Sonic Riders was fun, for a little while... but soon, i just got bored of it.
Sonic Riders, released in 2006, the same year that the notorious Sonic 06 was released. We got a Sonic game, we haven't had a Sonic racing game, with the exception of Sonic Drift waayyyy back on the Game Gear, and infamous Sonic R for the Sega Saturn.
So, Sonic Riders! Sounds fun...right?
Unfortunatly, the game gets old way too soon. And sometimes frustrating. First off, the gameplay. The first thing is the starting line. You have to time it perfectly to make a dash, if you want to get in the lead. Its hard to explain in the review, but if you played it before, then you probably know what i'm talking about then. Not only can the game be frustrating, but its also boring. I feel like i'm doing the same thing, nothing new but only a new stage. I'm not saying that Sonic Riders fails of what it delivers, it succeeds. But it feels repetitive all the time.
The graphics are...meh...i mean, the framerate is smooth, but its graphical design just feels bland and the same to me. The soundtrack, however, is great. Its catchy, its awesome, it gives you a sense of speed, but it doesn't sound like a Sonic game. In fact, to be honest. This didn't need to be a Sonic game at all.
The game does feature some new character, at least, i think it does. Expectually The Bablylon Rouges. You got Jet the Hawk, that kinda looks like a Green Howard the Duck. And Wave the Swallow. Which looks like a combination of Rouge the Bat, and...a chicken? And lastly, Storm the Albatross. An Albatross is a type of duck, and this guy looks nothing like one, except his beak. Instead, he looks like Silver Surfer with duck genes...did i really just said that?
The problem here is that Jet the Hawk is annoying, and Storm is pratically useless. Wave is ok, but shallow.
Speaking of Which, the list of playable characters are ridiculous, leaving out Sonic fan favorites, for characters like NiGHTS? Really? or Ulala from Space Channel 5?! Or AiAi, that reject monkey from Super Monkey Ball. This is SONIC RIDERS, not SONIC & SEGA All Stars Racing! And also some robot in the game you can play as, and Cream the Rabbit, oh...why? Just...why?!
But the main complaint, is that the game was just too hard for me, the tracks were too fast, and quick. And the STORY mode, forget it! I gotten so frustrated, that i seriously had to break out the Action Replay...only...to have the game freeze on me...wtf? And to top it all off with Bland Design, it just doesn't seem to be worth the frustration. And to make more unworthy, the game is only fun for about, maybe 2-4 hours, then you'll just get bored with it. Seriously, the racing is boring. i kept forcing myself to beat it.
And to be honest, Sonic Riders had promise, it could been a great sonic racing game. But...yeah. Sonic Riders was dun, for a little while...but soon, i just got bored of it. Though the Soundtrack and Framerate is great, and the game IS playable, it's not broken like Sonic 06. You can actually play it, and enjoy it.. for a little while. But the difficulty, the bland, boring, unintresting design, and some question character choices, and annoying ones at that. It just hurted the game for me. Sonic Riders is worth looking at...for a little while.