Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

"A faithful sequel, and a great stand alone Wii title"

The Sonic Riders series started early in 2006 and the second installment just hit the shelves.

For those who don't know the Sonic Riders games, they are hover board racing games which focus more on racing talent than getting the better item, as in the Mario Kart games. If you're the type of person who gets excited about spin-off games, then this is a big treat, but if not this game can be easily overlooked.

Story: Let's get this out of the way: the story is complete garbage. It consists of the sonic favorites of trying to obtain the magical stones that fell from the sky. Ironically, the same stones, all made of G.U.N.'s (the sonic universes military) robot, go haywire. And now the sonic team is required to race on hover boards to stop these robots and save the world. There is no real thought put into this area of the game, and it is not so much a story as it is a movie and a separate game.

Gameplay: This is the area of the game that really shines. As a racing game, it offers some things that you won't find in other games. Each race has its own parameters, such as the number of laps, time limit for winning, and or place in first. The developers made some good decisions about various parts of the game that they didn't change. At the start of each race you need to time their takeoff, and if done correctly this can give you a great boost and can even turn the tide of the race. One change that was made to the newer game is the new Gravity manipulation system. Drifting in the first game to make hard turns has now been replaced with halting gravity and the changing of the trajectory of the racer. Also the "Air" system was taken out and replaced with "Gravity points," which are gained by performing tricks and grabbing power-ups. You use these points to do "Gravity Dives". A "Gravity Dive" is a huge boost which greatly speeds up the racer to improve your place in the race. Another change is with the "gear," or rather the racing equipment. Each set of gear is dramatically different from each other and gives each different rider the advantage to take different shortcuts depending on the gear. Also during each race, the racers can level up depending on how many rings the you acquire during a race. There are also different multiplayer options in which friends can participate. There are either "versus" or "co-op" races for two to four players. There are also Wi-Fi features that allow you to download ghost racers from top players to race against. The game is easy enough for a casual player to pick up and have fun, yet it is also extensive enough for seasoned vets to stick around.

Controls: There are three different control styles for the game, Wii controller sideways, Wii controller vertical, and game cube controller. Each control style has its own distinctiveness, but they also all have their flaws. The game cube controller is okay to use, but the stick is extremely sensitive. The vertical sty is interesting to use, but trying to turn is very difficult and it can easily become harder to use being that it's so disconnected. The best of the three to use is horizontal controller because you have the feeling of a good grip on all of the buttons and turning is easier. The only negative to this style is that, for whatever reason, the developers decided to have the motion sensor activated when it is easier to turn with the directional pad. It is annoying, but can be easily disregarded, and is otherwise solid.

Graphics: Like most Wii games at this time, the graphics are sub par to others, aside from those available in FMVs (full motion video). Otherwise the graphics are pretty poor looking and the characters even look strangely thin during the in-game graphics. The background is also not very appealing to the eyes, and they look strangely similar to the Dreamcast Sonic Adventure 2 graphics.

Audio: The game sports a pretty good soundtrack with some typical techno-style racing tunes. The sound FX is also fitting for the sonic series. It's still amusing to hear the coin "dwing" noise. The voice-overs, as with all sonic games, are terrible, but the corniness seems to have become necessary for Sonic now. The major complaint is that every time you engage the gravity button to stages, the song restarts. Meaning that at every big turn the song starts over, which can become quite annoying.

Overall: The game as a whole is really fun, easy to pick up and hard to master. It offers enough variety in levels and characters to validate a purchase. Also there are plenty of unlockables and items for purchase, which are all a lot of fun to get and make it worth playing the game through over and over. It is a solid racer game with plenty of fun to be had. If you haven't had a lot of fun with your Wii lately, this is a good distraction for your time.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/14/08

Game Release: Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (US, 01/08/08)