Sonic Riders

The Good
After you'll get used to specific rules of this game, I must admit that they're generally functional, quite entertaining and making game more „spicy”. I like the one of the features connected with characters – all of them belongs to one of three categories: strength (can punch out the moving obstacles), speed (can grind on the rails) and fly (can use the „flying boosters” situated in the air). In effect, you can take some different routes and, depending on your gameplay style, you can choose the most adequate (for your preferences) type. And we've got here plenty of characters – some of them need to be unlocked, but even at the beginning, you've got quite satisfying choice, and every of them is different in case of statistics and belonging to one of three types. You can also buy new gear and change a bit the efficiency of your character. As you can see, there is a big variety in case of available participants. I can't say the same thing about tracks, unfortunately, but at least some of them are really good looking, dynamic and have splendid music (especially the first one).

The PC port is generally made correctly – you can configure without any troubles control on keyboard and it's comfortable enough – I didn't experienced any negative impressions, in comparison to playing on game pad. There is also acceptable (according to the date of release) amount of available screen resolutions. Some of the „old” characters have a bit alternate appearance in Sonic Riders, but fortunately, it's fitting good to the game's style. Generally, when we're talking about graphic – the tracks are offering mixed impressions, but the characters are looking really good.

There is also plenty of small but nice features, like the trying to make the best start (all characters are on their feet in this moment and they're trying to reach the line of start just in time, but they're also risking getting the electroshock which will slow you down - and it's far more better than standard „push the button in right moment to have temporary boost at the beginning”) or the unusual animations like riding on the big millipede in the jungle level.

The plot, as we can expect in Sonic game, is not something thrilling or original, but it has a couple of nice looking cut-scenes. They're rather the ornaments and nothing more, but at least it gives a bit of variety.

The Bad
First of all – this game should have some short interactive tutorial. In most cases, tutorials for racing games are rather unnecessary, but this one is an exception, especially with „air-fuel” and various ways to increase your speed/amount of fuel. The short movies representing the various aspects of the game are quite well made, but in my opinion they could some sort of addition, not the whole tutorial (not to mention that they're not too well visible, so you can miss them).

Generally, I think that some slightly modification of the game rules could be helpful. It's not mandatory for racing game to be simple, but it should be so intelligible as possible. Especially when we're not talking about some serious „simulator-like” racing game, but rather light, „arcade-style” one. And unfortunately, while I'm against calling Sonic Riders „bad game”, I must admit, that this game is not intelligible.

Various levels and their design are completely uneven. Some of the you'll probably like from the beginning, like city level or „foundry” level, but levels with plants, waterfalls etc, like „jungle” level, are too „illegible”, not to mention about some really ugly-looking fragments of these levels (for example surroundings of the waterfall in „jungle-level”). And it's a really big contrast in comparison to „artificial” (urban) levels, which are looking good.

It's rather the tiny issue, but I didn't like the voice of the speaker. The „cybernetic woman” voice is unfortunately something quite often in games set in „future” design, and it's almost always a bit annoying. Not to mention that this speaker can't even compare to such speakers as the guy from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing or even Mr Babbler from Toon Car.

Unfortunately, some of the cut-scenes look unintentionally grotesque, with strange mimics and rather simple & poor vocabulary.

The Bottom Line
Sonic Riders is one of the racing games in Sonic world, and it's quite unusual one. You're racing here with hover boards (called „extreme gear”). What is more, it contains a couple of untypical rules – your EG needs fuel, which you're losing constantly (hitting into obstacles and using special features like turbo are draining your „tank” even faster), but you can regain it in multiple ways (the least comfortable „air stations”, doing the tricks in the air or pushing repeatedly two directional buttons in „special area”). And there is turbulence system – you can use the „air turbine”, created by the leading competitor, to make additional tricks in the air and to get more speed.

Sounds a bit complicated? As you can see, it's not the ordinary racing game and you'll need to get used to Sonic Rider's gameplay style. It's not terribly hard to learn, but in comparison to other racing games (where you'll only need to know what is the control – gas, turning, handbrake and (optionally) using bonuses/weapons), it is more „sophisticated”. If the same idea of „getting used to...” is for you completely inappropriate, when we're talking about racing game... Then you'll probably want to avoid it. However, if it's nothing special for you, and you're not afraid of new experience (well, at least when we're talking about playing on PC, where we don't have too many games with snowboard/hovering board/etc), they you can try this one. Especially, if you're fan of the Sonic and his buddies. It's really hard to unambiguously recommend or dissuade the Sonic Riders. It's a bit controversial and unusual game.