Video games - Sonic Riders

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	Video games - Sonic Riders

Sonic Riders is a racing game developed by United Game Artists (a second-party developer for SEGA Corporation, famous for creating Space Channel 5) for the video game consoles Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2. It is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceeded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R. This time, the characters race on floating boards, air shoes and motorbikes powered by wind, the Extreme Gear.

Sonic Riders was revealed by Famitsu on September 7, 2005 prior to 2005's Tokyo Game Show.

The game was released to start off the 15th anniversary of the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. This game introduces five new playable characters, the Babylon Rogues and the E-10000 series.

=Gameplay=

Features

All-new air board racing. New blend of snowboarding, surfing and high-speed racing combat.
Innovative “Turbulence" air-system. Catch the drift of your opponents and leave them in your wake!
Insane tricks. The more difficult trick combo you pull off, the more air you get!
4-Player Ultimate Battle. New rival group, the Babylon Rogues sets the stage for scorching head-to-head multi-player battles up to 4 players.
Choose from 17 different playable characters, the largest selection in any Sonic game to date!
16 outrageous tracks, plus multiple modes, and tons of bonus unlockables.
Collect and customize your Extreme Gear with over 9 unique types of equipment to choose from, as well as equipment upgrades.
Unravel the mystery in Story Mode. You’ll play as two opposing teams, complete with cut-scenes.
Opening movie done by the legendary anime production company Production I.G.

Difficulty

Even for dedicated veteran gamers, this game is considerably difficult; so difficult in fact that first time gamers could find the game to be too challenging. The difficulty lies in not just the computer players' AI and in unlocking the various items, but also in the mediocre level design. Also the game is very unforgiving of mistakes. Players increase their level (which increases the air capacity and initial stats of the gear being used) by collecting rings, with the highest possible level being 3. However, if a player is attacked, that player loses all rings and goes back down to level 1 regardless of which level the player is (which also occurs when the player falls off the track in certain courses). Depending on the level of the attacking computer player, the player attacked could be stunned for several precious seconds. It is even possible to never catch up to the leader despite the players' best efforts. This presents a problem because in order to unlock the SEGA themed tracks, one must complete both "World Grand Prix" modes with a gold emblem, which is only possible by placing first in every race (i.e. having the most points isn't enough)(note: you can place second in one race). Additionally, the fact that not all the tracks are present initally presents a problem for those who want to unlock the "Chaos Emerald" gear (and by extension, Super Sonic), which is done by completing Mission Mode with all gold emblems, which requires that all of the tracks eventually be available (including the Babylon versions), which requires playing both Story Modes along with both aformentioned World Grand Prix modes (in other words, players are "forced" to play certain modes in order to unlock everything). The game could also be seen as having "hidden catches". After certain gears are unlocked, they are not automatically added to your collection; after unlocking, they must be purchased from the shop, which requires playing the game several times in order to get enough rings. This could be seen as a misguided attempt at increasing replay value. Also, unless in Tag Mode, the computer players have infinite air, which makes Dr. Eggman hard to defeat, as the bike E-Rider has high stats, but uses too much air.

Story

Plot

It is midnight in Metal City, and Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna are searching for a Chaos Emerald Tails detected on his radar. Glass shatters and from the Metal City bank falls Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross, the legendary band of thieves known as the Babylon Rogues. The thieves are riding on Extreme Gear, floating airboards. Sonic tries to get Jet to pull over, but the hawk ignores Sonic. However, Knuckles manages to send Storm flying off his airboard. As Tails notices a strange symbol, Wave appears to catch Storm. Seeing the Babylon Rogues escape, Sonic grabs the board Storm left behind to pursuit Jet. The two are racing, but despite his inexperience, Sonic gets ahead. Sonic notices that Jet is gone, but when he looks up, Jet uses a tornado to send Sonic flying off his board. Jet makes a snide remark and flies away, as Wave and Storm arrive so the albatross can grab his board and flee.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Sonic Riders ]

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Video games - Sonic Riders

Features

Difficulty

Story

Plot

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