Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
Encyclopedia
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity released in Japan as , is a hoverboard
racing video game published by Sega
and developed by Sonic Team
in cooperation with NowPro. It is the fifth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, following Sonic Drift
, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic R
and its predecessor, Sonic Riders
. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is only available on the PlayStation 2
and Wii
video game systems. The PS2 version was not released in Japan. A sequel titled Sonic Free Riders
was released on November 4, 2010 exclusively for Kinect on Xbox 360
.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are alerted to robots that are attacking a famous city of the future. They set out to retrieve a legendary artifact that has the ability to control gravity. Along the way they discover surprises, including the Babylon Rogues, a group of avian thieves who are also after the artifact. This sets off a war to decide who gets the artifact, leading them to settle their dispute by having an Extreme Gear competition.
The first is the Gravity Dive, which sucks the player towards a black hole further down the track, giving them a speed boost which tosses cars and other objects off the track and into the air which characters are able to smash into to gain more speed, and Gravity Control, which changes the gravity of the course, allowing the player to use a different track, such as one of the walls.
Also in the game is a move called Gravity Drift. This move is similar to the Grip move in Sonic Riders in which it can help characters turn on tight corners.
Items can offer help the player, such as an attack boost, or cause hardships, such as a ball-and-chain that hooks on your gear and slows your speed down.
Boards with the Grind upgrade and Skates are able to use the Grind Rails as a shortcut. Although boards must install the Grind upgrade themselves, Skates can already Grind from the start. Besides this, they are predominant in speed, and usually have no other functions.
Air Riders and Yachts are able to use the Launch Ramps as a shortcut. Although Air Rider Gears usually come with no special advantages, the Yacht Type Gears can ride on drafts, which is completely different from Turbulance. By tailgating an opponent, a Yacht will gradually speed up to the point where they pass the opponent. However, their major drawback is that without a draft, Yachts are very slow, generally below 130 MPH.
Bikes and Wheels are able to smash obstacles to create new pathways. Although most Bikes don't come with any additional advantages, Wheels come with a major advantage of the ability to drift.
Some Gears have no Gear Parts, but usually come in the form in the other Gears listed above. However, sometimes, they have extra abilities that help you proceed in the race. For instance, the Money Crisis Gear is a Wheel Type that has no extra upgrades, but increases speed for the more rings you collect.
The Chaos Emerald Gear is a unique gear that can only be used by Sonic. It can only be obtained after you complete all of the missions with an Extreme rank. The Chaos Emerald has no initial Skill and uses rings instead of GP. However, using Gravity Moves consumes rings during at an extremely high rate. When Sonic's rings run out, he reverts back to regular Sonic, and is forced to run the track on foot until he obtains some rings. Before obtaining 60 Rings, the Chaos Emerald Gear is just basically Super Sonic on the Blue Star. When Sonic obtains 60 or more rings, he activates his "Super Sonic Boost". In this state, Sonic gets off his board and flies around the track in a comet form. At this time, ring consumption is increased, but Super Sonic flies at 180 MPH and he is practically invincible to all attacks.
Speed
Fly
Power
reports an average rating of 59% for the Wii version and 65% for the PlayStation 2 version. Both GameSpot
and 1UP
gave the Wii version 4.5/10 and IGN rated it 5.8/10. It has been praised for its improved graphics, larger level design
s, music and easier gameplay concepts, but has also been criticized for its loose controls, lack of online play, story material and removal of certain gameplay elements from the first one. The Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game a score of 72%, praising its solid multiplayer action and the amount of bonus features but criticized it for its rough controls. GameTrailers
praised the game for its graphics, but lambaste the control schemes, especially the fact the Wii
version was compatible with the GameCube controller but not the Classic Controller
, and saying that all options were confusing and rendered the game "almost unplayable".
Hoverboard
A Hoverboard is a fictional hovering board used for personal transportation in the films Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III. Hoverboards resemble a skateboard without wheels. Through special effects the filmmakers depicted the boards hovering above the ground...
racing video game published by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
and developed by Sonic Team
Sonic Team
is a Japanese computer and video game developer established in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan in 1990, originally known as Sega AM8. The Japan-based division is also known as G.E. Department Global Entertainment. The studio has collaborated with several in-house Japanese studios as well as other American-based...
in cooperation with NowPro. It is the fifth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, following Sonic Drift
Sonic Drift
The Sonic Drift games were a series of two racing games that featured characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was released for the Sega Game Gear in 1994 and 1995 respectively, and later re-released many years later in several other compilations.-Sonic Drift:Sonic Drift is a kart racing...
, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic R
Sonic R
Sonic R is a racing game developed by Traveller's Tales and Sonic Team for the Sega Saturn and PC, the latter version being ported to the GameCube and the PlayStation 2 in Sonic Gems Collection. It features characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series...
and its predecessor, Sonic Riders
Sonic Riders
is a video game spin-off produced by Sega and developed by Sonic Team in cooperation with NowPro, for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. It is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R.The game was released to start...
. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is only available on the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
video game systems. The PS2 version was not released in Japan. A sequel titled Sonic Free Riders
Sonic Free Riders
is a motion controlled racing video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is the third installment in the Sonic Riders series, following Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. The game utilizes Microsoft's Kinect peripheral...
was released on November 4, 2010 exclusively for Kinect on Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.
Plot
The Story is split into two halves, the Heroes Story (Team Sonic), and Babylon Story (Babylon Rogues). Although the stories start separately, they overlap each other, telling the story as the main characters within that story see it. Following the format of Sonic Riders, Babylon Story also includes an epilogue that expands past the Heroes Story.Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are alerted to robots that are attacking a famous city of the future. They set out to retrieve a legendary artifact that has the ability to control gravity. Along the way they discover surprises, including the Babylon Rogues, a group of avian thieves who are also after the artifact. This sets off a war to decide who gets the artifact, leading them to settle their dispute by having an Extreme Gear competition.
Gameplay
This game introduces many new abilities in addition to ones from the first game. By gaining gravity points through tricks and technical challenges, players will enter a zero-gravity zone and be able to perform new moves.The first is the Gravity Dive, which sucks the player towards a black hole further down the track, giving them a speed boost which tosses cars and other objects off the track and into the air which characters are able to smash into to gain more speed, and Gravity Control, which changes the gravity of the course, allowing the player to use a different track, such as one of the walls.
Also in the game is a move called Gravity Drift. This move is similar to the Grip move in Sonic Riders in which it can help characters turn on tight corners.
Items can offer help the player, such as an attack boost, or cause hardships, such as a ball-and-chain that hooks on your gear and slows your speed down.
Upgrade system
There is a new method in the game called "Gear Change". Once you gain a certain amount of rings, your gear will gain an upgrade. Each gear has from zero to three upgrades and can be upgraded during a race. Some upgrades include modifying your Extreme Gear's look or top speed. There are many different board types to use as well, adding for many options for customization.Survival modes
In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, there are three new modes added to the game: Survival Mode, Survival Relay, and Survival Ball. Survival Mode entails each player to pick up missiles, then lock on and launch them at foes with Gravity Control, the winner being the last person standing. Survival Ball mode is, simply put, a soccer game on Extreme Gear. In Survival Relay, 2-4 players make a team of two and do a relay, with Extreme Gear as the baton.Courses
There are a total of 16 courses in the game, eight worlds with two tracks in each. The tracks appear in the order they appear in the story mode.- Megalo Station/Nightside Rush
- Botanical Kingdom/Snowy Kingdom
- MeteorTech Premises/MeteorTech Sparkworks
- Aquatic Capital/Tempest Waterway
- Gigan Rocks/Gigan Device
- Crimson Crater/Security Corridor
- Astral Babylon/Mobius Strip
- 80's Boulevard/90's Boulevard
Gear
Each different type of gear has their own special advantages.Boards with the Grind upgrade and Skates are able to use the Grind Rails as a shortcut. Although boards must install the Grind upgrade themselves, Skates can already Grind from the start. Besides this, they are predominant in speed, and usually have no other functions.
Air Riders and Yachts are able to use the Launch Ramps as a shortcut. Although Air Rider Gears usually come with no special advantages, the Yacht Type Gears can ride on drafts, which is completely different from Turbulance. By tailgating an opponent, a Yacht will gradually speed up to the point where they pass the opponent. However, their major drawback is that without a draft, Yachts are very slow, generally below 130 MPH.
Bikes and Wheels are able to smash obstacles to create new pathways. Although most Bikes don't come with any additional advantages, Wheels come with a major advantage of the ability to drift.
Some Gears have no Gear Parts, but usually come in the form in the other Gears listed above. However, sometimes, they have extra abilities that help you proceed in the race. For instance, the Money Crisis Gear is a Wheel Type that has no extra upgrades, but increases speed for the more rings you collect.
The Chaos Emerald Gear is a unique gear that can only be used by Sonic. It can only be obtained after you complete all of the missions with an Extreme rank. The Chaos Emerald has no initial Skill and uses rings instead of GP. However, using Gravity Moves consumes rings during at an extremely high rate. When Sonic's rings run out, he reverts back to regular Sonic, and is forced to run the track on foot until he obtains some rings. Before obtaining 60 Rings, the Chaos Emerald Gear is just basically Super Sonic on the Blue Star. When Sonic obtains 60 or more rings, he activates his "Super Sonic Boost". In this state, Sonic gets off his board and flies around the track in a comet form. At this time, ring consumption is increased, but Super Sonic flies at 180 MPH and he is practically invincible to all attacks.
Characters
There are a total of 18 characters in the game. Each character has their own personalized gear, which is stated after their name. Characters of each type can take advantage of certain shortcuts depending on the type of Extreme Gear they ride in the race.Speed
- Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog (character), trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...
- Blue Star: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Grind. - Jet the Hawk - Type J: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Grind.
- Amy RoseAmy Rose, known earlier as Rosy the Rascal, is a video game character who appears in most of the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games developed by Sega's Sonic Team, debuting in Sonic CD as the third recurring protagonist. Amy Rose was created by Kazuyuki Hoshino and based on one of Kenji Terada's...
- Pink Rose: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Grind. - Shadow The HedgehogShadow the Hedgehogis a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Shadow is an artificially-created life form. His trademark hover shoes propel him at extreme speeds that rival those of Sonic, and with a Chaos Emerald he has the ability to distort time and space using "Chaos Control." Often referred to as being...
- Black Shot: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Grind. - Blaze the Cat (new) - Flame Lance: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Grind.
- AmigoSamba de AmigoSamba de Amigo is a rhythm game originally developed by Sonic Team and released in 1999 by Sega in arcades, 2000 for the Dreamcast video game console, and developed by Gearbox Software and Escalation Studios in 2008 for the Wii. The player uses controllers shaped like maracas with the goal of...
(new) - Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Grind.
Fly
- Miles "Tails" ProwerMiles "Tails" Prower, better known by his nickname , is a character, as well as the main deuteragonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, comics, animated series and film released by Sega....
- Yellow Tail: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Air Ride. - Wave the Swallow - Type W: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Air Ride.
- Cream the Rabbit - Smile: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Air Ride.
- Rouge the BatRouge the Batis a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, who is a determined treasure hunter and part-time government agent who plans to make all the gems and treasures of the world hers. Her main jewel obsessions are the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds...
- Temptation: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Air Ride. - Silver the Hedgehog (new) - Psychic Wave: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Air Ride.
- NiGHTSNightsNights may refer to:*The plural form of night*"Nights" , by Ed Bruce*Nights , the main character in the video games Nights into Dreams... and Nights: Journey of Dreams...
- Night Sky: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Air Ride. - SCR-HD - He is a Gear in his own right, and has no Gear Parts.
Power
- Knuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the Echidna is a video game character of the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, including spin-off games and comics. His first appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released in 1994 to introduce a new rival for Sonic. He was presented as an antagonist who was tricked by Dr. Eggman into...
- Red Rock: Knuckles's primary Gear, Tails upgraded this Gear for some major obstacle smashing. Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Bike. - Storm the Albatross - Type S: Storm's primary Gear, Wave fine-tuned this board to prime it up so it can take down opponents. Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Bike.
- Dr. Eggman - E-Rider: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up and Max GP Up. Starts as a Bike.
- Billy HatcherBilly Hatcher and the Giant Eggis a video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Nintendo GameCube. It was ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2006, exclusively for Europe.-Plot:...
(new) - Power Egg: Has the Gear Parts: Max Speed Up, Max GP Up, and Bike. - SCR-GP: He is a Gear in his own right and has no Gear Parts.
- Super Sonic - Chaos Emerald: Only becomes Power Type at over 60 Rings. Has the Gear Parts: Max Rings Up, Max Rings Up (locked), and Magnetic Barrier. Super Sonic will revert to regular Sonic without Rings. Before 60 Rings, Chaos Emerald has the same stats as the Blue Star.
Reception
Unlike its predecessor, this game has received mixed to poor reviews from the press. Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
reports an average rating of 59% for the Wii version and 65% for the PlayStation 2 version. Both GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
and 1UP
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
gave the Wii version 4.5/10 and IGN rated it 5.8/10. It has been praised for its improved graphics, larger level design
Level design
Level design, environment design or game mapping is a discipline of game development involving creation of video game levels—locales, stages, or missions. This is commonly done using level editor, a game development software designed for building levels; however some games feature built-in...
s, music and easier gameplay concepts, but has also been criticized for its loose controls, lack of online play, story material and removal of certain gameplay elements from the first one. The Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game a score of 72%, praising its solid multiplayer action and the amount of bonus features but criticized it for its rough controls. GameTrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
praised the game for its graphics, but lambaste the control schemes, especially the fact the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
version was compatible with the GameCube controller but not the Classic Controller
Classic Controller
The is a video game controller produced by Nintendo. It is used to play games on the Nintendo Wii video game console.-Classic Controller:The Classic Controller is plugged into the Wii Remote in order to be used. It features two analog sticks, a D-pad, face buttons labeled "a", "b", "x" and "y",...
, and saying that all options were confusing and rendered the game "almost unplayable".