Sonic Riders

[A Black Falcon]

IGN:

Sonic Goes eXtreme
New multiplatform racing title to feature all your favorite characters.
by IGN Staff

September 7, 2005 - Just as we were starting to think that Shadow had taken over the Sonic franchise for the remainder of 2005, Sega makes the surprise announcement of an all-new racing game featuring Sonic and friends. The latest issue of Famitsu reveals that Sonic Riders is being developed by Sonic Team for a Winter Japanese release on the Xbox, PS2 and GameCube this winter. Serving as producer is Yuda Koshi, a veteran of Sonic development who's also worked on Puyo Puyo and Space Channel 5.

In Sonic Riders, Dr. Robotnik has set up a speed challenge, and all the Sonic characters, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Storm the Albatross, Jet the Hawk, Miles "Tails" Prower and Web the Swallow, have decided to compete. To the victor goes a Chaos Emerald.

Unlike the classic Sega Saturn racer Sonic R (now appearing as a game in Sonic Gems Collection), Sonic Riders promises an "eXtreme" experience. Yes, Sega is actually using this buzz word that we thought had died two years ago to promote the game. Sonic and friends speed through tracks on air boards, using individual special moves to strike down opponents.

Air is a big element of Sonic Riders. Your board's "fuel" source is air. You can fill up your air at various points on the course, but to race well you'll have to use another means of replenishment: performing tricks with your board. You'll also want to make use of turbulence from racers who are in front of you. By riding your rival racers' turbulence, you get a burst of speed and can even make your board leap into the air (sometimes finding shortcuts in the course). Your air supply remains fixed when riding turbulence, making this a tactic that you'll want to employ as you play the game. Turbulence isn't all good, though, as players can generate irregularities in their turbulence, knocking those who are along for a free ride out of the course.

Sega is planning a whole lot of gameplay for Sonic Riders. Expect numerous tracks, including such Sonic fare as Splash Canyon, Egg Factory, Green Cave and Sandy Ruin. The game will offer a number of different modes, including two and four player split screen.

Sega of Japan will be holding a press conference in Tokyo on Friday to show off some of its upcoming plans for the Sonic series, and we expect Sonic Riders to make an appearance there, followed by a showing at the Tokyo Game Show. Sonic fans, stay tuned for much more to come.

Scans:
http://www.n-philes.com/games/GCN/GCN_so...iders1.jpg
http://www.n-philes.com/games/GCN/GCN_so...iders2.jpg

[lazyfatbum]

This sounds awesome! it's Sonic with 1080/Waverace and F-Zero gameplay! Finally a sonic game that's not the same lame 3-D engine they made for Sonic Adventure over ten years ago.

But the scans you posted dont work ABF, imma searching for more pics now, but I'm not having any luck. And who the fuck is Web the Swallow?

[Great Rumbler]

Web the Swallow?

[A Black Falcon]

Copy those links, paste them in the bar, and hit enter. Or click the link and then hit enter/the "Go" button/whatever to reload the page... Then they'll work. N-Philes is just really, really stupid about linking its images...

[Great Rumbler]

Instead of Sonic Riders, I wish they'd go ahead and release Planet Harrier.

[A Black Falcon]

You mean like Space Harrier? That game was awesome...

[Great Rumbler]

It was the sequel to Space Harrier. They only released it in the arcades though.

[A Black Falcon]

... awesome... :(

[Smoke]

Check out what next-gen Sonic could look like. Click

[Laser Link]

That actually does look good. I was expecting another Mascot Kart, but this looks original and fun.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, it could be alright... at least this time they actually have some kind of vehicle, unlike Sonic R. :)

[Geno]

I don't see any familiar Sonic characters within those screenshots. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.

[Great Rumbler]

Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails are all in that first scan...

[A Black Falcon]

And Sonic's in the second one.

[-iLluSiON-]

BOOGERMAN> EVERY VIDEO GAME!1!11

[A Black Falcon]

If you want gross-out, Conker's Bad Fur Day beats Boogerman fifteen times to last week...

[Geno]

Damn, I need to play CBFD again. I barely played it the first time. I want to finish it this time around. After OoT though. (Which I've played through about eight or nine times already, but meh.)

[A Black Falcon]

Conker is good. Disgusting, but the game is a good platformer... even if it is in very bad taste (sometimes quite over the top... not that that means it shouldn't have been done that way, but it's ... different ...)...

[Geno]

I like the humor. :D

Add that to the gameplay and you've got yourself a gem of a game.