden depth of this game all the more stronger.
The visuals and music are strong, though the latter is the best part of the package. Its very heavy on the techno-sound for the ost and it works really well when mixing in other elements like with the Sand Ruins track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JxGAycoH0E&list=PL099F2A351C0C81F8&index=10
Also love the theme of Babylon Guardian too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek8l_1E-AxM&index=13&list=PL099F2A351C0C81F8. The Sega Carnival track is an amazing unlockable with a strong track for the level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kYkJYRY-QE&list=PL099F2A351C0C81F8&index=19
The rest of the OST is here but its a good soundtrack I feel.
We also got a Story Mode for both games, with two stories to explore. For a racing game, they are decent and well acted. Considering the OTHER Sonic's coming out at this time (2006; one year after Shadow and the same year as 06), its very strong honestly
.The visuals are decent:
Looks to run on the same Engine as Heroes and is a nice mix between future and colorful locations.
The big issue is the amount of tracks, as there are only 5-7 tracks in the whole game. This happened with Sonic R too but unlike that game, we have a lot of content to sink into; story mode, a mission mode which is quite long, and a number of MP modes to play.
Overall, good racing game that is very hard to just jump into.
- - - - - - - - -
Sonic Riders got a sequel in 2008 called Zero Gravity and I personally really enjoyed this game a lot
. Like the original Riders, it has a two stories to play through, lots of missions to complete and some fixes over the original Riders.
Unlike the original Riders, tricks are now mapped to using the A button/X button at the right time during ramps, making it a lot more inviting compared to the original. Gear also works differently, as the leveling up system is gone and replaced with a new mechanic called Gear Change. Every ride you get has 2 or 3 changes that can be activiated when you collect X amount of rings on the track. These also unlock new forms for your rides to activiate the different element abilities (Speed, Power, Flight); gives grater importance to ring collection on the track.
Fixes over the original continue with no more fuel for your ride; it works naturally and its replaced with Gravity powers. You can use the B/Square button to do a Gravity Drift, which can either let you navagate tricky corners or actively race on walls. Another power is the Gravity Boost, which lets you fly in the air forward, with every thing you hit giving you more gravity to continue the boost.
If this all sounds easier then the original game, it is. That was why I love this more; just easy to play through a few races with simplified mechanics.
The tracks are more frequent (with 12 tracks instead of 6) and the music is really damn good.
Ungravitify
Trough Traffic
Aquatic Time
Sealed Ground
The Core
Main Menu Theme
I love all these tracks and they really make race stronger. After using gravity powers, the tracks shift and move to different parts of the track (tempo gets higher for example). Overall, a really strong soundtrack.
The playable cast increased over the original, with Silver & Blaze joining in on the fun. There are also secret Sega characters in both games and if you want to know who they are, spoilers
.Sonic Riders: Nights, Aiai, Ulala
Zero Gravity: Nights, Samba, Billy Hatcher
Zero Gravity: Nights, Samba, Billy Hatcher
The Wii version and PS2 version are different from one another; the former supports the GC controller and had online leader boards. The PS2 version is more or less the same.
Zero Gravity is a game I have a lot of respect for, as it felt like Sonic Team 'got' the racing style they tried to make with the original Riders. Its a much better game to me at the very least and overall, solid racer. Just use the GC controller if you are getting the Wii version; motion controls suck for racing game like this :l.
Some screen shots of the Wii version, as it looks better compared to the GC original:
