It really is unfortunate with this game. Personally, I still like it, but compared to it's predecessor, this game is really disappointing. I think the first Riders game has a lot of flaws, but at the end of the day it's still a very fun game packed with an arcade like vibe to it. While I do get those vibes here, it's just not as good, and I guess Sega saw critics be overly hateful towards the first game, and thought "Whelp, better get rid of all the sauce.", and then we end up with this.

Zero Gravity is weird. Cause like it's a sequel, but it really doesn't feel like one. It feels slower, the tracks aren't as fast paced feeling, and the tricks have been simplified to timing. It's mechanic which is manipulating gravity to move around which sounds cool. And it is. But after a while you start to realize that it's just a glorified drift that you only have to do on rather generic sharp turns. It's boost looks cool too. And it is. Until you realize that it's only usable on straightaways with objects. There's also gear changing which is just dumb. Feels like a good concept which just isn't used to it's full potential. These new features aren't enough to substitute for what's missing here.

If there are positives about this game and there are, the presentation is WAY better than the first game. I love the OST for this game, even more than OG Riders. It's more orchestral focused, but with some electronic influence in there, but the best part is that it's dynamic. See, every time you use one of the gravity techniques successfully, the music changes to a different phase, usually getting more intense, and I love it on here. It's not only the music though. The graphics look better, especially in the story. Speaking of the story. It's taken a lot more seriously, but at the end of the day, it's nothing crazy. Well, except for Babylonian lore, but other than that. It's just a fun ride. Weird thing is that your racing on these tracks, but in the story they're running away from the robots that want their gravity powers. Just find that funny. As lame as tricks are in this game, I love the various camera angles that come with doing them. In one of the tracks, almost every trick has this electric energy come with it since you're riding over fields of them, and when you land, a shockwave comes. It's just for dramatic flair, but still, that's really satisfying to me.

There's missions like in the first game, which are a fun side thing, a grand prix that's only 2 cups... so yeah. Which is honestly the worst thing about the Riders subseries in general. Even for their time, the track count is honestly just pathetic. Especially since half of them are just different versions of a track. Don't get me wrong, both have some fun tracks with very cool set pieces, so I guess I can give them that.

It's sad, because after this came Free Riders. I haven't played that, but what I do know is that it pretty much killed the series. To go from something that laid a great foundation, to this is really unfortunate. But hey, All Stars Racing exists so I guess Sonic has some kind of racing game even with Mario Kart. I still would love to see this get revived one day though.