Sonic Riders: Гонки на досках будущего

2006 video game

Sonic Riders (ソニックライダーズ, Sonikku Raidāzu) is a racing video game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in which the player controls characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series on hoverboards. In the game's 16 tracks, the player competes against characters—either controlled by computers or other players—in story and battle modes. It was developed by Sonic Team and Now Production, published by Sega, and released in February 2006 in Japan and North America. It was released in Europe the following month and for Windows at the end of the year. A Game Boy Advance version developed by Backbone Entertainment was canceled. The game was produced in commemoration of the Sonic series' 15th anniversary and was the first major Sonic racing game since the 1997 Traveller's Tales game Sonic R. Sonic Team wanted to make their own game that was superior to any previous Sonic racing game. It was designed to appeal to fans of Sonic as well as extreme sports video games; the development team did not take inspiration from any prior games. Sonic Riders was also the last Sonic title produced with the involvement of franchise co creator Yuji Naka, who acted as executive producer and left Sega shortly after its release. Sonic Riders released to mixed reviews from critics, but was a commercial success and was later re released under the GameCube and PlayStation 2 bestseller lines. Reviewers mostly criticized the gameplay, controls, and overall design; while praise was directed at the game's visual style, soundtrack and sense of speed while racing; the Windows version also received criticism for its technical performance. Many deemed it a lackluster game—both within the Sonic franchise and the racing game medium—that did have its highlights but ultimately fell to its shortcomings. The game received two sequels, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008) and Sonic Free Riders (2010), which were developed and released to similar commercial success.

Sonic Riders is a racing game based around characters racing each other using devices known as "Extreme Gear", anti gravity equipped vehicles consisting of hoverboards, hover skates, and hoverbikes. Players compete to finish three laps around a racetrack before their opponents and complete the race in first place. Each race features up to eight characters competing. A key component of gameplay 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. Characters can also perform a Boost, which will give them a sudden burst of speed at the cost of a significant amount of air. If a player boosts into an opponent, their character will attack and overtake them. Players can spend the rings they acquire at the in game shop to purchase new Extreme Gear, each of which possesses unique statistics and properties.

Jet, leader of the thieving Babylon Rogues, observes the Key to Babylon Garden, an artifact and family heirloom said to unlock the secrets of their Babylonian ancestors. Doctor Eggman arrives and claims he can use the Chaos Emeralds to make Babylon Garden rise, asking for the Rogues' help in retrieving them. The Rogues agree and steal an Emerald, but run into Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, who are also looking for the Emerald. Sonic gives chase, but Jet escapes with the Emerald. The next day, the three heroes see Eggman on a digital billboard advertising an Extreme Gear race known as the EX World Grand Prix; participants must offer a Chaos Emerald to enter, with the winner being awarded all seven. When they realize that the Rogues are participating, Sonic and his friends enter as well. Team Sonic, joined by Amy Rose, compete with the Rogues in several races. During the final race, Wave sabotages Sonic's board, allowing Jet to defeat Sonic and win the Grand Prix. Jet uses the Chaos Emeralds to make Babylon Garden appear, hoping to discover the legendary treasure of the Babylonians. Eggman steals the Key from Jet, intent on taking the treasure for himself, and heads for the garden, with Amy grabbing Eggman's ship in an attempt to stop him. Sonic grabs a new board and pursues Eggman, but Jet challenges him to another race, seeking to defeat Eggman first. The two arrive at Babylon Garden and find Eggman, who is holding Amy hostage. Combining their powers, Jet and Sonic manage to retrieve Amy and the Key. Jet uses the Key to open a secret door, leading the Rogues inside a Babylonian ruin. Team Sonic follow them inside, where they encounter the Babylon Guardian, a giant creature tasked with protecting the treasure. The two teams defeat the Guardian, causing a chest to appear. Eggman returns and demands they give him the treasure, but passes out in confusion upon discovering the treasure is only a carpet. Using the Key, Jet manages to make the carpet fly, revealing the magic carpet to be an early form of Extreme Gear. Team Sonic and the Babylon Rogues go their separate ways, with Jet promising to race Sonic again one day.

According to Yuda, in the years after Sonic Rs release, Sonic Team received numerous requests from fans for another Sonic racer. Though he played and enjoyed Sonic R, Yuda believed Sonic Team, "who knows Sonic best", should make another game that was superior to any previous Sonic racing game. Yuda has said Sonic Team did not take any influences from prior Sonic games, reasoning they wanted to create a truly new experience that was unlike anything else from other Sonic games. Levels were designed to be "crazy" but still feature classic Sonic elements. A Game Boy Advance (GBA) version, alternatively known as Sonic Extreme was developed by Backbone Entertainment over the span of three months but never released. According to artist Keith Erickson, it used an Out Run style game engine and was supposed to launch at the same time as the other versions. Sega of Japan learned of this version and requested that Backbone add more 3D elements but keep it on the same production schedule. This would have required the engine to be completely rewritten, something Backbone considered impossible, so Sega canceled it. The score was composed by Tomonori Sawada, Fumie Kumatani, and Kenichi Tokoi. Yuda said the music was written to be "fast paced and give you that heart pounding feeling you should have during a high speed race". before being showcased at the Tokyo Game Show later that month. Prerelease reception to Sonic Riders was generally positive, albeit with some criticism towards its loose controls; Mike Jackson wrote for Official Nntendo Magazine "There's no doubt that if the handling is tightened up, this will be a very cool racer. If it's not, we'll avoid it like a lingering fart," predicting a review score of 60%. NGC Magazine was more positive about the game, comparing it favorably to SSX (2000) and considering it a more fun experience than Kirby's Air Ride (2003, which they scored 51%). IGN noted some pop in on the PS2 demo, but that both it and the GameCube versions were otherwise identical, also stating "what we saw of Sonic Riders suggests that a fun, original racer awaits." while Shogakukan released a separate guide for Japan in April 2004. As part of the 15th anniversary celebration of the Puyo Puyo series, Sonic could be encountered as a guest character in the Windows version of Puyo Pop Fever (2003). The Windows version was released for international markets in late 2006; while it was not released in Japan, it nonetheless has the ability to switch to Japanese text and voices. The Windows version was later re released as part of the PAL exclusive Sonic PC Collection on October 1, 2009.

Following the commercial success of Riders, Yuda stated there would certainly be a follow up. A sequel, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, was released for the PlayStation 2 and Wii in 2008, with planned ports to the Xbox 360 in PlayStation 3 conceived but never realized. like its predecessor, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity received a generally mixed critical reception. A third game, Sonic Free Riders, was released as a launch title for the Xbox 360's Kinect peripheral on November 4, 2010, with the gameplay once again altered to have players use motion controls to move around the board; critical reception to Free Riders was poor, primarily due to the unreliability of said motion controls. Despite their generally negative reception from critics, until the series was rebooted in 2013, the comic connected the group to the Kukku Army from Tails Adventure (1995). After IDW Publishing began printing their Sonic comics, the Babylon Rogues would be reintroduced in the 2019 Annual. In May 2011, an unfinished sports game titled Sonic Extreme leaked online from an Xbox development kit. The tech demo has Sonic and Shadow skating around in a single level filled with ramps, similar to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series by Activision. It was developed by Vision Scape Interactive in May 2003, who produced the cutscenes for Sonic Heroes (2003) when Riders was officially announced, the Vision Scape staff were shocked by the similarities to the tech demo and considered taking legal action, only to be informed that their non disclosure agreement gave Sega ownership of any idea using a Sega IP.