Sonic Riders

Sonic Riders
File:Sonic riders.jpg
Developer(s)	Sonic Team
Publisher(s)	Sega
Platform(s)	GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release	February 23, 2006 February 21, 2006 March 13, 2006
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Sonic Riders is a Sonic racing game revealed by Famitsu on September 7, 2005 prior to 2005's Tokyo Game Show. It has been released in America and Japan for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This game is similar to the game Kirby Air Ride.

Plot

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are hot on the trail of another Chaos Emerald when a trio of thieves riding airboards come out of nowhere and steal it from under their noses. Sonic quickly starts his pursuit, but when Knuckles manages to knock Storm the Albatross, one of the thieves, from his board, Sonic uses it to catch and overtake the leader of the thieves, Jet the Hawk, in an attempt to head them off. However, Jet, being vastly more experienced at using the technology, manages to knock Sonic from his board using the wake of his excessive speed, thus allowing the thieves to finally escape from Tails and Knuckles. The next day, Sonic and the team find out that Doctor Eggman has set up an Ex-World Grand Prix, where the entry requirement from each player is one Chaos Emerald and the prize is winner takes all. The team then discovers that the main contenders are those very thieves that they ran into the previous day! Our heroes promptly take up the challenge. But what are Eggman's true motives, and what of the three thieving avian rogues?

Characters

In Sonic Riders, there are 16 characters with varying types. The seventeenth one isn't actually a 'character,' but is an improved version of one of the characters using the Chaos Emerald Extreme Gear. The characters are listed below.

Speed

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Super Sonic
• Amy Rose
• Jet the Hawk
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• E-10000r (referred to as "Robo 1" on the U.S. gamesite)
• Ulala

Flight

• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Wave the Swallow
• Rouge the Bat
• Cream the Rabbit
• NiGHTS

Power

• Knuckles the Echidna
• Storm the Albatross
• Dr. Eggman
• E-10000g (referred to as "Robo 2" on the U.S. gamesite)
• Aiai

Notes

Some notes about the list:

• Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross, all new, are members of a new organization of thieves and bandits known as the Babylon Rogues and are led by Doctor Eggman during the tournament until a certain point in the game. Jet is Sonic's rival at the time, Wave is Tails' one and Storm is Knuckles'. Other than that, very little is known about them except that Wave is a master mechanic.
• Only Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Jet, Wave, and Storm are playable in Story Mode. However, Amy, E-10000g, and E-10000r do race against the other players. Amy and Eggman also make appearances in the plot of Story Mode.
• In all versions, Eggman has clips of his voice by Deem Bristow AND Mike Pollock. This is apparently because they decided to reuse some of Eggman's Sonic Adventure 2 2-Player Mode quotes in Sonic Riders. The rest of the characters use brand new quotes.
• It has been confirmed that Omochao is the announcer.
• E-10000g and E-10000r, despite the confusions with BOTH the US/European and Japanese gamesites, actually have flipped types from what everyone thought they were. E-10000g is power, and E-10000r is speed. Also, E-10000g is more important that E-10000r.

• Unlike previous games, there is no "Last Story" mode, since the Babylon story ends with the genie guardian's defeat, and discovering that the treasure that was so sought after was a magic carpet. Afterwords, everyone says their goodbyes, and Jet vows that he and Sonic will face each other again.
• Super Sonic can be unlocked as a secret character. To do this, you need to beat mission mode with complete gold ranks. You will then unlock the Chaos Emerald Extreme Gear. This isn't actually a gear, though. Set it with Sonic (who is the only one who can actually use it) and you can play as Super Sonic on the Blue Star.

Character Attacks

Each character has three special attacks to use on other opponents. Thus far, the known abilities for the characters are:

• • Sonic - Yells, "Here I come!,"(Lv1), Rolling Splash(Lv2), Tangle Roll(Lv3)
  • Tails - Electric Plug(Lv1), Swinging Electric Plug(Lv2), Stronger Electric Plug(Lv3)
  • Knuckles - Beast Roar(Lv1), Arm Swing(Lv2), Fist Screw(Lv3)
  • Jet - Sneeze(Lv1), Leaves(Lv2), Screw Attack(Lv3)
  • Wave - Scold(Lv1), Wrench(Lv2), Dynamite(Lv3)
  • Storm - Tornado Clap(Lv1), Wind Slap(Lv2), Hammer Slam(Lv3);
  • Amy - Scream, "Out of my way!"(Lv1), Piko Piko Hammer(Lv2), Stronger Piko Piko Hammer(Lv3)
  • Dr. Eggman - Loud Party Staff(Lv1), Glove Punch(Lv2), Sleeping Gas(Lv3)
  • Rouge - Heart Attack(Lv1), Kick(Lv2), Bat Cracker(Lv3; from Sonic Battle)
  • Cream - Crying Face(Lv1), Cheese(Lv2), Stronger Cheese(Lv3)
  • Shadow - Energy Balls(Lv1), Turn and Kick(Lv2), Chaos Control Spheres(Lv3)
  • E-10000R(Robo 1) - Head Split(Lv1), Double Arm Spin(Lv2), Head Bash(Lv3)
  • E-10000G(Robo 2) - Blinding Light Bulb(Lv1), Spinning Kick(Lv2), Guru Guru Punch(Lv3)

Stats

All characters have stats that depend on who they are, and what there abilities are. For Gear, the stats are relative to the character using it. Both lists are incomplete at this time.

Characters
Name	Type	Dash	Limit	Power	Cornering
Sonic The Hedgehog	Speed	3	4	3	2
Miles Tails Prower	Fly	4	3	2	3
Knuckles The Echidna	Power	3	3	4	2
Amy Rose	Speed	3	4	3	2
Jet The Hawk	Speed	3	4	3	2
Storm The Albatross	Power	3	3	4	2
Wave The Swallow	Fly	4	3	3	2
Dr. Eggman	Power	3	3	4	2
Shadow the Hedgehog	Speed	3	4	3	2
Rouge the Bat	Fly	4	3	3	2
Cream the Rabbit	Fly	4	3	2	2
E-10000G	Power	3	3	3	2
E-10000R	Speed	3	3	3	2
Ulala	Speed	3	4	3	2
Aiai	Power	3	4	3	2
NiGHTS	Fly	3	4	3	2

Boards and Vehicles
Name	Type	Abilities	Dash	Limit	Power	Cornering
Blue Star	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Yellow Tail	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Red Rock	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Pink Rose	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Type J	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Type W	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Type S	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Smile	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Temptation	Board	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Darkness	Skates	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
E-rider	Bike	None	+1	+1	+1	+1
Air Tank	Bike	None	-1	-2	-1	-1
Heavy Bike	Bike	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
High Booster	Board	None	-1	-1	-1	+0
Auto Slider	Board	None	+0	-1	+0	+0
Powerful Gear	Board	None	-2	+0	+3	+0
Fastest	Board	None	-3	+3	+0	-2
Grinder	Skates	Speed	??	??	??	??
Advantage-S	Skates	Speed	??	??	??	??
Advantage-F	Skates	Flight	??	??	??	??
Advantage-P	Skates	Power	??	??	??	??
Cover-S	Bike	Speed	??	??	??	??
Cover-F	Bike	Flight	??	??	??	??
Cover-P	Bike	Power	??	??	??	??
Hang-On	Bike	None	+0	+0	+0	+0
Super Hang-On	Bike	None	+0	+0	+0	+0

Courses

There are 16 courses in the game, 8 for Team Hero and 8 for Team Babylon. Each course has a coinciding "partner" from the other team. There are also three Survival Mode stages, which don't count as apart of the normal sixteen. The courses are listed below.

Heroes

• Metal City
• Splash Canyon
• Egg Factory
• Green Cave
• Sand Ruins
• Babylon Gardens
• Digital Dimension
• SEGA Carnival

Babylon

• Night Chase
• Red Canyon
• Ice Factory
• White Cave
• Dark Desert
• Sky Road
• Babylon Guardian
• SEGA Illusion

Battle

• Dual Towers
• Snowy Valley
• Space Theater

Extreme Gear

It has been confirmed that there will be more than just air boards. These air vehicles will be called "Extreme Gear". Currently, three types are known. Bikes, skates, and boards. There is also other kinds of Extreme Gear which don't have a particular type name such as the Air Broom and a Cloud Gear. The boards are the main one, but the other two can be found as well. Eggman uses a bike (and others have been seen with bikes) called "E-Rider," and; ironically, Shadow uses a pair skates called "Darkness". Each character has a default gear, but some can be used by others. Some characters also have gear that is exclusively for him/her. The known gear is below.

• Boards
  • Blue Star [Sonic Only]
  • Blue Star II [Sonic Only]
  • Yellow Tail [Tails Only]
  • Red Rock [Knuckles Only]
  • Type J [Jet Only]
  • Type W [Wave Only]
  • Type S [Storm Only]
  • Pink Rose [Amy Only]
  • Smile [Cream Only]
  • Temptation [Rouge Only]
  • E-GearG [E-10000g Only]
  • E-GearR [E-10000r Only]
  • Channel 5 [Ulala Only]
  • Night Sky [NiGHTS Only]
  • Banana [Aiai Only]
  • High Booster
  • Auto Slider
  • Speed Balancer
  • Access
  • Accelerator
  • Trap Gear
  • Light Board
  • Slide Booster
  • The Crazy
  • Opa Opa
  • Powerful Gear
  • Turbo Star
  • Fastest
  • Gloom Banby
  • Legend
  • Faster
  • Gambler

• Skates
  • Darkness [Shadow]
  • Grinder
  • Advantage-F
  • Advantage-S
  • Advantage-P
  • Cannonballer

• Bikes
  • E-Rider [Eggman]
  • Destroyer
  • Omnipotence
  • Cover-S
  • Cover-F
  • Cover-P
  • Hang On
  • Super Hang On

• Other
  • Magic Carpet
  • Air Broom
  • Hovercraft (a.k.a - Cloud Gear)
  • Chaos Emerald [Sonic Only]

Unlockables

Characters

• Shadow the Hedgehog
  • Beat Hero Story.
• Rouge the Bat
  • Beat Hero Story.
• Cream the Rabbit
  • Beat Hero Story.
• Dr. Eggman
  • Beat Babylon Story.
• E-10000g
  • Play the game for 20 hours.
• E-10000r
  • Play the game for 50 hours.
• Ulala
  • Beat 'Mission Mode'.
• Aiai
  • Beat 'Mission Mode'.
• NiGHTS
  • Beat 'Mission Mode'.
• Super Sonic
  • Select the Chaos Emerald Extreme Gear as Sonic.

Gear

• Darkness
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• Temptation
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• Smile
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• Blue Star II
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• E-Rider
  • Beat 'Babylon Story.'
• Magic Carpet
  • Beat 'Babylon Story.'
• Space Channel Five
  • Beat 'Mission Mode.'
• Gloom Bandy
  • Beat Amy in Free Race.'
• Banana
  • Beat 'Mission Mode.'
• Night Sky
  • Beat 'Mission Mode.'
• E-Gear G
  • Play the game for 20 hours.
• E-Gear R
  • Play the game for 50 hours.
• Chaos Emerald
  • Beat 'Mission Mode' with complete gold ranks.

Courses

• Babylon Garden
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• Speed Home
  • Beat Knuckles and Amy in Red Canyon in Free Race.
• Night Chase
  • Beat 'Night Chase' in 'Babylon Story.'
• Red Canyon
  • Beat 'Red Canyon' in 'Babylon Story.'
• Ice Factory
  • Beat 'Ice Factory' in 'Babylon Story.'
• White Cave
  • Beat 'White Cave' in 'Babylon Story.'
• Dark Desert
  • Beat 'Dark Desert' in 'Babylon Story.'
• Sky Road
  • Beat 'Sky Road' in 'Babylon Story.'
• Digital Dimension
  • Beat 'Babylon Story.'
• Babylon Guardian
  • Beat 'Babylon Story.'
• SEGA Carnival
  • Get a gold in the 'Hero Cup' of Grand Prix mode.
• SEGA Illusion
  • Get a gold in the 'Babylon Cup' of Grand Prix mode.

Stories

• Babylon Story
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'

Modes

• Mission Mode
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• Babylon Cup
  • Beat 'Dark Desert' in 'Babylon Story.'

Mission Mode

• Storm's Missions
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• Wave's Missions
  • Beat 'Babylon Story.'
• Jet's Missions
  • Beat all of Wave and Storm's missions.
• Digital Dimension Missions
  • Unlock course 'Digital Dimension.'
• Babylon Guardian Missions
  • Unlock course 'Babylon Guardian.'
• SEGA Carnival Missions
  • Unlock course 'SEGA Carnival.'
• SEGA Illusion Missions
  • Unlock course 'SEGA Illusion.'

Shop

• Ability to buy Skates
  • Beat 'Hero Story.'
• Ability to buy Bikes
  • Beat 'Babylon Story.'
• Hang On
  • Beat 'Mission Mode.'
• Super Hang On
  • Beat 'Mission Mode.'
• The Crazy
  • Beat 'Mission Mode.'
• Opa Opa
  • Beat 'Mission Mode.'

Conclusion

After defeating the Babylonian God, Sonic and Jet open the the treasure chest only to find that the Treasure of Babylon was a Magic Carpet prototype Gear. Jet then decides to leave the island because of the "words of wisdom" on the back of the carpet. Everyone says their farewells, Sonic and Jet throw their boards into the air and jump on them while "Catch Me If You Can" plays. They make a U-turn, cross paths in the middle of the air in the shape of an "X" and Jet vows to return and show Sonic the Hedgehog who really is the fastest (in the air).

Miscellaneous

The game has been produced by Takashi Thomas Yuda, who created Knuckles and has worked on such titles as Puyo Puyo and Space Channel 5.

It is known that, according to a preview for Sonic Riders found on IGN [1], there are 54 Extreme Gear in total, and that there is no button used for acceleration, nor is there a "trick" button; tricks are done with the control stick. The Hero story ends with six races; Babylon Gardens is the final Heroes story mode stage. Babylon's story ends with 7, although the last race is played with Sonic The Hedgehog; Babylon Guradian.

The inclusion of NiGHTS, Ulala and AiAi was confirmed very early on at The GHZ, although some denied their reliability.

The appearance of AiAi was officially confirmed by Nintendo Power magazine, however, many were in such disbelief, that they believed the report to be a mistake, and wanted to hear it from Sega and/or Sonic Team first.

This game, while technically developed by "Sonic Team" actually comes from the part of Sonic Team that used to be United Game Artists, who developed Space Channel 5 (the game Ulala comes from), and Rez along with Feel the Magic: XY/XX, and The Rub Rabbits. UGA eventualy merged with Sonic Team.

Features

• All-new air board racing. New blend of snowboarding, surfing and high-speed racing combat.
• Innovative “Turbulence" air-system. Catch the drift of your opponents and leave them in your wake!
• Insane tricks. The more difficult trick you pull off, the more points you get!
• 4-Player Ultimate Battle. New rival group, the Babylon Rogues sets the stage for scorching head-to-head multi-player battles up to 4 players.
• Choose from 17 different playable characters, the largest selection in any Sonic game to date!
• 16 outrageous tracks, plus multiple modes, and tons of bonus unlockables.
• Collect and customize your Extreme Gear with over 9 unique types of equipment to choose from, as well as equipment upgrades.
• Unravel the mystery in Story Mode. You’ll play as two opposing teams, complete with cut-scenes.
• Opening movie done by the legendary anime production company Production I.G.

Cameos

• In the Team Sonic opening, during Eggman's announcement, a city that appears to be "Central City" can be seen in some monitors behind him. Either that, or the monitors are actually windows.

• When Eggman is talking to Sonic, Tails and Knuckles at the beginning, at the top right you can see a picture of Sonic running from the whale off Sonic Adventure. Also next to that is a picture of Sonic's artwork from Sonic Heroes.

• The Sega Carnival and Sega Illusion stages feature numerous references to several other Sega franchises, including Samba De Amigo, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, NiGHTS Into Dreams, Super Monkey Ball, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5, ChuChu Rocket!, and Fantasy Zone.

• One of the unlckable Gear, the Opa-Opa, makes a reference to the classic Sega game Fantasy Zone.

• The High Booster Gear has a patern similar to the Shadow The Hedgehog symbol running down the side of it.

• When using the Hang-On gear in a race, the course music changes to a song from the game Hang-On.

• Similarly, the Super Hang-On gear plays a song from the game Super Hang-On.

• AiAi from the Sega game Super Monkey Ball is a playable character. Also playable is Ulala from Space Channel 5 and NiGHTS from NiGHTS Into Dreams...

Sonic Riders 2

A sequel to Sonic Riders was announced by Takashi Yuda (the producer of Sonic Riders) to Eurogamer in an interview [2]. The game will appear on next-gen consoles, Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Not much is known about the games other than the above information. It is possible that Yuda meant that the original Riders would be coming in next-gen form to the consoles, as opposed to a direct sequel. It is reasonable to believe that if it exists, the game will be ported to the Nintendo Revolution as well.

Rumors

• In the same interview with Eurogamer that talks about the next-gen sequel, Yuda suggests that Sonic Riders may see release on the PSP, but nothing has been decided yet.
• In an interview with Nintendo Power, Yuda says he doesn't know much about the Nintendo Revolution; but based on what he does know, he believes that the system could bring Sonic Riders "to the next dimension" They might make a Ninendo only version of Sonic Riders 2 with a few Nintendo Characters thrown in. [3].

Gallery

• Cream the Rabbit
  Cream the Rabbit
• Dr. Eggman
  Dr. Eggman
• Knuckles the Echidna
  Knuckles the Echidna
• Rouge the Bat
  Rouge the Bat
• Shadow the Hedgehog
  Shadow the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog
  Sonic the Hedgehog
• The Babylon Rogues
  The Babylon Rogues
• Miles "Tails" Prower
  Miles "Tails" Prower
• 1st level
  1st level
• 1st level
  1st level
• 1st level
  1st level
• 1st level
  1st level

External links

• Official US site
• Official Japanese site
• Official European Site