Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii) Review
At its core, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is a poor racing game which needed a whole lot more testing and quality control before it was released. Shoddy controls, momentum breaking special abilities and unbalanced gameplay conspire to ruin what could have been a good stop-gap solution for those sick of waiting for Nintendo to announce a sequel to F-Zero. There are some positives, especially in the sound and graphics department, but sadly, with Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, SEGA have only really succeeded in further eroding whatever credibility remains with the Sonic franchise.
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity’s biggest fault lies in the terrible controls. SEGA have provided two motion control options, holding the remote sideways in two hands and holding the remote forward like a pointer. Both are completely inaccurate and inconsistent and make the game an unplayable, frustrating and joyless experience. Mercifully, they have also allowed the use of the Gamecube controller (no Classic Controller), which makes things a little easier and a little more playable, but not by much. Steering is slow and clunky and even when using the Gamecube controller’s analogue stick, the characters feel like they are slipping and sliding all over the place. It results in the player never feeling like they are in direct control of what is happening on the screen, something that is integral to any racing game.
The problems caused by the poor controls are only magnified by some of the play mechanics. Instead of a turbo ability, Sonic can now manipulate gravity to help him turn corners, get speed boosts and fly. The problem is that these tricks don’t actually give the player any sort of benefit and in fact, the execution of these abilities slows the character down to such an extent that it is a hindrance to use them. Instead of fast and furious action, the game is reduced to a stop-start affair as the player’s attempts to manipulate the gravity effects ruin any momentum that had been previously been built up.
Another of the game’s flaws lies in its inability to actually make the player feel as though they are racing against opponents. Competing against a bunch of nameless, faceless and identical robots is not a good start and this is made even worse by the fact that neck-and-neck racing is extremely rare. The other racers seem to zip by at astonishing speeds and it is impossible to tell them apart as they are all identical clones. A good racing game should provide the player with rivals and opponents they can get to dislike, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity just provides the player with a bunch of generic enemies which cannot be told apart.
One hugely missed opportunity in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is the on-track gear upgrade system, which allows the player to use collected rings to upgrade the character’s racing equipment. The system is ok in theory, but the benefits are generally minimal and sometimes get in the way of the actual racing. Being able to switch into alternate vehicles to access short cuts and other features is a great idea, but the execution is terrible. There are also speed boosts which don’t feel like they even make a difference to the speed of the game. A little more depth to this upgrade system and some tangible effects would have added some much needed strategy to the title, but instead the system falls flat by not being at all useful to winning or going faster.
The absence of an online versus mode is another missed opportunity for the franchise and one that could have made a world of difference. Online leaderboards and downloadable ghosts are fine, but what is the point of having an online mode if it is only possible to race against a ghost? Being able to race against human opponents would have removed the loneliness which afflicts the single player game and since each player must contend with the difficult controls, would have leveled the playing field somewhat for the racing.
The story mode is short, but there is plenty to unlock and the local multiplayer may provide dedicated players with some further distraction, but since the core of the game is so flawed, most players will not bother to put much time or effort into either mode. The whole experience will bore and frustrate players long before they experience the large array of content the package offers.
On the positive side, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity looks and sounds fantastic. Typically great SEGA cinematics and excellent in-game graphics combine to really impress. The game’s framerate remains constant and everything has a great shine to it that makes it one of the more visually pleasing titles available on the Wii. The audio is also top notch, with some up-tempo music really complementing the style of game and probably making the racing seem far more intense.
The Sonic franchise has been crying out for a good fan-service racing game in the Sonic universe for a long time now and Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity could well have been that game. The game suffers for its terrible controls and lack of quality assurance. The main aim of any racing game should be to provide a fun, action-packed experience. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity does not succeed on that simple criteria and as a result is not a good game. If only the developers had taken as much time to craft a good racing game to go along with the multitude of unlockables and the great graphics and sound, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity could have really stood out as a SEGA fanboy’s dream racer. Unfortunately the game has too many flaws to be anything more than another run of the mill F-Zero clone.
