Sonic Riders

September 7, 2005 - Just as we were starting to think that Shadow had taken over the Sonic franchise for the remainder of 2005, Sega makes the surprise announcement of an all-new racing game featuring Sonic and friends. The latest issue of Famitsu reveals that Sonic Riders is being developed by Sonic Team for a Winter Japanese release on the Xbox, PS2 and GameCube this winter. Serving as producer is Yuda Koshi, a veteran of Sonic development who\'s also worked on Puyo Puyo and Space Channel 5.


In Sonic Riders, Dr. Robotnik has set up a speed challenge, and all the Sonic characters, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Storm the Albatross, Jet the Hawk, Miles "Tails" Prower and Web the Swallow, have decided to compete. To the victor goes a Chaos Emerald.
Unlike the classic Sega Saturn racer Sonic R (now appearing as a game in Sonic Gems Collection), Sonic Riders promises an "eXtreme" experience. Yes, Sega is actually using this buzz word that we thought had died two years ago to promote the game. Sonic and friends speed through tracks on air boards, using individual special moves to strike down opponents.

Air is a big element of Sonic Riders. Your board\'s "fuel" source is air. You can fill up your air at various points on the course, but to race well you\'ll have to use another means of replenishment: performing tricks with your board. You\'ll also want to make use of turbulence from racers who are in front of you. By riding your rival racers\' turbulence, you get a burst of speed and can even make your board leap into the air (sometimes finding shortcuts in the course). Your air supply remains fixed when riding turbulence, making this a tactic that you\'ll want to employ as you play the game. Turbulence isn\'t all good, though, as players can generate irregularities in their turbulence, knocking those who are along for a free ride out of the course.

Sega is planning a whole lot of gameplay for Sonic Riders. Expect numerous tracks, including such Sonic fare as Splash Canyon, Egg Factory, Green Cave and Sandy Ruin. The game will offer a number of different modes, including two and four player split screen.

Sega of Japan will be holding a press conference in Tokyo on Friday to show off some of its upcoming plans for the Sonic series, and we expect Sonic Riders to make an appearance there, followed by a showing at the Tokyo Game Show. Sonic fans, stay tuned for much more to come.

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Thank god it\'s not being made by Traveler\'s Tales (developer who made Sonic R).

It\'s using the F-Zero GX engine which leads me to believe this game is going to be blazingly fast with plenty of eye candy.

It\'s silly to put Sonic on a surfboard. But a knock-off of the F-Zero engine will make for a fun game.

-Dan

Originally posted by Eiksirf
It\'s silly to put Sonic on a surfboard. But a knock-off of the F-Zero engine will make for a fun game.

-Dan

I think that putting Sonic and company on airboards (surfboards, whatever) was a good choice.  I have yet to play a game with fast moving characters on their feet that I found fun.  Pen Pen Tri-Icelon (name?), Mad Dash Racing, and Sonic R were not very good, and it\'s because of the way the characters handled; too sluggish and the drifting was awkward in all of them.

They couldn\'t very well put everyone on their feet and have them be as fast as Sonic, it really wouldn\'t make any sense.  Shadow would be expected to keep up, but the others not so much.

Meh, I like it.

I hope it looks good and runs smoothly on PS2.Sonic Heroes sucked compared to GC and XBOX versions

I dig the idea of Sonic running. Tails could fly, I\'m sure they tried all this with games like Sonic R and couldn\'t pull it off well and decided to go with the vehicles. It\'s ok, but kind of a weird fit for the Sonic license.

But if Mario gets a go-kart, Sonic can have a surfboard.

-Dan

If the AI is as horrible as F-Zero GX then forget it.  The default handicap they have for the CPU is a joke.

You mean they\'re easy or hard? I liked that game.

F-Zero has been a thumbs up series for me so far.

-Dan

I mean like when the AI is almost a lap behind you until its the last lap, then it comes screeching up to 100 yards in front of you and just stays put the rest of the race.

They also never hit obstacles on the road, making impossible dodges, and if that ever should happen (thanks to an enemy vehicle on the road) they\'ll just catch back up to assume their place in line.

Little things like that can ruin a racing game for me.

Originally posted by THX
I mean like when the AI is almost a lap behind you until its the last lap, then it comes screeching up to 100 yards in front of you and just stays put the rest of the race.

They also never hit obstacles on the road, making impossible dodges, and if that ever should happen (thanks to an enemy vehicle on the road) they\'ll just catch back up to assume their place in line.

Little things like that can ruin a racing game for me.

It makes you a better racer.  F-Zero GX demanded that you learn the track and do well.  It was challenging, but not impossible.

Originally posted by Unicron!
I hope it looks good and runs smoothly on PS2.Sonic Heroes sucked compared to GC and XBOX versions

The Xbox version also suffered from framerate issues.  The GC version is the superior.