Sonic Riders is a 2006 racing game released on GameCube, Xbox, PC and Playstation 2. The game saw Sonic the Hedgehog and friends racing against new rivals, the Babylon Rogues, in the EX World Grand Prix organised by Dr Robotnik, the grand prize being the Chaos Emeralds.
Unlike its predecessors, Sonic R and the Sonic Drift series, Riders took the racing formula in something of a new direction. Instead of racing on foot, or in cars, the characters race on air-fuelled machinery called Extreme Gear, which took the form of boards, skates, and motorcycles of sorts. Like in Kirby's Air Ride, released 3 years earlier, characters move forward on their own, while steering, jumps and tricks are performed by the player. Following on from Sonic Heroes, each character conforms to a specific type, Speed allowing grinding tricks, Fly allowing flight off ramps and through rings, and Power allowing obstacles to be knocked aside and new routes to be opened in some cases. Some Gear properties allow extra types to be added.
STC adaptation
Sonic Riders has had an adaptation in Sonic the Comic Online, in the form of a single story. Road Race! saw Sonic, Tails and the Babylon Rogues in a Kane Broadcasting Company-broadcast illegal cross-planet race, the Babylons seeking to return home, while Sonic was just keen to show off.
Several Sonic the Comic characters were playable in the game itself, albeit in their Sega guises and with minor redesigns for the context of the game:
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Tails
- Knuckles the Echidna
- Amy Rose
- Jet the Hawk
- Wave the Swallow
- Storm the Albatross
- Dr Robotnik
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- Rouge the Bat
- Cream the Rabbit
- Super Sonic
Review
The game appeared in the Issue 239 edition of the Review Zone, Iain Stewart awarding it an overall rating of 92, calling it just plain fun, praising the multiplayer and smooth, innovative gaming, but criticising the graphics and lack of online support.
Timeline
Sonic Riders has since had two sequels in the forms of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, and Sonic Free Riders. The previous title in the overall series was Sonic Rush. The next is Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).