Sonic Riders is the epitome of just average. Sure, it has many really cool ideas and stuff that sets it apart from other racing games of the time. But it has some ideas that aren't expanded enough which leaves the game in this weird spot, critically.
Keep in mind that Sonic Riders was released mere months before Sonic '06 came out which changed the franchise forever in a not-so-good way. So at the time of the release of Sonic Riders, opinions of the franchise were mostly positive apart from Shadow The Hedgehog. The Dark Age of this franchise had already started but wasn't truly set in.
Sonic Riders is a spin-off racing game in the Sonic The Hedgehog series. Eggman, after learning of this "Babylonian Treasure" opens a Grand Prix so the winner can unlock him the power to gain it. Suspicious of this, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy go to investigate until they meet the new (And really neatly designed) Babylon Rouges which consists of Storm the Albatross, Wave the Swallow, and their leader, Jet The Hawk who are after the treasure as well.
The story is very condensed but I found myself enjoying it. The characters are a lot more expressive now and some of the comedy I actually found somewhat amusing. The story isn't perfect, but it's fun and by no means insufferable like some other games in the series.
Also, the music is spectacular. Has a neat techno vibe to it which really fits this game's premise. The main theme isn't out of this world, but it's catchy. The intro associated with this song is beautiful as it is completely hand-drawn animation.
Now with gameplay. It's... inconsistent at best. The premise is that you ride on a hoverboard and you gotta regulate your air (Which is basically gas) to keep up with the other racers. It reminds me of Kirby Air Ride in some ways but this game also has a very steep learning curve that takes time to get used to. This proves as an issue due to the game not being that good at explaining the mechanics. There are speed characters that can grind on rails and are a lot faster, Flying who can hover through air rings, and power which can access shortcuts. However, the game's level design is strange because they are copy and pasted and never felt exciting. And parts where you gotta wiggle the joystick gives me pain like Mario Party, However when you figure out what you're doing, this game becomes really fun. The unlockable characters like Shadow, Eggman, and Cream are also really neat.
Sonic Riders is very average, but there are moments in this game where it is genuinely fun to play. This is the last Sonic game I'll be playing in this adventure I've been going through with these games that were released before Sonic 06 which I've already reviewed. Was a fun ride but I still got much more work to do. I'm excited for the good and not so excited for the mediocre. Sonic Riders is fun... But not easy to get into
Would Lightly Recommend
3/5
