Sonic Riders needs a sequel. It really
does. There has literally never been a more perfect time for this
underrated little gem of a racing series to get a proper sequel (Free
Riders doesn't count, you monster).
To be fair, Sonic Riders has always had
a hard time of it impressing people, and yeah, I get why. Less tracks
than Mario Kart, and half of those courses being the same place as
another one, fairly unbalanced gameplay, mechanics impossible to
understand even after a few races, it's no wonder these games
floundered. But despite all this, a sequel is seriously something
this series needs. And I have a list. It's a good list, too.
A Wealth of
Mechanics
The Riders series has had 2 games now (FREE RIDERS STILL DOESN'T
COUNT) and both games had wildly different mechanics. Riders 1 had
the air meter and boosting. You needed air to stay on your board,
drift around tight corners, but most importantly, you needed it to
boost. Boosting gave you a speed increase, and let you attack other
racers to get ahead. You could only replenish your air at certain
points, like jumps and shortcuts like flying and grinding. What all
this added up to was an air meter you had to constantly manage,
determining whether to boost or save your air for when you needed to
to progress. If you were good enough, you could basically boost
forever and always have enough air for it. It was a system that
rewarded knowledge of the track and good air management skills on top
of already needed racing skills.
Zero Gravity, on the other hand, changed everything up. Rather than
having an air meter, you had a gravity meter that you used to
activate Zero Gravity functions, like drifting corners, flying down
the track, or attaching yourself to walls. This removed the
management function because it was nigh impossible to run out of
meter, but it made the courses more varied. Being able to ride on
walls will do that.
So what does this mean? Well altogether it means that the Riders
series has many, many different mechanics and styles to pull from at
this point, and it'd do well to use them to their full advantage.
They could mix and match the air meter and gravity meter, take ideas
from one, see what went wrong in one and use those lessons, and so
much more. So for example, there could be a game where you have an
air and gravity meter, and you must manage both. Or you could combine
them both into one meter and choose between using gravity shortcuts
or boosting, that sort of stuff. The riders series has a lot to work
with now, basically. Especially because...
Neither Game Hit
Their Potential
As much as I enjoy these games, they both have pretty severe
shortcomings that very much limit what they are able to do. Riders 1
had next to no comeback mechanics, obtuse track design, unbalanced
racers/vehicles... It looked cool and had some great ideas behind it,
but there was a lot wrong with it as well.
Zero Gravity on the other hand suffers from a butchered trick system,
a gravity meter that almost never ran out, a flying mechanic that
could only be used in one place removing any skill from it, more
boring course design, weaker visuals, and more. It was very different
from the original, perhaps to its detriment.
Neither game has ever had a chance to get a second go or learn,
because Zero Gravity changed everything and Free Riders was... ugh.
Again, this is why I think a sequel would be great. How cool would a
hoverboard racing game be where you grind, fly, and bust through
various courses? Yet neither of these games have had enough time to
actually realize their full potential. A sequel could be the perfect
fix for that.
Online
The Riders games have always had a bit of an identity crisis. They
look like fun family racers that everyone can enjoy. Heck, they try
to sell themselves that way. Issue is, that's wrong. Very wrong.
These games in no way are fun pick up and play racers. Trust me from
personal experience, the mechanics simply can't be fully grasped very
quickly, absolutely killing the party experience from square one. If
nobody but you sees the fun depth, well, nobody's gonna play it.
But; I have a solution. Online play could fix literally all of these
issues. Sure, the games would indeed have to make some changes for
this to work, but the core of the games would be perfectly suited for
play like this. The nature of online play is often racing the same
courses over and over again, mastering the mechanics, and testing
your mettle against others. Riders, with its more complex and deep
mechanics than the average mascot racer would be the prefect fit for
this. No longer would you have to worry about explaining everything
to your friend who's never played before. Everyone online would know
what they're doing, and the races would get competitive and require
much more skill. The core mechanics of Riders are simply not suited
to a party setting, which is totally fine. They just need to drop the
typical mascot racer mindset.
Take the game
seriously
Ok, look. Riders and Zero Gravity were balanced badly. I'm being
frank here. It feels like there was absolutely no care whatsoever put
into the different characters, boards, and shortcuts. Flying
characters have a massive advantage, power characters are handicapped
from the start, certain boards rely on randomness that basically
leaves your success up to a coin toss, it's a mess. Plus the ability
of some boards to take multiple kinds of shortcuts basically forced
you to choose those.
Audiences weren't impressed by it either. The game was often called
unbalanced, clunky, and not very satisfying. Often your winning a
race was 100% on what character and board you chose at the start.
Basically what I'm saying here is that Riders has a lot to learn
from. The devs have plenty of experience and feedback to base the
next game off of, and they know what to do. It feels like they didn't
take the game seriously. It feels like they spent 2 games messing
around with the mechanics, not once realizing how special and perfect
these mechanics could be. Imagine what could happen if they did
realize. This, above all else, is why I think the Sonic Riders series
needs a sequel.
But will it get one? Alas, it's unlikely. They didn't sell
brilliantly, audience reception was lukewarm, and at this point Sega
can't afford to screw around with Sonic. There's too much at risk for
them financially right now. And above all else, well, I just don't
trust Sonic team to make a good game. In general. The last time they
showed a good grasp of good level design was the genesis days. They
have never once grasped 3D levels properly, and I doubt a Riders
sequel would be any different. So does Sonic Riders need a sequel?
Absolutely. Will it get one? The odds are slim.
Thanks for reading.
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