This is a game i always wanted to play as a kid seeing info for it back in the day, which i never got to actually play until a while ago. (I was a PC-only kid and i never even knew it got a PC port until a few years ago, i beat it there and then recently replayed on XBOX) I just loved everything surrounding it. The designs of the Babylon Rogues which i absolutely adored, (Jet is just completely cool, Storm is like a cursed yet badass mix of Shadow and Big the Cat, and Wave is my first vidya crush), as well as the animated intro and 2D renders with that cool flat artstyle. Despite all it's flaws, this game is really fun and i'm glad to it gets to see some redemption in the public eye. It's funny to think that back in the day plenty of magazines were saying that this game was just a desperate cashgrab copy of SSX, Which to me sounds as idiotic as saying Super Mario Strikers is a poor man's PES 6.
I've heard many complaints about this game being hard to understand how to play, but it's actually really simple. All you have to do is watch the "how to play" attract mode video after letting the game idle for a while on the main menu, and then you'll understand that you're supposed to hold the jump button in ramps juuuust at the right time in order to jump higher and do better tricks with the left stick while mid-air. The hoverboards characters race on run on compressed air as fuel, and thus air management is also a big element of this game. It really adds a lot to the challenge, since moves like boosting, the Tornado and drifting cost air, and successful trick jumps can help you get it back. How much air you can hold on your board depends on the board level which you can upgrade by picking up coins throughout the map, and there's plenty of different boards to unlock or purchase from the Black Market which have different stats and can consume more or less air for moves. There are some items that can get you a slight edge over your rivals and help you level up your board faster, but no amount of items is going to help you if you keep burning through your air bar quickly. NEVER fall off tracks as not only you will be wasting time but you will lose your coins and your board will also be downgraded all the way back to Lvl. 1.
Even something as simple as starting the race becomes part of the skill curve, as you have manually cross the starting line just as the timer starts, and a few miliseconds of difference can either get you zapped at the starting line or get a head start over other racers.
The only thing i really, really don't like about this game is... the missions. The ones you get after beating the game where you do objectives like breaking robots, getting trick points, etc. stuff that you've already done throughout the entire game. Most of these missions are honestly just lame, repetitive and it feels like you'll never be done with them.
Originally i had a whole section bitching about how some of these required autistically hyperspecific frame-perfect jumps, in order to reach, but it's in fact not necessary, it turns out you simply needed to tilt the stick left stick in a certain vertical direction (seemingly forward for farther jumps, and backwards for higher ones) depending on the jump in order to make them more reliably, which is yet another thing the game never bothers to explain or give any indication that you're doing it wrong or right.
Unlocking stuff is also kinda grindy... The missions are barely rewarding until you've aced them all, instead of giving you reward boards right away for getting gold rank on missions you have to unlock them by getting "E-Gear Pieces" scattered on missions just so you have to replay them until you get enough to repair one, and on normal races you are also stuck with a lowly 100 Ring limit, which means you'll have to play a fuckton of races in order to buy some of the boards or get many Gold Medals in Grand Prix mode in order to get some of these boards.
The only reason i don't deem these missions horrible enough to take even half a star from my log is because they are pretty much just side content for the ultra dedicated, you don't really need to beat them for any noteworthy content outside of a few hidden characters such as Ulala from Space Channel 5 or Super Sonic once you clear all the missions.
I suppose there's a lot of things they could have explained somewhere in the game itself as well so people wouldn't skip over as easily. Sonic Riders is definitely not as 'pick up and play' as Mario Kart and can be quite rough to play with a friend or family member who isn't good at videogames, but honestly, i think all of these mechanics and not-so-accessible gameplay are what holds the game back from becoming yet another forgettable mascot racing game, and what makes the game so fun and engaging to play even on your own, let alone against another player who knows what they're doing.
Spring Canon is also burned into my mind as hard as Luigi's Raceway or de_dust2.
I've heard many complaints about this game being hard to understand how to play, but it's actually really simple. All you have to do is watch the "how to play" attract mode video after letting the game idle for a while on the main menu, and then you'll understand that you're supposed to hold the jump button in ramps juuuust at the right time in order to jump higher and do better tricks with the left stick while mid-air. The hoverboards characters race on run on compressed air as fuel, and thus air management is also a big element of this game. It really adds a lot to the challenge, since moves like boosting, the Tornado and drifting cost air, and successful trick jumps can help you get it back. How much air you can hold on your board depends on the board level which you can upgrade by picking up coins throughout the map, and there's plenty of different boards to unlock or purchase from the Black Market which have different stats and can consume more or less air for moves. There are some items that can get you a slight edge over your rivals and help you level up your board faster, but no amount of items is going to help you if you keep burning through your air bar quickly. NEVER fall off tracks as not only you will be wasting time but you will lose your coins and your board will also be downgraded all the way back to Lvl. 1.
Even something as simple as starting the race becomes part of the skill curve, as you have manually cross the starting line just as the timer starts, and a few miliseconds of difference can either get you zapped at the starting line or get a head start over other racers.
The only thing i really, really don't like about this game is... the missions. The ones you get after beating the game where you do objectives like breaking robots, getting trick points, etc. stuff that you've already done throughout the entire game. Most of these missions are honestly just lame, repetitive and it feels like you'll never be done with them.
Originally i had a whole section bitching about how some of these required autistically hyperspecific frame-perfect jumps, in order to reach, but it's in fact not necessary, it turns out you simply needed to tilt the stick left stick in a certain vertical direction (seemingly forward for farther jumps, and backwards for higher ones) depending on the jump in order to make them more reliably, which is yet another thing the game never bothers to explain or give any indication that you're doing it wrong or right.
Unlocking stuff is also kinda grindy... The missions are barely rewarding until you've aced them all, instead of giving you reward boards right away for getting gold rank on missions you have to unlock them by getting "E-Gear Pieces" scattered on missions just so you have to replay them until you get enough to repair one, and on normal races you are also stuck with a lowly 100 Ring limit, which means you'll have to play a fuckton of races in order to buy some of the boards or get many Gold Medals in Grand Prix mode in order to get some of these boards.
The only reason i don't deem these missions horrible enough to take even half a star from my log is because they are pretty much just side content for the ultra dedicated, you don't really need to beat them for any noteworthy content outside of a few hidden characters such as Ulala from Space Channel 5 or Super Sonic once you clear all the missions.
I suppose there's a lot of things they could have explained somewhere in the game itself as well so people wouldn't skip over as easily. Sonic Riders is definitely not as 'pick up and play' as Mario Kart and can be quite rough to play with a friend or family member who isn't good at videogames, but honestly, i think all of these mechanics and not-so-accessible gameplay are what holds the game back from becoming yet another forgettable mascot racing game, and what makes the game so fun and engaging to play even on your own, let alone against another player who knows what they're doing.
Spring Canon is also burned into my mind as hard as Luigi's Raceway or de_dust2.