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Babylon Rogues
'Sonic the Hedgehog' character
File:Babylon Rogues Riders.png
The Babylon Rogues in a cutscene of Sonic Riders (GameCube). From left to right: Wave, Storm, and Jet.

The Babylon Rogues (バビロン盗賊団, Babiron Tōzokudan) are a fictional team of thieves in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series published by Sega. The team's history extends hundreds of years into the past, but the only three current members are the arrogant Jet the Hawk (ジェット・ザ・ホーク, Jetto za Hōku), the critical and technically-minded Wave the Swallow (ウェーブ・ザ・スワロー, Uēbu za Suwarō), and the dim-witted but physically strong Storm the Albatross (ストーム・ザ・アルバトロス, Sutōmu za Arubatorosu). All three are anthropomorphic bird-like creatures descended from aliens.

The Rogues debuted in Sonic Riders, a racing game released in 2006, where antagonist Doctor Eggman hires them to compete against protagonists Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, and Knuckles the Echidna in a board-racing tournament to win the Chaos Emeralds as a prize. They have since appeared in the sequels Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and Sonic Free Riders, two other games in cameo form, and the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series published by Archie Comics. They have received mainly negative responses from critics, with criticism directed at their names, personalities, and clichéd backstory.

Design and characteristics

The Babylon Rogues were created for the racing game Sonic Riders. Producer Takashi Yuda considers them best-suited for Sonic series racing games, and noted in a 2006 interview that Sonic characters are usually designed with one specific storyline in mind.[1]

Appearances

Sonic Riders opens with Jet examining the "Key to Babylon Garden", a mysterious cube passed on to Jet by his father, in his office aboard his airship. Storm and Wave enter and ponder the Key with him. Doctor Eggman arrives on the ship and helpfully tells Jet that if he wants to summon the Babylon Garden, he will need the seven Chaos Emeralds. Eggman asks them to find Sonic the Hedgehog, who he says may have Emeralds. The Rogues steal an emerald from Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles the Echidna (Team Sonic), and depart. The next day, Eggman announces a racing tournament with an Emerald as a prize; the Rogues and Team Sonic both enter.

In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, the Rogues seek an item called the Ark of the Cosmos, which can control gravity, but Sonic and his friends are also after it.

In Sonic Free Riders, Eggman—under the alias "King Doc"—organizes another racing tournament.

Reception

The Rogues have received predominantly negative comments from gaming journalists. Alex Navarro and Joe Dodson of GameSpot separately criticized their clichéd backstory,[2][3] as did Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell and Richard Coombs of Blistered Thumbs.[4][5] Coombs ranked them eighth on a list of Sonic characters in need of retirement, also deriding their personalities: "annoying (Jet), pretentious (Wave), and stupid (Storm)."[5] IGN's Jack DeVries specifically called Jet a "jerk" and stated that his voice is annoying, especially in Free Riders.[6] Gerald Villoria of GameSpy found the species chosen for new bird characters to be uninteresting.[7] Similarly, Ellie Gibson from Eurogamer called the Rogues "spectactularly stupid" and questioned the appeal of playing as "a nearly-extinct giant sea bird".[8] GamesRadar's Brett Elston criticized their names,[9] and also described Riders as "another sloppy racer with even more stupid characters".[10] Navarro, however, praised their appearance, which he called "edgy-cute-looking".[2]

References

  1. ^ Theobald, Phil (January 27, 2006). "Sega Talks Sonic Riders Part Two". GameSpy. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Navarro, Alex (March 1, 2006). "Sonic Riders". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  3. ^ Dodson, Joe (January 18, 2008). "Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity Review". GameSpot. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  4. ^ Bramwell, Tom (March 17, 2006). "Sonic Riders Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Coombs, Richard. "The Top 9 Sonic Characters that Need to Retire". Blistered Thumbs. Archived from the original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  6. ^ DeVries, Jack (November 1, 2010). "Sonic Free Riders Kinect Review". IGN. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  7. ^ Villoria, Gerald (January 26, 2006). "Sonic Riders". GameSpy. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  8. ^ Gibson, Ellie (December 8, 2010). "Kinect Roundup • Page 2". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  9. ^ Elston, Brett (June 14, 2013). "Sonic Riders". GamesRadar. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  10. ^ Elston, Brett (June 23, 2012). "The rise, fall and deafening crash of Sonic the Hedgehog". GamesRadar. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
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