I Played Every Sonic Riders Game
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- I can't hear you I can't see you
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“Not just a race. But a special race! To see who’s the fastest!”
~ Actual line from Eggman in the script of the first Riders game
That line was so weird I dunno how Mike Pollock could say that with a straight face.
Just localization issue I guess
english script. idk Y they added that but it's not in the OG jp script
@@Handepsilonhe wrote a comment on SCMJ’s video on the Riders games about that line and basically just said “yeah I read it as it is because that’s what the script said and they know the character better than I do”
@@nightlydata2181 ...Huh. I wonder what the original Japanese script had Eggman saying at that part?
@@feliciaroseantonia there's vids that translate if u look it up using CC. This isn't the only game that makes these changes. None of the games from 1991 to 2005 have accurate localizations unfortunately. ESPECIALLY Shadow the hedgehog
The first riders game is probably one of my favorite racing games of all time.
So underrated one of my fave ps2 games in general
It really should have a proper competitive scene to bring it back to life.
same. it ties with mkdd and nfsu2 for me
I didn’t even know they had it on PS2 or Xbox wtf 😂😮I only had it on GameCube
It does
I loved the first sonic riders, the small amount of mechanical depth during racing was refreshing coming from the basics of atv offroad fury and gran turismo. The sequels never got me the same way.
Going to Riders after playing ZG made it even harder to understand, an in-depth Tutorial VS a barely there tutorial.
You absolutely need a lot of tutorials to be able to properly understand Riders.
I played it a good but when I was younger, got Super Sonic and all.
ButI was completely lost when I tried to replay it again years later.
Edit: Also, Riders' tracks were dark, there were times when I couldn't actually see anything because of how dark they were.
Also also, as someone who logged well over 100 hours in ZG, there's a lot more to set the best apart from the not best than you think, especially in the later tracks.
Crimson Crater has a ton of skips.
Also, there are nuances to when to use the gravity dive too.
Unpopular Opinion: i actually enjoy free riders, sure it can be wonky and unresponsive sometimes but when you get it working its really fun imo. ive unlocked all the characters and bought every gear in the shop. I wont deny that it shouldve gotten a controller option it couldve saved the sonic riders series if it did.
You can actually play it with a controller now thanks to fans
If I remember right, the co op racing in free riders requires both players to hold hands and that justifies it existing
Have you played Sonic Riders torunament edition? It's a community mod that changes the original sonic riders game. New textures, characters, game mechanics are adjusted, and also online play.
There is a pretty awesome community around it. There is an official discord server that can walk you through installation.
Zero Gravity messes up a log of what was good in the first game?
Not really. It's essentially the inverse of the OG, gameplay-wise, but idk if I'd consider that "messed up."
It’s sad that Free Riders controls is what destroyed the Riders series. Nothing against Sonic kart racers games but they appear to play it safe while Riders just seem more original and fitting to the franchise
Sonic Riders was so fun to play with friends, Zero Gravity looked cool, and glad Free Riders got a mod to make it playable
same, i gave that free riders mod a try and it was great
@@GLXY23 you can mod Sonic Free Riders and make it enjoyable?
Yes, someone fixed the game where you can play it with a controller now. Unfortunately, I don't have the no kinect patch version😒
@kenterminateddq5311 how do you mod it? Is it like a free update, or do you have to do something on PC to get it to work
Jon's right, the vibes ARE so on point!
Like he said, many called it a complicated "mechanic overload" but it has such an awesome high speed, super stylized "Sega-Arcade" feel with kickass tunes that totally scratched my itch for more F-Zero GX vibes.
Whenever I see the first Sonic riders it takes me back to the early 2000s to simpler times. The style the game has is just way past cool lol
I don't think that the war on terror was a simpler time.
That last corner in Babylon Garden was also a personal nightmare as a kid 💀
I absolutely loved Babylon Garden as a kid. When Sonic riders came out, I was 5 years old. I didn't start playing the game until I was 6. Basically, I went to my cousins house, and he beat the living shit out of me. So I went to gamestop and basically got a shit ton of games for like 20 dollars. They were practically giving gamecube games away, and I still have a whole stash of games in my room. Crazy thing is this was my first sonic game ever. I got Sonic Heroes next and then Sonic Rush on the DS followed by Sonic & Mario Olympic games
it's honestly ridiculous how much free riders benefits from that no-kinect patch, its basically a new game
SEGA continuing to not capitalize on making Free Riders playable for new consoles:
c'mon SEGA WE _DO_ WANT A NEW RIDERS GAME!! oh who am i kidding, it's probably gonna take like 8 years until they revisit these games, or never!
@@kaxcommentssomethingREAL
They would probably butcher a new game too.
26:48
Not only that, but there's a guitar sample in the Rocky Ridge music that's also used in Riki's theme from the first Xenoblade.
If I had a nickel for every time Sonic Free Riders shared a music sample with the Xenoblade series, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
Xenoblade X came out 5 years after this so it was X that sampled this, not the other way around. It was probably a bit of a thank you for using the first sample.
@@robkilbride9242 No, those samples come from sample libraries, so neither game sampled the other
once you're over the learning curve of the original game it's so fun, haven't played in years but it was a pretty frequent disc in the gamecube. never got zero gravity but when i tried it at a cousin's i felt let down. but at least that had my guy billy hatcher!
Yeah the problem with Zero Gravity is they took the criticism of the mechanics being too much to heart and really simplified the game.
game is still dope and fun tho
The PS2 PAL versions were some of the only PS2 games to support PAL60, although you had to hold Triangle while booting up the game to activate it.
Explain
I think you dont have a lot of ps2 games then... a massive chunk of them did support it
I literally never knew that until now, cleared up how blurry it looked
@@Wow-it7ke The PS2 had very limited 60Hz support in PAL with almost every PS2 game running at 50Hz, including games which supported 60Hz on Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox (original) and Wii. For the case of the Sonic Riders games and Unleashed, the PAL versions did support 60Hz, but you had to hold triangle while booting up the game to activate it.
@@BBK113 These games were designed with CRTs in mind
I *love* ZG. One of my fav Sonic games. The first Riders is also great but I think the skill ceiling (floor?) was a lil much. Not even just the difficulty, but things like the grinding show to me they just decided to add unnecessarily complicated or extra imputs that weren't needed.
Free Riders being a good game now is great! Really wanna try it some time. It's cool how it and 06 are both getting a new lease on life recently.
Rail grinding having u to press the jump button again is actually better imo. It gives u the chance to confirm if u want to go on the rail or not. There are some sections in the game where u jump of a ramp and as ur falling there will be a rail. If the game didn't have that mechanic it would just automatically put u on the rail without giving the choice on if u wanted to go on it or not. Sometimes it'll be faster to skip the rail and use ur boost on the final lap or something.
It's painful to see just how easily standard controls could've been implemented into Free Riders. They could have even kept the Kinect controls in a separate mode if they really wanted to have a "Kinect game" for the launch.
If only they would make more sonic riders games
I really miss the Sonic Riders series! I need a modern entry ASAP! My nostalgia can not take it anymore!
"With a little bit of work, it can be the best game sega has ever done" is the perfect description for most sonic games tbh. Great video
I feel so happy that Jon is mentioning rivals. I like rivals 2 especially and think it has a cool concept. Played alot of rivals 2 on my PSP even nowadays.
My brother and I love the first rivals game back in middle school; I would love those got remade or port to modern consoles
@@natoriousthehopeful2786yeah same. Unleashed on old phones and rivals 2 were my first sonic games and I believe are underrated. I wish it the concept came back, it's kinda a successor to sonic R mainly because of the on foot racing but still. Underrated duo on the PSP
i feel like free riders was initially designed with just a standard xbox 360 controller in mind but when microsoft told sega that the kinect was coming out soon and they wanted them to create a launch title to showcase the kinect’s abilities, sega quickly shoehorned in the kinect into free riders and forced people to use that instead of a standard xbox 360 controller
I wish there was an easier way to play them nowadays, like a collection of them would be nice
This series NEEDS to come back
I always love the Riders games I wish they brought it back , it cool to have a racing game trying to be it own thing and not just be about cars, , hope for a new full game or a collection of all the game for Modern console specially give them all online to make it really fun.
As a kid I could NEVER get into the first Riders game, so when the sequel released and simplified things I could finally play and actually win some races and it was AWESOME. Zero Gravity definitely has a place in my heart
Same!
Absolutely same dude.
I remember seeing Sonic Rider's animated opening when it came out and immediately became obsessed. Man it was a vibe, even if I sucked at the game itself.
I still vividly remember getting the original Sonic Riders for my 10th birthday (this, and a big ol' trampoline!), and I remember hating the game so much because of how the game handled, but as time went on, I started to love the game, and STILL love the game! (I still have my original PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits copy of the game since that birthday), shame that Zero Gravity leaves me underwhelmed when compared to the original.
I spent countless hours on riders 1&2 back in the day. I spent 30 minutes on free riders.
honestly it kills me that the first riders game wasn't properly explained, and people to this day say "its hard" when it actuality it really isn't. I agree however, that the true crime of this game is its tutorial. I was very young back then, but i was lucky to let that game on the screen running and get the tutorial from there, then i explored the galery and saw how it worked.
So once i learned how that game worked, I was addicted to it.
Then i also got Zero G, and while it was ok and eventually grew to like it, the first is UNDENIABLY better. Just get good. Like dark souls. if you can play that game and get "enjoyment" out of it, then you -MUST- can enjoy the first game!!
-yep i wanna people to realize its good. please-
I'd love a new one. They've done a few of the kart racers now so I hope they go back to this
I loved Riders on GameCube and Zero Gravity on Wii (tho I needed to use a GameCube controller) and hell even Free Riders for the Kinect was a fun challenge with a bizarre but ok story. Also ZG added Silver so that’s a plus for me
Love sonic riders for GameCube. First game I ever 100% as a wee lad
why have the ps2 version of zero gravity in the thumbnail if youre playing the wii version (based on the button prompts in the footage)?
is it because the ps2 version (presumably) has no 16:9?
A Jon video is always a delight.
I played the original Riders as a kid. I quite enjoyed it. Its very engaging but i do feel the entry hurdle has kept casual friends from enjoying it. Ive never played the other entries. Love the Babylon Rogues though.
I also noticed the xenoblade x soundtrack
If there was ever a Sonic spin-off that deserved an HD remake, it's Sonic Rush: the first Riders is definitely a close second though 😎
10:00 there are some ways around the turbulence, if you press both the triggers of whatever controller you are using, you will pop right of out of it. OR you can just pick the heavy bike and the game will ignore them comepletely
16:58 Correction here, the AI is not in fact cheating. The leveling system of the default gears does not apply to all gears. Some gears have the type upgrade first, or just have access to them by default (for example, skates can always grind, air rides can always fly, etc.) NiGHTS is using Angel/Devil, which is an air ride gear, so it can fly by default. SCR-GP is a wheel-type gear, so the robots can automatically crash through obstacles (and it's not like Super Mario Kart either, if you're playing as the robots then you can too). To combat this, if you yourself are riding a default gear, you can hold off on getting the first upgrade and wait until you have 50 rings (40 in the case of gears that transform into air rides) to access shortcuts early on, often within the first 20 seconds. Alternatively you could purchase skates, air rides, bikes, wheels, and/or yachts to have access to shortcuts by default, or a board that has the grind upgrade first like Faster or Fastest (if you just want to spam Y lol).
I don't think I ever saw real footage of Free Riders, it really looks and feels like an Arcade game, reminded me of a modern Cruisin Game.
I would kill for a new sonic riders game
There is no better proof that Riders had a lot of potential than the modding comunity. Each one completely rebalances the game's overall mechanics, characters and gears (even changing the mechanics of certain ones), but also adding new ones, like Emerl, Tikal, Reala, a G.U.N. gear and Chaos depending on the mod. For OG Riders there is SR Tournament Edition and SR DX, and for ZG there is Regravitified that I know of, and I think all of them have tournaments online being held by the comunity on Dolphin. I recomend every fan of this series to check them out.
I hear you compare this game to F-Zero, but I think F-Zero was easier to play than this clunky mess. Especially with the release of F-Zero 99.
"with a tiny bit of work could be the best ever"
Meanwhile the Sonic riders tournament edition fan project is right there having already done it
Xenoblade X came out 5 years later. This was probably a shout back after another theme from Free Riders sampled Xenoblade Chronicles,Theme of Rocky Ridge.
That's why I'm not a fan of reviews. I disagree with probably at least 40% of them. This spin-off series looks cool and fun. I want to try it now. Bad reviews for clout can sink a game studio.
Sonic Riders is really good, defo a gem. But again, journalism proves we can't have nice things. Zero Gravity has the better tracks overall, but I didn't really like how it handled progression in a race, I do preffer the OG. I'll have to give free riders without the kinect a go at some point!
I have seen the tutorial video from SR1, and it's not great.
I was struggling with the fly power, I was under the impression that i had to shake the stick up & down to get more vertical height, when this was absolutely not the case.
The tutorial video did not help correct this mistake, it only solidified the misconception further.
I would eventually learn better but it took a *hot* minute
Sonic Riders was a great continue off with the Sonic Adventure series with each game of the series have different names. I never played the 3rd one and I heard it sucked. But however I did played the first 2 and I got addicted to it. I played the hell out of the first one when I got a used copy at a game store next state over. I know it's not for everyone but it is what it is. I ended up gotten the 2nd one when it first came out ( I was a teenager reaching my 20s at the time) It's just the first game but with upgrades. Like I said I had loads of fun and since I played the hell out of Adventure series with sonic heroes takes place after 2, then shadow the hedgehog, I stop playing the series when it went to the next gen (ps3/xbox360) excluding generations. Like I said before I never played the 3rd on and I seen the hate of it. But to me I fully recommend the first 2 on the ps2,
The first time I played Riders I started a race and felt confused so I checked all menus and found the tutorial video. A bit later I pretty much mastered all mechanics and the game never felt too challenging or difficult to control. Reviewers were so dumb back then.
I have been play the original sonic rides way before Jon was making this video. Also i don’t like sonic gravity that much ether since I also feel all the fun stuff that made fun was gone, glad to hear soinc free rides with the fan made patch the game is much more fun
Top 5 Reasons Why Sonic Is Sorry
TOP 30 ANIME DEATHS!!!!!!
It is nice to get your optimistic perspective on a series I haven’t heard a ton of good about. Great video Jon!
Honestly I didn’t like the riders games and didn’t want to try it again.
Call me crazy or whatever, I want a new sonic r game way more 👀
Free Riders ported to the newer Xbox One Kinect would be fire.
your xenia emulator is running a bit too fast, try setting the v sync interval to 16 in the config file to run at 60fps
I want more Cream and Vector Collabs in the future
I freaking hate Free Riders. I’m amazed it was as responsive as it was to you, even if it wasn’t too responsive in the long run.
I played it. And I had no problem with the control. I also play a lot of Just Dance so that probably helps too. I think people are just uncoordinated.
@@hazelcrisp I played a lot of Just Dance on the Kinect to with no problems. Didn’t help me here.
@Mojo1356 it's not hard. You literally stand sideway, jump, crouch and flail your arms. And the character does the same.
@@hazelcrisp except the character rarely does what I do unless it’s jumping.
@@hazelcrisp I don’t care what you say, but I’ll go to Sonic 06 before I ever touch Free Riders ever again.
Sonic Riders is the single greatest mascot racing game of all time! No game in the genre comes close to having this level of speed and style. The gameplay has a high skill ceiling that demands the players actually engages with the mechanics, instead of just mindlessly just pressing the gas button.
Also, for a racing game Sonic Team went all out on the story mode! Fully animated and voiced cutscenes, lore, fun characters. Also the game runs at butter smooth 60 FPS and has 4 players split screen multiplayer, mission mode, customization, multiple unlockable characters, and a combat mode. Why do people hate this game? I grew up playing it in my childhood. Even a kid can beat this game. Journalists are full of sh*t sometimes.
The first game feels truly like an OG Sonic game. What are the boards powered with? Air! Just air.
In terms of comparison i think kirby air ride is a more fitting comparison rather than f zero but thats just me
I honestly enjoyed the first two rider games a lot.They had their issues but they were fun and the potential was there..... until the series was murdered thanks to the kinect
As much as i want a new sonic riders,the chances of that happening are very very slim
Great video, your videos are always well made and charming^^ And as a big Sonic Fan I especially enjoy the Sonic videos. And even if I don't always agree, I can totally understand your takes, because you describe your thoughts so well.
Sonic Riders Zero Gravity plays a lot better with the Regravitified mod, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people will comment that, because it's true :D I actually got really into the Sonic Riders series this year and Sonic Riders DX and Sonic Riders Regravitified are now two of my favourite games! I didn't get the No-kinect patch to work in Free Riders, maybe I'll try that again some time. Btw: The gravity dive sections are kinda the automated sections, so they are also kinda in Zero Gravity.
Theres also Xenoblade 1 in Free Riders, Riki The Legendary Heropon and Rocky Ridge use the same sample. Also, why does Riki The Legendary Heropon sounds at some parts like Super Mario Sunshine and at others like Yoshis Woolly World? :P
Riders 1 was confusing to me when I first got it, but once it clicks it just feels amazing to play in every way.
Honestly i wish Jon mentioned the the Sonic Riders mod that combines both Sonic Riders and Zero Gravity's gameplay.
Finally a video for me! Riders is easily a top 10 sonic game for me
Aww, the corner cutoff's gone
I've been waiting for this one😉. Great work Jon.
Jon and sonic, this is the content i signed up for
Just a recommendation for anyone that wants to play the first 2 games, do not play the PS2 If you can play the gamecube (or Wii for ZG) version, is the worst of the three and the PC version it's not too worthy the process to make it work (truthfully this applies to any Sonic game released in the PS2).
So what I gather from this, is that the Riders games are actually pretty fun once you get the hang on them, and that all the negativity surrounding the games is therefore once again due to memes and the internet mocking what it doesn't understand.
"Oh my, this game's controls are hard to get used to? Better make fun of it and say it is the game's fault instead of me lacking skill".
Yep. Even as a kid I never understood why this game got so much hate.
I love this series! Glad you covered it 🎉
Yep. I never played it but watching the b roll it looks similar to f zero. I recently learned that for the gamecube f zero, sega was involved in making that game for nintendo so it checks out. I am on a real F-zero kick right now
Sonic Riders is tricky to learn at first but not impossible. When you master it it feels amazing. I sunk a crazy amount of hours into the original and love it to this day. I own Zero Gravity but didn't put much time into it at all and didn't pick up Free Riders.
Jon I can't belive you think the Werehog and Jet sound the same? Jet is way more high pitched and Jason Griffith tried to make his voice bird like if that makes sense. Werehog is much deeper. Great video!
Jet sounds like darkspine to me
10:11 I think the trade-off here is that jumping on the ramp after the turbulence will give you the maximum jump height (or vertical jump height if you hold the left stick downwards) without the need to charge the jump.
13:20 Yeah, but can you really blame Sonic Team for this? The first Riders game got middling reception at best during the time when the series was at its all-time low, so ignoring the general public's criticism isn't an option if they wanted to bring it back up.
25:49 Zero Gravity felt like they're actual done with Riders as a concept and just temporarily brought it back as Free Riders because they wanted a popular gaming IP on Kinect and Riders is the most fitting concept without being an out of place title with the Sonic branding slapped on.
Let's be honest. Most of the people that like the Riders games are ones who have passion for Sonic. Most of the people that are outside of that definition write it off as a weird game and count it as one of the bad Sonic games. Meanwhile, Sumo Digital's Sonic racing games were easily picked up and enjoyed by anyone and thus were more successful and gave a better reception to the series, even Team Sonic Racing, than the Riders trilogy did.
i unironically enjoy Free Riders with kinect. it gives me an excuse to exercise.
XENOBLADE X MENTIONED
Riders is godlike
I own the second game but never played It much
I have barely any experience with this series but I know It has It's fans and I appreciate what It Is
Sonic Riders was the first Sonic game I played alongside Sonic Heroes on Gamecube, and I absolutely adored it. Sure, it wasn’t perfect and had a steep learning curve, but it was much more satisfying to masted and had a lot more mechanical depth than Mario Kart or even the future Sonic and Sega Racing games or Team Sonic Racing. It’s a shame that the series has just been permanently put on ice after how much of a disaster Sonic Free Riders was, and a small part of me is hoping that Sega decides to give this series another shot someday. Especially when there’s truly nothing else like it on the market, as you said.
this is by far my FAVOURITE childhood game!! everytime i bring it up no one ever knows what i'm talking about, it's a true hidden gem!!
Sonic Riders was definitely a childhood favorite of mine, and I still think it is a top tier Sonic game, while a not very good to master.
Zero Gravity definitely had the better story than the first Rider, but the gameplay felt more complicated, while still being a really solid time.
The less I say about Free Riders, the better. Awful plot, terrible gameplay.
Uh… average games?
Just got the CD soundtrack for Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity in the mail today at 1:14p.m. and it's the Sonic Riders Shooting Star Story Original Soundtrack ”Zero Gravity Tracks” CD and I'm listening to it while watching this! 6:52p.m. 3/12/2024
Now this is Good Vibes, Sonic Riders captivated my 6 year old self, tracing the characters back when games used to come with manuals. It was awesome.
I loved the first sonic riders game so much. I was hyped for the wii one but found it confusing, bland colors, and didn't have the mechanics nor style I enjoyed from the first
See John gets it. I absolutely loved the (first 2) Riders games. Its such an idea that only sega can pull off with its chracters. It was a great way to stand out from all the kart racers we got back then and itd still stand out today. Like many other games it felt ahead of its time. I honestly think itd be more welcome today. They so need to bring this series back but make it a crossover game instead of mostly sonic characters. I wanna see Bayonetta, Yagami, Kiryu, Ichiban, Persona characters, Virtua fighter, fighting vipers, space channel 5, hatsune miku, shenmue, streets of rage, jsrf, and many of Sega's other characters all riding on hoverboards through sega themed stages like green hill, kamurocho, whatever monkey ball themed level etc. Call it Sega Riders. ITS THE PERFECT IDEA. COME ON SEGA
11:40 you can just leave the game on overnight repeatedly to get him, that's what I did
I was a HUGE Sonic fanatic in the early 00's. (Still am...) And I adored both Sonic Riders and Zero Gravity! Even managed to buy the PC port of Riders back in the day, which I still own!
But MAN was I disappointed when they brought the third game to Kinect only. I'm in a wheelchair, so Free Riders was never accessible for me. I hoped they would've included a mode for people who couldn't walk but- nope. Tried it at a family member's house and was heartbroken. Maybe I should try the emulator now that there is a patch! I know there are fan-made Riders content out there too which is awesome! I hope Sega brings back the Riders series one day.
The Moment that Xenoblade X point came up and I could hear the lyrics the fucking NLA drums started belting in my head before it played in the video. I love those fucking drums in that song tho the drums just SLAP SO HARD. I was interested in giving Free Riders a chance now that the Kinectless mod exists and the fire has been reignited... until Mario Wonder comes out WHOOPS.
Weirdly enough, Sonic Riders is actually one of the only Sonic games I've ever played. I might've played Zero Gravity at some point too, but the only other Sonic game I've played is Mania.
Its a great game Sonic Riders although find the AI/CPU can be unfair sometimes, playing with other people can be fun, unless you suck at racing games in general then yeah, you probably won't have a good time.
The Riders game definitely have my favourite new characters and aesthetic overall. Sonic Jet Set Radio Hoverboarding?
No other Sonic game has my 2 favourite things combined
Yoo! Jon is a Sonic Riders lover! Incredibly based.
I HIGHLY recommend you try out Sonic Riders EVO a fangame being developed that seeks to do what Zero Gravity and Free Riders failed to do, refine the originals formula to perfection and add online multiplayer; and if you ask me it does it perfectly! It absolutely nails and modernizes everything about the original and it just feels SO good to play.
There's only a demo out right now with not a lot of content, a few stages and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles playable, but I still highly recommend giving it a go if you want to try a modernized take on the original riders.
Would also love a video on it! Cheers!
It’s me I’m a freak who still thinks about Rivals
Also shoutout to you Jon for recognizing the unique untapped potential of the original Riders. Some people say it screams 90s/2000s edge as if that’s a bad thing. Games like Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Splatoon show that plenty of players are willing to eat up a modern day “extreme” attitude. Although I admittedly was never a huge fan of the in-game slapstick art style and crude humor… Eggman farts on people 😐 the goated 2D art also was never really reflected in the character models themselves but I appreciated the difference in proportions and accessories nonetheless; made it feel like a completely separate universe. As much as I want a new entry though, I don’t see them returning to the fast-paced glory that made the first so addicting. Whenever remasters of Adventure-era games reenter the rounds of discussion, I throw in a little mention of Riders. Even just a port to modern platforms would be cool but SEGA refuses money, what else is new. Thanks for hyping it up still. You can exit turbulence with the tornado move btw 😉 (actually watch the hidden tutorial video)
I disagree. I played Riders and then Zero Gravity as a kid and ZG was so much better. More characters, Team Babylon, better tracks, amazing soundtrack, it's just so good. It's just way better than the original I feel. I love the zero gravity, the shortcuts, and the vehicles because no character is locked to one type.
I love the first game so much, it was one of the first video games I ever played. My cousins and I still play it regularly.
There's also an excellent set of mods for these games as well. Riders 1 has Riders: Tournament Edition and DX (sadly, this particular branch is no longer being worked on): both of these adds a bunch of quality of life changes (good-bye rotating stick sections!), music, rebalancing of boards and shortcuts, and even some new characters! Since it's used with Dolphin, there's even online multiplayer with netplay. I cannot recommend these set of mods enough.
Zero Gravity does have a mod called Regravified, which did start fixing several of the issues with the base game, though unfortunately, this was being worked on by the DX team and has also been abandoned.
Sonic riders got shafted. I defended it when i came out. If critics didnt signal sega that it was a bad game, it wouldve been a new genre.
Btw turbulences are such a great rubberband mechanic. It fills your air, and makes you go way faster+ the tricks make it fun. If sonic riders got the chance to iterate on its original design who knows what kinds of gems we wouldve gotten
Hiroyuki Sawano playing Sonic Free Riders: "wow, what a banging soundtrack!"