I'm sure the first sonic riders required more skill than zero gravity, ZG felt too simplified compared to the mechanics that the first sonic riders had
Sonic Riders 1 to me was better in every way. But I’ll give ZG good visuals and audio. Also they improved the turning to a huge degree. Turning was so stiff in SR. Made the missions harder than they needed to be
I play it on gamecube controller still because I have to lean back on my couch to get a good view of my wall mounted TV, so it would keep stopping me as the Wii-mote was technically tilted back.