Though Sonic and the Secret Rings is by far my least favorite Sonic game, directly above it are the Game Gear games and then the original Sonic Riders. Sonic R has been my favorite Sonic racing game until now because you were on foot and burning rubber, but that mediocre boarding game…might as well have not existed. I mean, Sonic is about running, not boarding against some whacko parrot voiced by none other than the Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants (yes, you read right). I had taken the time to play it, and it was “ok,” but it just wasn’t good. Then, a couple of years later, a sequel came out for the Wii, known as Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. As you can well imagine, I did not plan on buying it.
My 6-year-old sister, however, had other plans. Since she liked the first one, she intended to get it for her birthday. I wasn’t going to criticize her; she likes everything I don’t like. Still, I always thought that Zero Gravity would probably be better than the original. Once I played it, it turned out I was exactly right. It was better. Much better.
This must surely be a sign, as Sonic has been as of late going through a bad streak that has caused many ex-fans to wish him away, myself not included. I will, however, admit that the latest Sonic games from 2005-2007 have been disappointing, minus the Sonic Rush games for DS (as for Sonic Rivals…I’ve never played that). Shadow the Hedgehog was fun, but it did not live up to expectations and was REALLY short (in case you’re wondering, I thought that the trailers for it made it look like one of the great games of our time). Sonic Riders, as mentioned before, was a mediocre attempt at a sixth-gen Sonic racing game. Sonic the Hedgehog was a MAJOR disappointment. Sonic ran soooo slowly (and on a next-gen console, too), and there were so many glitches and the load times were unbearably long. As for Sonic and the Secret Rings…don’t get me started on that. There is still Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Games, which was simply NOT GOOD. I’ve also had fears that Sonic Chronicles and Sonic Unleashed would be terrible, considering that each one gets increasingly worse. However, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity shows a glimmer of light in a possibly dark future.
For one thing, there is no longer an Air Gauge to measure how much fuel your Gear has; this means no more running to a pit stop on foot. As a consolation, the Air Dash and Air Slide are gone, although it’s a fair trade. You have something to replace that anyway. Rather than an Air Gauge, you have a Gravity Gauge, which gives you limited control over gravity. This allows you to make sharp turns by pressing the 1 Button, and can also allow you to fly by quickly pushing the Wii Remote up. While flying, you can bounce off certain objects to gain a burst of speed and also get more Gravity Points. The flight power also allows you to use certain shortcuts that only certain characters can usually enter. There is also a way to ride along walls, although it mostly falls out of your use.
There are three available control styles, although the sideways control style is the best. You hold the Wii Remote forward to accelerate, and move it left and right to steer. The 1 Button allows you to use a Gravity Drift (as mentioned earlier), and the 2 Button allows you to jump and do tricks. Speaking of which, tricks are a lot easier to do than they were in the original. No longer will you be in the middle of a trick and then land, causing you to lose all of your former speed. Instead, you just have to press the 2 Button at the right time and flick the Wii Remote in the direction in which you want to do the trick. The farther you are on the ramp when you press the 2 Button and the harder you flick the Wii Remote, the better the trick will be and thus you will get more Gravity Points.
Another thing I like is that the difficulty has been toned down significantly. No longer will you get hit by a fellow racer and lose all your rings, be back at level 1, and have lost all your speed. Now, the only way for a racer to hit you is if they get a power-up in one of the capsules that lets them turbo run on foot with a special power ready to own the next person they touch, although they thankfully aren’t too common. In fact, you’ll probably end up getting them more often than the fellow racers. This power can also reveal new shortcuts, usually involving hitting springs. As mentioned earlier, the Air Gauge is gone, thereby toning down the difficulty even more. While I’m at it, I will point out that the annoying announcer from the first game is no longer there, although it kind of makes you wonder why they’re racing when there’s no tournament going on…
Like the original, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity follows the example set by Sonic Heroes of adding an ability triangle. Each character has a rank: speed, flight, or power. The power characters can mow down obstacles in their path, and thus uncover new shortcuts. Speed characters can grind along rails to speed things up. Flight characters can find shortcuts if they go across certain ramps. This allows them to fly through dash rings and discover new areas. However, there is a flaw in this. The characters don’t come with the abilities; you instead have to collect enough rings in order to switch to the appropriate Gear. I have no problem with this Gear Change system, but it should have been different. While I’m at it, depending on how many rings you get, you can press A to change your gear for a higher speed, the appropriate vehicle for grinding/destroying obstacles/flying, and a Gravity Gauge upgrade. Again, though I think it’s neat, the abilities should have come with the characters. Also like the original, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity follows Sonic Adventure 2’s example by giving the Babylon Rogues alternate versions of Team Sonic’s stages.
Before closing my review, I will overview the graphics. Now, though graphics aren’t important to a racing game, it is still nice to see one with pretty graphics, and this delivers. It’s got the same style as the original game’s graphical style, which was pretty good, aside from the way some of the characters’ mouths moved during scenes. The cutscenes are also a noticeable improvement, not that cutscenes in Sonic games aren’t ALWAYS awesome.
While the first Sonic Riders was a rent at best, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is worth buying. If you were like me and didn’t like the first one, I still recommend you look into this; SEGA definitely put effort into it. This is definitely a sign that Sonic was just going through a bad streak, but now he’s getting back on track. I’ve seen trailers for Sonic Unleashed, and I think it looks awesome; not as good as the Sonic Adventure games, surely, but awesome. I’m still a little worried about Sonic Chronicles, unless it has a Tales of Symphonia-style battle system—I think that Sonic and turn-based battles don’t mix. Anyway…
Here Are the Words…
Gameplay: Pretty Good. A major improvement over the original; you can tell that Sonic Team actually tried to make this one good.
Fun Factor: Great! The original was so hard it was barely fun at all, but with this one’s toned-down difficulty and new gravity-manipulating mechanics, it can be quite a blast to play.
Graphics: Great! They shine, especially during cutscenes, but I don’t like the way the characters’ mouths move during scenes…
Glitches: Pretty Good. They’re there, but they’re not very major.
Story: Pretty Good. Though a story is not significant for a racing game, it’s pretty cool and interesting.
Final Word: Pretty Good. A significant improvement over the first. Now there is a bright glimmer of hope in this hedgehog’s future.
My 6-year-old sister, however, had other plans. Since she liked the first one, she intended to get it for her birthday. I wasn’t going to criticize her; she likes everything I don’t like. Still, I always thought that Zero Gravity would probably be better than the original. Once I played it, it turned out I was exactly right. It was better. Much better.
This must surely be a sign, as Sonic has been as of late going through a bad streak that has caused many ex-fans to wish him away, myself not included. I will, however, admit that the latest Sonic games from 2005-2007 have been disappointing, minus the Sonic Rush games for DS (as for Sonic Rivals…I’ve never played that). Shadow the Hedgehog was fun, but it did not live up to expectations and was REALLY short (in case you’re wondering, I thought that the trailers for it made it look like one of the great games of our time). Sonic Riders, as mentioned before, was a mediocre attempt at a sixth-gen Sonic racing game. Sonic the Hedgehog was a MAJOR disappointment. Sonic ran soooo slowly (and on a next-gen console, too), and there were so many glitches and the load times were unbearably long. As for Sonic and the Secret Rings…don’t get me started on that. There is still Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Games, which was simply NOT GOOD. I’ve also had fears that Sonic Chronicles and Sonic Unleashed would be terrible, considering that each one gets increasingly worse. However, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity shows a glimmer of light in a possibly dark future.
For one thing, there is no longer an Air Gauge to measure how much fuel your Gear has; this means no more running to a pit stop on foot. As a consolation, the Air Dash and Air Slide are gone, although it’s a fair trade. You have something to replace that anyway. Rather than an Air Gauge, you have a Gravity Gauge, which gives you limited control over gravity. This allows you to make sharp turns by pressing the 1 Button, and can also allow you to fly by quickly pushing the Wii Remote up. While flying, you can bounce off certain objects to gain a burst of speed and also get more Gravity Points. The flight power also allows you to use certain shortcuts that only certain characters can usually enter. There is also a way to ride along walls, although it mostly falls out of your use.
There are three available control styles, although the sideways control style is the best. You hold the Wii Remote forward to accelerate, and move it left and right to steer. The 1 Button allows you to use a Gravity Drift (as mentioned earlier), and the 2 Button allows you to jump and do tricks. Speaking of which, tricks are a lot easier to do than they were in the original. No longer will you be in the middle of a trick and then land, causing you to lose all of your former speed. Instead, you just have to press the 2 Button at the right time and flick the Wii Remote in the direction in which you want to do the trick. The farther you are on the ramp when you press the 2 Button and the harder you flick the Wii Remote, the better the trick will be and thus you will get more Gravity Points.
Another thing I like is that the difficulty has been toned down significantly. No longer will you get hit by a fellow racer and lose all your rings, be back at level 1, and have lost all your speed. Now, the only way for a racer to hit you is if they get a power-up in one of the capsules that lets them turbo run on foot with a special power ready to own the next person they touch, although they thankfully aren’t too common. In fact, you’ll probably end up getting them more often than the fellow racers. This power can also reveal new shortcuts, usually involving hitting springs. As mentioned earlier, the Air Gauge is gone, thereby toning down the difficulty even more. While I’m at it, I will point out that the annoying announcer from the first game is no longer there, although it kind of makes you wonder why they’re racing when there’s no tournament going on…
Like the original, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity follows the example set by Sonic Heroes of adding an ability triangle. Each character has a rank: speed, flight, or power. The power characters can mow down obstacles in their path, and thus uncover new shortcuts. Speed characters can grind along rails to speed things up. Flight characters can find shortcuts if they go across certain ramps. This allows them to fly through dash rings and discover new areas. However, there is a flaw in this. The characters don’t come with the abilities; you instead have to collect enough rings in order to switch to the appropriate Gear. I have no problem with this Gear Change system, but it should have been different. While I’m at it, depending on how many rings you get, you can press A to change your gear for a higher speed, the appropriate vehicle for grinding/destroying obstacles/flying, and a Gravity Gauge upgrade. Again, though I think it’s neat, the abilities should have come with the characters. Also like the original, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity follows Sonic Adventure 2’s example by giving the Babylon Rogues alternate versions of Team Sonic’s stages.
Before closing my review, I will overview the graphics. Now, though graphics aren’t important to a racing game, it is still nice to see one with pretty graphics, and this delivers. It’s got the same style as the original game’s graphical style, which was pretty good, aside from the way some of the characters’ mouths moved during scenes. The cutscenes are also a noticeable improvement, not that cutscenes in Sonic games aren’t ALWAYS awesome.
While the first Sonic Riders was a rent at best, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is worth buying. If you were like me and didn’t like the first one, I still recommend you look into this; SEGA definitely put effort into it. This is definitely a sign that Sonic was just going through a bad streak, but now he’s getting back on track. I’ve seen trailers for Sonic Unleashed, and I think it looks awesome; not as good as the Sonic Adventure games, surely, but awesome. I’m still a little worried about Sonic Chronicles, unless it has a Tales of Symphonia-style battle system—I think that Sonic and turn-based battles don’t mix. Anyway…
Here Are the Words…
Gameplay: Pretty Good. A major improvement over the original; you can tell that Sonic Team actually tried to make this one good.
Fun Factor: Great! The original was so hard it was barely fun at all, but with this one’s toned-down difficulty and new gravity-manipulating mechanics, it can be quite a blast to play.
Graphics: Great! They shine, especially during cutscenes, but I don’t like the way the characters’ mouths move during scenes…
Glitches: Pretty Good. They’re there, but they’re not very major.
Story: Pretty Good. Though a story is not significant for a racing game, it’s pretty cool and interesting.
Final Word: Pretty Good. A significant improvement over the first. Now there is a bright glimmer of hope in this hedgehog’s future.
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