Retro Gaming 00’s- Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008)

When it comes down to high profile spin-off Sonic games from the 2000’s one of the few titles that instantly comes to mind is Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity from 2008. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity was released for the PlayStation 2 and the Wii console and was developed by Sonic Team. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity was the sequel to its predecessor Sonic Riders from 2006 and was another futuristic F-Zero like racing game with hover boards featuring the most popular characters of the Sonic Series. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity also saw the return of the Babylon Rouges including Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross who were the main rivals of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. The plot for Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity focused on Sonic, Tails and Knuckles racing the Babylon Rouges in order to collect 5 Gravity Bending Rings known as the “Arc of the Cosmos”. In terms of overall presentation and level designs many people would go on record and argue that Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity was more superior than its predecessor.

However, when it comes down to gameplay there has been various criticisms towards Sonic Rider: Zero Gravity because the developers tried to “improve” the gameplay mechanics from the original game. The idea of having to collect rings in order to transform your gear in the middle of the race seemed obscene back then. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity had a campaign mode that consisted of six stages and a Final Boss and also had other game modes including Survival, Survival Relay and Survival Mode which were all new additions since they were not included in the 2006 predecessor. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity did not get the kinda of love that the original Riders game got and its probably because it felt like it belonged more in an anime opposed to a video game. Despite, what people have to say about Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity not being a good as its prequel we all know for a fact that it was better than Sonic Free Riders from 2010. Despite, its faulty controls and lack of online multiplayer gameplay Sega and the Sonic Team really did everything in their power to deliver a worthy sequel to an exciting racing title from the 2000’s.