January 14, 2008 - When Sonic Riders released at the tail end of the GameCube lifespan, it wasn't exactly met with the highest of regards from fans or critics alike. The gameplay was simple, the design was a bit flawed in the control department, and the end result was a racer that, while certainly a fresh take on the Sonic brand, wasn't a vital piece of software. With the now-amazing success of the Wii, as well as the continuing strong sales of PS2, SEGA is back with another dose of racing with Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. The end result, however, is more of the same, mixed with a few gameplay concepts that don't quite come through in the end. Only the most die-hard of Sonic fans need apply.
Just like its predecessor, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is essentially a racing game built in the world of Sonic the Hedgehog. Since the design ends up having little to do with anything Sonic-related at all (speed aside, of course) the game ends up feeling a lot like Mario Kart or Crash Team Racing, as you're basically getting a new experience teamed with classic characters. As for the story, it's pretty basic, centering around a new gravity-manipulating bracelet that the Blue Blur finds. With an evil entity out to capture it, it's up to the Sonic Team to do what they do best: Embrace speed, and raise hell.
Putting all story aspects aside, Zero Gravity is basically the same design as the original Sonic Riders experience. You'll sprint through courses, grab rings, power up your air board – why the fastest animal alive doesn't just run is beyond us…- and attempt to take first place in some of the craziest track design since Extreme G on the N64. Where the original fell short, however, Zero Gravity again fails, as the air board mechanic is a bit too slow for our liking (nowhere near the intensity of something like F-Zero GX), and the control is very clunky, using Wii tilt or PS2 analog stick to control a very slippery, floaty character at high speeds. For whatever reason, the steering isn't tight enough overall, so characters like Knuckles will often run into walls simply because they can't turn fast enough, and Wii tilt users will find that movement with the remote needs to be far more exaggerated than most games, yielding less turnout as well for their efforts. Even Sonic and the Secret Rings had tighter controls than Zero Gravity's end design.
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http://wii.ign.com/articles/845/845430p1.html
While it is not a complete surprise, I enjoyed the first Sonic Riders and was really hoping for the best with this game. Sega could have had a huge hit on their hands had they used better controls (the balance board!!!) and online.. but I guess you can't expect too much from them these days. Ah well... I'll probably end up renting it anyway.
