Sonic Riders first impressions

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ST218

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Okay, so just today (technically yesterday, but shut up), I rented Sonic Riders, since buying it is out of my budget. I was intending to get it earlier in the week, but it's all good, since Hollywood Video didn't get it in till today (yesterday)-in fact, they hadn't had time to put it in the shelves. So, I rented it.

I'm not too far into it-I did a run through through the first five races in a Mario Kart esque cup format, then went for the story mode.

First, the gameplay.

Kirby Air Ride on crack I tell ye. You automatically move foward on your air powered board (don't ask), using left and right to steer. B (GC version, mind) is to do a boost/attack move which consumes a lot of air but gives a rather appreciable boost to your speed. A is a jump that you use to either dodge obstacles, jump off ramps, or jump onto rails. Unlike Air Ride, where each ARM had a very different playing style, the characters in Riders have smaller differences. Each track has shortcuts that can only be used by certain characters, and each shortcut is a slight homage to previous Adventure line games-Speed types like Sonic grind on rails like in SA2, Fly types like Sonic can soar through the air using Dash Rings like in SA1, and Power types like Knuckles can bash through the environment like in Heroes. In addition to all this, you use L or R to pull tight turns like those in Air Ride.

Oh yeah, did I mention that you're going at high speeds? The speedometer hits triple digits constantly, and it's at the point that I honestly can't tell if it's kilometers or miles per hour.

The AI is quite challenging in Riders. They don't cheat or anything, but they have a high level of skill that can make you wish for a difficulty setting. Still, they are beatable, and once you get over your first few last place finishes, you'll get better quicker.

Throughout all of the tracks, you'll jump off many a ramp to get air. While leaping tall buildings in a single bound, you can pull different tricks using the control stick. How well you do your trick influences how fast you land and how much air you gain. A half flip that makes you land on your head will get a crappy C rating, while a load of flips and turns that lands perfectly will get a higher rating-the highest I've encountered is a double S.

It wouldn't be a Sonic game without rings and moniters, and Riders is no exception. Moniters are liberally placed throughout the tracks, and most are the beloved ? moniters. Not ring ? moniters. ?. Yeah, those. The effects range from rings to speed shoes to invincibility to extra air. Not all moniters are random though-in one course, I encountered a hard to reach moniter, and it popped up as a 100 ring moniter. That's right, a hundred rings from one box.

Speaking of Rings, the function they serve is simple. More rings seems to mean more speed, and at 30 and 60 rings, you get a level up. A level up increases your stats for as long as you hold onto those rings, and powers up your B attack. Rings are lost by being attacked or falling off the stage.

There's one other track element that deserves mentioning, and it's called turbulence. You'll leave turbulence behind that others can ride in. When riding in turbulence, you go rather fast, can do tricks off the sides of it, and don't need to worry about steering as much. It's a great gameplay element, because though it seems that you should always hang in your opponents' wake, there might be a shortcut you want, or a box you want to hit.


Now, aside from the gameplay, the graphics seem to be upgraded. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all have an upgraded look. They look more larger and a little more realistic (In fact, Sonic looks a little like Metal Sonic from S3&K), with arms that actually seem to matter. The tracks are detailed, for as much as you can see blazing through at 150 whatevers an hour.

I wish the same could be said for the music. While the music isn't as bad as Shadow, most of the tracks are techno and such, and hardly rememberable. Where in Heroes, music was the one thing done right, here, music is the one thing done wrong. Personally, I'd rather have had the pop love songs from Sonic R.

However, the sounds are high quality. From the announcer (who apparently is Omochao, but much less annoying-I didn't know till someone in #'fun pointed it out) to the sounds of rings and rails, everything sounds as it should....except for the voices. Let me put it to you this way- srb2win.exe -4kidsvoiceactorsshouldbedrugoutinthestreetandshot.

Overall, Riders is the best we've had yet for a Sonic game. It definately tops Shadow and Heroes, does a better job of that sense of speed while still letting you have control, and is arguably better than SA2 (I think it is). And besides, that's only the first five tracks, and it only seems to be getting better.
 
It'a also god damn hillarious for a Sonic game. Specifically the Hero ending...

*Sonic is ready to charge at Eggman*
*Eggman grabs Amy and holds her by the throat*
"Hahahah! What now, Sonic?"
*Sonic shrugs and attacks anyway*

My only complaint with the game is how short it is. The story modes (both of them combined) lasted me about 3 and a half hours.
 
Omega, a piece of advice: Please NEVER post spoilers of a game's ending when the thing's a week young, without labelling them appropriately. It's generally bad practice.
 
w00t! I rented it two days ago, and my mind is spinning! It's like F-zero, sonic style! with 17 unlockable characters,2 story modes, at least a hundred different (but expensive) boards, this game is amazing in replay value. Oh! and did I mention CPU players who are actually SMART? They do not hold back, ever.

So far, I give it a 9/10! now if you'll excuse me, I have to unbend my mind.
 
I've already finished Sonic's and the Babylon's story mode, and I also finished the Sonic Grand Prix, unlocking the SEGA Carnival level. The place conbines themes of Sambra de Amigo stuff with NiGHTS stuff, along with Super Monkey Ball and Crazy Taxi stuff. I hate the music for it.

Also, I'm clearing Storm's Mission mode while getting Gold while I'm at it, and so far I've cleared all of the first, second, and third missions (the tricks, junk, and obstacle missions.)



Game's pretty pissing hard, and sometimes it feels like they don't have enough levels, even though they do. The multiplayer stuff they added seems pretty stupid in its ways, but overall it's a fun game, and recommend it to Sonic/F-Zero players.
 
Do the babylon grand prix perfectly for Sega Illusion(which goes in the Wave's mission catagory).

Immediate edit: And keep on getting those gold medals. You will like how the game rewards the effort. :wink:
 
I was playing the game, right? And it started to completely derail when I unlocked shadow
 
You know what really sucks?Eggman can't ride anything but mopeds. Eggman on skates would have been great. D:
 
beh. I used shadow once. He's an okay character, not as good of stats as sonic, but uses less air. And just because his starring game was bad(in comparison to all the others) doesn't mean that he is. Plus, you could always use eggman and then fart in his face. Also, eggman's player voice clips are from SA2! And yet the sega representative said that they were going for consistancy when they replaced the VAs with the 4Kids ones, and yet here they are, using eggman's voice from SA2 for the player voice clips! Pure maddness, I say. Even if it is good for a bit of nostalgia(gotta love his old voice).


We need spoiler tags.
 
I said "**** it" towards getting Gold in the missions, and I just finished all of the 100 missions there is. I now have NiGHTS, that big-eared monkey, and Ulala. Sadly, NiGHTS doesn't have a voice. I got E-10000G while playing, so now the only unlockable characters left are E-10000R and Super Sonic, then I'll have once again completed another game 100%.
 
Bah, I went ahead and got all golds. The missions get a lot easier if you do them enough. You just need persistance.

By the way, Super Sonic sucks on any course other than the Babylon Guardian course. :\
 
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