Ok, I have to ask, did they choose to greatly simplify the mechanics from OG Riders because of the Wii's motion controls, or because people complained about said mechanics after the first game?
Zero Gravity feels like it's on autopilot for the most part, almost braindead. Riders' gameplay wasn't super polished or anything, but drifting, boosting and air management felt pretty good to master. All of those are thrown out the window here in favor of gravity mechanics that seem like they open crazy possibilities on the surface, but don't add much at the end of the day. Stopping everything to reposition yourself in a sharp turn doesn't feel nearly as good as keeping up speed with a tight drift. (I was gonna say "At least it looks pretty cool" but I'm not too sure about that either. It loses its luster after the 30th time you have to use it.)
Track variety isn't much better when compared to the original; honestly, it's a bit worse. The water track is the only one that stood out to me, everything else felt kind of samey. It doesn't help that there are certain parts of the story mode where you're racing by yourself, making these tracks feel even more barren than they would otherwise.
The story is pretty inconsequential again, but the presentation did get an upgrade across the board; in-game models and CG cutscenes all look much better, and the soundtrack is sick. Catch Me If You Can and Ungravitify are super catchy, stage themes weren't bad either, Gigan Rocks being my favorite, and it has one of the best Main Menu themes in any game ever, instantly recognizable and iconic.
It's a shame. Riders had a lot of potential with its gameplay system, and I hoped that Zero Gravity would expand on those ideas, but instead it feels like they got cold feet.
Zero Gravity feels like it's on autopilot for the most part, almost braindead. Riders' gameplay wasn't super polished or anything, but drifting, boosting and air management felt pretty good to master. All of those are thrown out the window here in favor of gravity mechanics that seem like they open crazy possibilities on the surface, but don't add much at the end of the day. Stopping everything to reposition yourself in a sharp turn doesn't feel nearly as good as keeping up speed with a tight drift. (I was gonna say "At least it looks pretty cool" but I'm not too sure about that either. It loses its luster after the 30th time you have to use it.)
Track variety isn't much better when compared to the original; honestly, it's a bit worse. The water track is the only one that stood out to me, everything else felt kind of samey. It doesn't help that there are certain parts of the story mode where you're racing by yourself, making these tracks feel even more barren than they would otherwise.
The story is pretty inconsequential again, but the presentation did get an upgrade across the board; in-game models and CG cutscenes all look much better, and the soundtrack is sick. Catch Me If You Can and Ungravitify are super catchy, stage themes weren't bad either, Gigan Rocks being my favorite, and it has one of the best Main Menu themes in any game ever, instantly recognizable and iconic.
It's a shame. Riders had a lot of potential with its gameplay system, and I hoped that Zero Gravity would expand on those ideas, but instead it feels like they got cold feet.
Besides my rose tinted glasses, the soundtrack was so sick, the intro cutscene was the best and coolest sonic ever looked, the mechanics hold up decently well. Plot was very lacking but it did what it needed to do for its time.
Not the best game but a lot better than average
Not the best game but a lot better than average