Sonic Riders

Sonic Riders
In a futuristic city, Sonic, a blue hedgehog, and Jet, a green hawk, leap at the screen while riding hoverboards, with the "Sonic Riders" logo positioned below them. At the bottom of the artwork, Tails, an orange fox; Wave, a purple swallow; Knuckles, a red echidna; and Storm, a gray albatross, can be seen riding their own hoverboards down the street.
North American cover art
Developer(s)Sonic Team
Now Production
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Kenjiro Morimoto
Producer(s)Takashi Yuda
Designer(s)Kenjiro Morimoto
Programmer(s)Kenichi Koshida
Artist(s)Hideaki Moriya
Writer(s)Hiroshi Miyamoto
Composer(s)Tomonori Sawada
Fumie Kumatani
Kenichi Tokoi
SeriesSonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)
Release
February 21, 2006
  • GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
    Windows
    • NA: November 16, 2006[5]
    • EU: November 24, 2006
    • AU: February 8, 2007[6]
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Sonic Riders[b] is a racing video game developed by Sonic Team and Now Production and published by Sega for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. In the game, the player controls characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series on hoverboards and competes against opponents—either controlled by computers or other players—in races and battles. The game was released in February 2006 in Japan and North America, with a European release following the next month and a Windows version 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 Sonic R (1997) by Traveller's Tales. 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.

  1. ^ 『ソニックライダーズ』開発者インタビュー！　～その２～ [Interview with the developer of "Sonic Riders! ~Part 2~]. Sonic Channel. Sega. February 22, 2006. Archived from the original on April 4, 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  2. ^ Adams, David (February 11, 2006). "Sonic Riders Slides into Gold". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Bramwell, Tom (February 14, 2006). "Sonic Riders: I'm coming up for air". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  4. ^ Jastrzab, Jeremy. "Updated Australian Release Lists, 27/03/2006". PALGN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  5. ^ "Sega Ships Sonic Riders for PC". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. November 16, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "Updated Australian release list, 1/01/07". PALGN. January 1, 2007. Archived from the original on January 1, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2024.


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