Sonic Riders

Sonic Riders is a 2006 video game spin-off developed by Sonic Team and Radical Entertainment, with production assistance by Now Production, published by Sega and Sierra Entertainment and distributed by Vivendi Universal Games, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R. This game is the first chapter of the Sonic Riders series.

The game was released to start off the 15th anniversary of the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. For a short while, the Microsoft Xbox version of the game was released with a free Sonic X DVD. This game introduces five new playable characters, the Babylon Rogues and the E-10000 series. A sequel to Sonic Riders, entitled Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, was released in 2008 for the Wii and PlayStation 2, followed by the Kinect-required game Sonic Free Riders for the Xbox 360 in 2010. This was the last Sonic the Hedgehog game for the GameCube and Microsoft Xbox. There are two stories; after completing the Heroes Story (Team Sonic), the Babylon Story (Babylon Rogues) becomes available, which includes an epilogue. The stories start differently, but eventually overlap.

Plot
Jet, observing the key to Babylon Garden (a cube), is alerted by Storm to a visitor: Eggman. Eggman knows that Jet has the key and tells him that he needs the Chaos Emeralds to make Babylon Garden rise. The Rouges steal an Emerald, but are chased by Team Sonic, Ignitus, Sparx and Cynder, whom were also aiming to retrieve the Emerald. Knuckles punches Storm off his board, allowing Sonic Sr to take it and chase Jet with Ignitus, but Jet escapes. The next day, Team Sonic sees Eggman on a digital billboard advertising the World Grand Prix. When they realize that the Rogues are participating, Team Sonic and Ignitus enters as well.

Team Sonic win the first race, but prior to the second race, Wave plants a bomb on Sonic Sr's board. In the final race, Wave sets off the bomb before Cynder stops her, allowing Jet to defeat Sonic Sr but Ignitus stops him from winning and interrupts the Grand Prix which causes the Jet to be a cheater. Ignitus takes the Chaos Emeralds away from Jet before he gives to Sonic Sr but not before Jet uses their power, Jet makes Babylon Garden appear, wanting to go there after Storm infiltrated Eggman's factory and learned of a legendary treasure made by the Babylonians. Eggman steals the cube and enters the garden, with Amy grabbing onto Eggman's ship at the last minute. Determined to avenge his loss in which Ignitus stops Jet for cheating, Sonic Sr heads to Babylon Garden as well after Tails gives him a new board. Jet, wanting to defeat Eggman first, challenges Sonic Sr to a rematch. Although Sonic Sr wins, both teams find Eggman, who is holding Amy hostage. Combining their powers, Jet and Sonic Sr manage to retrieve the cube while Cynder and Ignitus saves Amy. After Sonic Sr gives Jet the cube and Team Babylon leaves, Amy gets mad at Sonic Sr and chases him with her hammer before Ignitus stops her and told to apoligize Sonic Sr.

Jet uses the cube to open a secret door, leading the Rouges to a strange room. When Team Sonic along with Ignitus, Sparx and Cynder hears a loud growling, they follow, finding the Rogues and the Babylon Guardian, a giant tasked with protecting the treasure. After defeating the Guardian, a chest appears, and Sonic and Jet open it, revealing a carpet. Eggman, following them, forces Sonic Sr and Jet to give him the treasure in which they later refused. When they refused to give Eggman treasure, he was arrested by the U.S. Military (with the call of the U.S. President) for crimes against humanity thus cancelling the World Grand Prix. The carpet is actually an EX Gear, and can fly when used with the cube, being named "Magic Carpet". Team Sonic and the Babylon Rogues along with Ignitus, Sparx and Cynder then depart and go their own ways, but Jet promises to race Sonic Sr again one day.

Voice Cast (English)

 * Troy Baker - Adult Sonic the Hedgehog Sr/Super Sonic Sr
 * Stephanie Sheh - Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - Knuckles the Echidnia
 * James Arnold Taylor - Jet the Hawk, Ratchet the Lombax
 * Brittany Snow - Wave the Swallow
 * Fred Tatasciore - Storm the Albatross
 * Laura Bailey - Amy Rose
 * Steven Blum - Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, E-10000G
 * Imari Williams - Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Grey DeLisle - Rouge the Bat
 * Russi Taylor - Cream the Rabbit
 * Jess Harnell - E-10000R, Crash Bandicoot
 * Gary Anthony Williams - Babylon Guardian
 * Kristen Bell - Omochao
 * Pamela Segall Adlon - Babylon Computer
 * Adam Caroleson - Young Sonic the Hedgehog Sr/Super Sonic Sr
 * Julie Ann Taylor - Cynder the Black Dragoness
 * Ron Perlman - Ignitus the Flame Guardian
 * Dane Cook - Cyril the Ice Guardian
 * Paul St. Peter - Volteer the Lightning Guardian
 * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Terrador the Earth Guardian
 * Al Roker - Adult Sparx the Dragonfly, Newscaster
 * Dee B. Baker - AiAi
 * Jennifer Darling - Ulala
 * Kari Wahlgren - NiGHTS
 * Dennis Haysbert - Narrator (Team Heroes)
 * James Earl Jones - Narrator (Team Babylon)
 * Greg Eagles - Announcer (Male)
 * Debi Derryberry - Announcer (Female), Coco Bandicoot
 * David Kaye - Clank the Robot
 * James K. Ward - Captain Qwark
 * Mike Erwin - Jak
 * Max Casella - Daxter
 * Josh Keaton - Spyro the Dragon
 * Yuri Lowenthal - Young Sparx the Dragonfly

Additional Voices (English)

 * Carlos Alazraqui
 * Jack Angel
 * Gregg Berger
 * Corey Burton
 * Jim Cummings
 * Aria Noelle Curzon
 * Debi Derryberry
 * Paul Eiding
 * Susan Eisenberg
 * Dave Fennoy
 * Brad Garrett
 * Michael J. Gough
 * Jess Harnell
 * Sherman Howard
 * Josh Keaton
 * Michael McConnohie
 * Matthew Mercer
 * Lisa Ortiz
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Paul Michael Robinson
 * Stephanie Sheh
 * Andre Sogliuzzo
 * Tara Strong
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Russi Taylor
 * Hynden Walch
 * Tom Wilson

Gameplay
The game is played in its entirety using hover boards, which function largely like skateboards. Different hover boards operate at different functions, which are speed, power, and fly abilities. Speed allows the user to grind on poles allowing increased speed and air. Power allows the user to break certain objects giving the player a boost and air. Fly allows the user to fly through rings boosting the player further into the course. Players must race seven other competitors on a total of 16 tracks, 9 of which must be unlocked through progress in the story mode, and two of which must be unlocked by winning Gold in each World Grand Prix (5 tracks per Grand Prix). Each individual character has different statistics, altering their performance slightly in races.

A key component of the game is the air tank, displayed in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Air serves as the fuel for Extreme Gear, and is depleted gradually as the race goes on. and by certain maneuvers. These include cornering, allowing the player to round sharp turns with ease, and building tension before a jump, which involves using the air to propel the player higher off of ramps. If a player runs out of air, their character will start running, putting them at several disadvantages; they can't boost, attack, corner easily or use charged jumps. After going off ramps, players can perform various tricks, which refill the air gauge according to their rating.

In the Story Mode, players take part in consecutive races, one after the other, based on the storyline, in order to defeat the Babylon Rogues and win the Grand Prix.

Reception
Sonic Riders received mixed reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the GameCube version 63.46% and 59/100, the PlayStation 2 version 59.70% and 55/100, the Xbox version 58.84% and 56/100 and the PC version 43.33%.

Sequels
A sequel to Sonic Riders, entitled Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, was released in 2008 for the Wii and PlayStation 2. A third title, Sonic Free Riders, developed by Vicarious Visions and O-Two, is a launch title for Xbox 360's Kinect peripheral which was released on November 4, 2010.

Archie comics adaptation
The Archie Sonic Comic issues #163 and #164 include a loose adaptation of Sonic Riders, even using the same art style used in the game's title sequence. Two characters are also seen riding Extreme Gear in issue #173. Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite also use Extreme Gear in the Archie Comics. The Babylon Rogues make appearances with their Extreme Gear and Airship in Sonic Universe issues 23 and 24. They also have an arc in Sonic Universe issues 33 - 36.