Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii)

Main Review
It's time for the Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity review, for the Wii.

Zero Gravity is the sequel to Sonic Riders, which I enjoyed.

The story starts out with five meteorites crashing onto Earth... or Mobius... or wherever. Tails finds one of them, and now the gang is trying to figure out what it is. They are soon attacked by robots for some reason, and they try to escape. Tails blasts through a wall and Sonic plumets downward while Tails and Knuckles hover above. Sonic somehow uses the meteorite's power to hover as well, and so your journey begins.

Sonic Riders is a racer on hoverboards. You'd think Sonic would just use his legs and RUN at the speed of sound, instead of using a hoverboard which only goes around 250 miles an hour, but oh well.

The story is kind of stupid. You have to recover 5 meteorites called the Ark Of The Cosmos that robots and the Babylon Rogues are trying to collect as well. I won't go in depth with it too much, for those of you who are just DYING to play this game.

What makes Zero Gravity different from the original Sonic Riders is the zero gravity. The meteorites that you are collecting have the ability to reverse gravity around you, and also make you fly around at fast speeds for a limited amount of time. This can make the game more fun to play, but might make it a bit complex for younger players.

Once again, Sonic Team delivers a colorful scenery. The graphics are great. I've never played a Sonic game where the graphics were bland and boring, but with Sonic Team, it's the controls that I'm worried about. The original Sonic Riders had well balanced controls, but did Zero Gravity? Eh... they were about the same, maybe a little bit harder, but not really noticable. There are three different ways you can control. You can play with the Wiimote at its horizontal position, you can hold it vertically, or if you just hate the motion controls, they even slipped in the GameCube controller. I looked on the back of the Zero Gravity box, and the only control scheme it says it supports is just the Wiimote alone. Maybe Sega is trying to hide the GameCube controller, and trying to promote the motion controls.

Amazingly enough, I liked using the Wiimote on its side. It took some getting used to, but it wasn't really that difficult. The only problem I had with it is, both the motion controls and the directional pad are active simultaneously, and because of this, if you are not careful while using the directional pad, you can get screwed up.

If you use the GameCube controller, it'll be just like any other game. I recomend using the Wiimote on its side. I do NOT recomend using the Wiimote vertically. You have to point the Wiimote at the screen; you can use the directional pad or tilt the Wiimote to the left and right to steer. If you do this, there will be a target on the screen representing where you are pointing. This can be VERY annoying, especially if you are playing multiplayer, because since there is already a lot of data on your screen, adding a target will decrease your viewing window, so be warned.

Just like using it horizontally, the motion controls and the directional pad are are in effect at the same time. I played one race using the Wiimote vertically, and received last place, because steering this way was was just like Nintendo's 2008 E3 press conference: complete garbage.

In addition to the main storyline, there are also missions, where you have to complete certain tasks. If you can beat them, you will receive new equipment to new characters. Some of the missions can be very difficult, so advanced players will enjoy the challenge.

There are 16 levels in this game, just like the original Sonic Riders. It may sound like a lot, but it's really not. At least with Zero Gravity, Sonic Team made the levels longer than the original Sonic Riders. I don't know if that was due to the fact that that the GameCube disc was smaller than... or, wait. Sonic Riders was also for the PS2, the Xbox, and the PC. Hmm... Maybe it was just laziness; whatever the reason, increasing the level length was a smart move.

Good job, Sega! Now, if you could just leave the morals out of Sonic games, life would be grand.

With Zero Gravity, you can now play online. No, not actual matches like Mario Kart, but you can download ghosts to race. Still, it would have been more fun if you could compete in real races online.

There's also a battle mode. I have to say, it looks like Sega was trying to copy Mario Kart; it had some differences, but still. It really wasn't that fun, either; it was hard trying to hit someone, and the target system was kind of off.

Closing Verdict
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is a great game. Its awesome graphics, well- balanced controls (excluding the vertical Wiimote style), and the new zero gravity addition make this game a pleasure to play. The only downsides are the limited amount of levels, shallow online gameplay, the battle mode, and the short story. But overall, it's still very fun to play.

This game gets a 3.5 out of 5, with the title of Good.

Other Game Information
Developer: Sonic Team

Publisher: Sega

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