Sonic Riders is an incredibly unique, fresh and rewarding racer hidden to most behind beginner-unfriendly mechanics and a tutorial that just doesn't do its job very well.
Calling this a "Mario Kart clone" is not particularly accurate at all - it shares the surface-level element of being a spin-off of a platforming series, but it plays completely differently. It's not a casual-friendly, pick-up-and-play party game, it's a blazing fast, challenging, technical arcade racer that doesn't pull its punches. There's no randomized item system to help (or hinder) you during races - the only way to fight back is to attack your opponents directly with a well-timed boost. Your racer choice doesn't exclusively affect stats like acceleration or handling, but rather puts you into one of three classes (Speed, Flight or Power) that have their own special ability and shortcuts tailored to them specifically. There's loads of different vehicles that all have wildly different attributes and stats from each other, some even allowing you to mix and match character abilities (such as giving a Speed character like Sonic the ability to fly). You have to keep track of the air supply that fuels your vehicle, and avoid abusing things that consume a lot of it such as boosts to prevent it from running dry.
If their goal was to make this not play like Mario Kart, they definitely did that well. There's a surprising amount of mechanical depth here despite seeming like a silly mascot racer on the surface, and I really do like that about it. It takes some time and learning to get used to, but once it clicks, Sonic Riders feels awesome to play, and it is genuinely very satisfying to get better at it. Learning the ins and outs of the tracks, mastering the controls and trick system and learning better ways to maintain your air tank are all satisfying to learn, practice and execute in races in their own right. Track design is solid for the most part, with every track giving every character class a chance to shine, the trick system provides many opportunities to pull off some sick mid-air stunts, and the game is covered top to bottom in a unique style, from its locales, to all of the characters getting new outfits and designs, to its soundtrack that leans more into techno, trance and drum & bass sounds as opposed to the rock 'n roll that most other Sonic games were adopting at the time.
There is a steep learning curve here, and the game does a pretty bad job at making its mechanics clear. All you get in-game is a handful of tutorial videos tucked away in the extras menu that teach you the most basic of mechanics and that's it. No more videos for the more advanced techniques, no playable tutorial that teaches you in a more hands-on manner, just a single prerendered video that still misses some of the things you'd really want to know in favor of telling you about the completely worthless tornado mechanic instead. The instruction manual does touch on the game's mechanics a bit better, but not everyone's going to have that manual to fall back on, and you really shouldn't need a manual to understand the basics of a game. This is easily the game's biggest sin - you can't pair a game this technical and complex with a tutorial this barebones.
While the barrier for entry here is maybe a bit too steep, and the game does a remarkably poor job teaching people how it's supposed to be played, those who stick with this title and learn its mechanics will find an innovative and satisfying take on the mascot racer with great track design, plenty of bonus content and unlockables, and heaps of style and charm that extends throughout the entire package. It's genuinely a very good game, but one where I can wholly understand why some people bounced off of it. I hope that we see a remaster or new entry in the Sonic Riders series someday - this is a series with a ton of untapped potential, and I think a genuine revival effort from SEGA could see some of that potential get realized.
Calling this a "Mario Kart clone" is not particularly accurate at all - it shares the surface-level element of being a spin-off of a platforming series, but it plays completely differently. It's not a casual-friendly, pick-up-and-play party game, it's a blazing fast, challenging, technical arcade racer that doesn't pull its punches. There's no randomized item system to help (or hinder) you during races - the only way to fight back is to attack your opponents directly with a well-timed boost. Your racer choice doesn't exclusively affect stats like acceleration or handling, but rather puts you into one of three classes (Speed, Flight or Power) that have their own special ability and shortcuts tailored to them specifically. There's loads of different vehicles that all have wildly different attributes and stats from each other, some even allowing you to mix and match character abilities (such as giving a Speed character like Sonic the ability to fly). You have to keep track of the air supply that fuels your vehicle, and avoid abusing things that consume a lot of it such as boosts to prevent it from running dry.
If their goal was to make this not play like Mario Kart, they definitely did that well. There's a surprising amount of mechanical depth here despite seeming like a silly mascot racer on the surface, and I really do like that about it. It takes some time and learning to get used to, but once it clicks, Sonic Riders feels awesome to play, and it is genuinely very satisfying to get better at it. Learning the ins and outs of the tracks, mastering the controls and trick system and learning better ways to maintain your air tank are all satisfying to learn, practice and execute in races in their own right. Track design is solid for the most part, with every track giving every character class a chance to shine, the trick system provides many opportunities to pull off some sick mid-air stunts, and the game is covered top to bottom in a unique style, from its locales, to all of the characters getting new outfits and designs, to its soundtrack that leans more into techno, trance and drum & bass sounds as opposed to the rock 'n roll that most other Sonic games were adopting at the time.
There is a steep learning curve here, and the game does a pretty bad job at making its mechanics clear. All you get in-game is a handful of tutorial videos tucked away in the extras menu that teach you the most basic of mechanics and that's it. No more videos for the more advanced techniques, no playable tutorial that teaches you in a more hands-on manner, just a single prerendered video that still misses some of the things you'd really want to know in favor of telling you about the completely worthless tornado mechanic instead. The instruction manual does touch on the game's mechanics a bit better, but not everyone's going to have that manual to fall back on, and you really shouldn't need a manual to understand the basics of a game. This is easily the game's biggest sin - you can't pair a game this technical and complex with a tutorial this barebones.
While the barrier for entry here is maybe a bit too steep, and the game does a remarkably poor job teaching people how it's supposed to be played, those who stick with this title and learn its mechanics will find an innovative and satisfying take on the mascot racer with great track design, plenty of bonus content and unlockables, and heaps of style and charm that extends throughout the entire package. It's genuinely a very good game, but one where I can wholly understand why some people bounced off of it. I hope that we see a remaster or new entry in the Sonic Riders series someday - this is a series with a ton of untapped potential, and I think a genuine revival effort from SEGA could see some of that potential get realized.