You NEED To Play Sonic Riders 

People low-key sleep on this game and I really want it back. To me it's way more fun than the other sonic racing games

0:14 You can't convince someone to love something if they already love it.

God Sonic Riders is so underrated. I want the game back in modern consoles with an active online community

Among all the crazy stuff Sonic was doing in the mid to late 2000s, I always felt that Riders fully encompassed the series' full attempt to be creative and unique from others. I love the newer racing games by Sumo Digital but at the end of the day they're just other kart racers. Sonic using a board and being active while racing is such a cool and fitting concept

0:40 you missed the opportunity to say "*im gonna show you* why you need to play sonic riders"

*i thank the RU-vid recommendations* i remember playing sonic riders when younger, it was fun as hell, could never beat the third race level, though, i still adore the game

Honestly, I love Riders, its probably the best sonic racing game, it was a racing game in a style that fits sonic, cuz Riding hyper fast hover board while going throught some extreme terrain, sounds like something sonic would do, the game it self is really fun, and makes more sense then sonic driving a car

At first I was gonna disagree about needing a tutorial, but looking back on this game didn't realize how steep the learning curve is. Hard to believe I got really good at this. For a racing game the story had no business being this good. And I completely agree that Jet is Sonic's best antagonist. We've never seen someone get under Sonic's skin before, it's kinda surreal seeing him get mad for the first time. A few indermediate/advanced tips for those that wanna ace this game: >When you start a race start walking back then start your run around the 2.5~2.7 second mark in the count down. It's a bit difficult to get right but if you do, garunteed excellent/unbelievable start >When drifting you wanna input direction first then R. If you press R first you'll just brake and kill momentum. >When you do tricks you have to land properly to get to get the air and trick grade. HOWEVER if you do 4+ tricks in a row you will get an 'X' grade and the rider will auto orient themselves upon landing and keep up momentum. > There are 3 types of ramps: low incline ramps, steep half pipes, and 45 degree short ramps. To get the best air off each, hold control stick up for low ramps, back for half pipes. The 45 degree ramps could go either way or even sideways but depends on the stage. >Each level has a 100 ring capsule that will automatically max level your gear. Find where they all are and save them for the 2nd/3rd lap. If someone attacks you, your gear will reduce to lvl 1 and these capsules can be a great comback

It’s the game that got me into Sonic. I love this game so much. Jets Definetly my favorite character.

Me and my brother had such a big rivalry on this game in the PS2. When he finally got good and defeated me, he was so happy.

Funny this has been brought up. I was just playing Zero Gravity last night

Fun fact: I got this game for Nintendo GameCube on Christmas in 2006 along with Super Smash Bros. Melee. And I gotta tell ya, Those were my childhood games to play.

Instructions unclear, Adam Sandler was at Red Box with the script for Click2 and a Gamecube2. Send help in the form of Hatsune Miku.

Yeah somebody gets it. This is my favorite racing game of all time.

Dude there's an entire community dedicated to this so hard they made a mod that makes it even more fun and even a esport

Finally someone acknowledges sonic riders and thinks that it needs a comeback!

I feel like mentioning that backflipping off of curved jumps and front-flipping off of flat jumps to get to the higher jump paths is rather important. As long as u have a well charged jump that is

Dis game’s intero is lit

I'm watching this while playing Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time ❤

Legit, Sonic riders is probably one my favorite sonic games. Up their with the rush games and adventure 2.

Sonic Riders was and still is my favorite sonic game. I can't even describe the joy I get from this graphics, gameplay and art direction that is so cool but rare.

2:19 do you see that sonic heroes render and a picture of sadx

You forgot to mention that you can take top paths from ramps by jumping at the very edge of the ramp and holding either forward or back on the control stick to either shoot yourself forward or pop yourself up, depending on what that specific top path requires you to do to get on it (example: the top path in metal city requires you to hold forward when jumping off the edge of the ramp to get to it, while the one in egg factory requires you to hold backward). (Edit) also the ball and chain item, but I’m fine forgetting about that lol

I love this game to bits. The story's cheesy but the gameplay is awesome.

9:05 OMG THANK YOU THAT IS LITERALLY THE ONLY MECHANIC OF THE GAME I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND I NEVER GOT TO FINISH THOSE RAIL GRINDING SIDE MISSIONS

6:43 don't forget Sonic Rush, where he also uses the tornado spin in his boss battle in Blaze's story and the "He's like the wind" line from Tails.

Bought the japanese version on gamecube 2 or 3 years ago, still playing to this day. I’m glad you talked about the way they handled the cut-scenes, the characters are so expressive ! I think they are among the best in the series !

It’s got everything, even a fan parody

Oddly enough, this was my first Sonic game. 😂

I'll admit, when I first played this game, I had NO idea what I was doin, it took me a bunch of experimentation to figure it out. Once I did though, I was zooming around the track and having no issues. It's a fun game.

Ngl this was my "Mario Kart".

Well, i used to have the ZERO GRAVITY sequel, and i have heard it is not as loved, but screw that, i had a lot of fun with it

24:45 Ulala from Space Channel 5, its an Rythmn game for the Dreamcast

I've never played this game but I own Zero gravity which is a fun game. Watching this game it looks a lot more fun. I dont mind using the gravity mechanic but it stops the gameplay a lot. While this game seems to be all go. It also seems to be a lot faster then Zero gravity. I'm surprised this game hasn't been rereleased on modern platforms. Cause if it was I might give it a shot. I have a gamecube but they cost a lot of money nowadays.

24:45 Nick, that's Ulala from the Space Channel 5 series. She became a playable character in the SEGA All-Stars Racing games (just like AiAi and NiGHTS in ASR Transformed). Also, Sonic Riders was the first Sonic game I ever played back when I was young. Even now, it still remains as my #1 favorite racing game. The "hoverboard" concept makes it more unique and thrilling than any of the Mario Kart games IMO. I look forward to your review of SR: Zero Gravity. Keep up the good work!

sonic riders mechanics are really interresting, i wish more racing games had a"complex skill based gameplay like riders

I always need someone to tell me to play Sonic Riders. Game is too dang good!

I love Riders, and its art style. It easily has some of the best character models of the series next to the both Adventure game and 06's. Too bad Free Riders killed it dead. Talk about start as you mean to continue - beating out Colours by about a week - with a pretty piss poor decade of the Meta Era in terms of games, story and character representation as well how they are supposed act when they do appear... Also with saying about Tails getting mad about being dissed by Wave, its good that they actually let him do something about it, proving he can stand as an equal beside Sonic. Rather than having being stuck having to prop up and carry and bad tribute act who has barely enough personality to fill a sandwich, despite the fact that Sega are trying to pass him off as Sonic. "And don't you dare try and do anything that makes you look cool in his presence Tails!" Sega warn. "As that could undermine our cheap marketing gimmick! And we need him to look strong. Hence why we're having Chaos take a dive after one hit rather than letting you fight himself yourself, allowing the chance of growth as you start to climb out of the hole of despair you're in." I was just as surprised when they let him stand up for himself against Silver in Rivals 2, who was coming across more like a high school bully, trying to take the young fox cub's lunch money/rings. But he soon learned he was messing the wrong kitsune and I remembered it was indeed from a different time. Here's hoping we can get back there again in the 2020s, now that Pontac and Graff have been given their marching orders. I heard they dumbed down Zero Gravity quite abit compared to the first game, but I guess when you can actually play the game with proper controls, unlike Free Riders, I guess you can't fault it too much. Plus I do like after Wave disses Tails, you see Amy going into battle for the pride of the young fox cub, proving that she isn't blind to the plight of others and is just a crazed Sonic fan girl... seriously how did Free Riders butcher her character so badly!?

This game was a huge part of my youth. My cousin and I struggled to understand how to play this game optimally. When we finally figured it out, we were like GODS.

There's a competitive scene that growing in the sonic riders modding scene.

It took me two years before I understood how to drift. I was stuck on sandy ruins for two years due to that final corner. Once I did it, l realised there were more stages. To play a game and realise years later that theres more maps to play on was mind blowing to me.

Actually, the tornado spin does have one very specific and useful purpose; if you're using the Tornado Gear, it basically becomes free, infinite boost. It will send you forward instead of stopping you in your tracks, and you can spam it infinitely due to it costing no air.

"How cool would it be to know that maybe the ancient Echidnas fought the ancient Babylonians?" Paramount: Pretty cool.

I was _just_ playing this game last night, and here are some tips: •The story and mission modes are insanely hard, so do not feel bad if you fail again and again. •On that note, be sure to take breaks while playing. At least on the PS2 version, trying races over and over really hurts your fingers and sometimes messes up my fingernails (I don't bleed, but the nail ends stick out from the sides of my fingers, it's kinda gross and very painful). •Do *not* buy the cloud from the shop. Like Nick said, it is far too slippery. Don't be like me and think "hehe good stats and funny Journey to the West/ Goku reference. Better save up all my rings after 3 years of on-and-off play of the story mode to get it!".l Actually, a lot of the gears are garbage, so be sure to check some GameFAQs guides to know if a piece of gear is worth your rings. •Feel free to replay the first stage dozens of times to get rings. Buying new gear is very fun, even if you cannot use them in story/mission mode.

I just like to say that Jet the Hawk is such an underrated Rival/Character in the Sonic series. 11:35 Like kinda excluding Metal Sonic, Jet is the only Sonic Rival that out right claims he's faster & better than Sonic and challenges him at his own game. I think there's a point he genuinely gets under Sonic's skin. Not to mention Jet is virtually the "Anti-Sonic" and it's a shame that he hasn't really came back until the IDW series during the "No Spoilers" Saga. Tho even there he and the Babylon Rouges really shined and it shows what great characters they are.

I am loving this absolute renaissance of this game. It used to be a cult classic that the only people would play this are people who grew up on this game but now so many people are hopping on. Here’s to hoping that Sonic team gives this series one more shot

hot tip it takes 2.5 seconds from the fifty mark to get to the line, so there's your perfect starting timing you can also hold back on certain ramps to jump higher for some shortcuts and forward to jump farther to access some shortcuts, other than that well covered

Sonic riders has one of the best soundtracks ever. The electronic beat just makes me, satisfied.

*TELL 'EM, NICK!*

Every ramp that has a high level and ground level to access, you have to fully charge your jump while pulling down on the stick or pushing up on the stick to get to the higher level. It'll only be one or the other, and it's the same every time. For example, the first ramp in Metal city, you have to push forward, but the last ramp in the lap, you have to hold the stick down. Took me forever to figure that out. Holding forward is for levels that are further away, and pushing down is for levels that are much higher in the air. Also, forgot to mention Mission mode, which is actually really cool and challenging.

I remember playing this in this after school care and I used to play with older kids and I was like 2nd grade and everyone wanted to be wave. I finally got her for the first time, but then some 5th grader was complaining "hey I wanted to be Wave"! So this other 5th grader was a bully and his friend so he snatched the controller from me and switched it to someone else. I didn't do anything because I was in 2nd grade and soft. But other than that this game was awesome. 👌😎👍

When I was a kid, I played Zero Gravity on mi Wii, which has oversimplified mechanics. I started to play this game a couple of weeks ago, and I certainly struggled to learn how to play, each race from the story mode took me hours to beat until I mastered the mechanics and the shortcuts, but its so satisfying and fun once you get into it. I wish SEGA remake this game someday, an eventual online mode would be crazy.

Sonic Riders and Zero Gravity are my two favorite Sonic racing games. ESPECIALLY the Regravitified mod. I just got it, and I am addicted.

I seriously need to give this game a go, I have Zero Gravity on Wii but I haven't played it in ages and it's the only Riders game I have. Great video!

Y’know, despite the very steep learning curve of this game, I understood the mechanics when I was 6. I have no idea how I even learned the game. I’m thankful that I understood the game so quick, because Sonic Riders is one of my favorite racing games.

i loved sonic riders so much as a kid, i'm currently playing Sonic Riders DX, an awesome mod that adds a lot of content

18:53 Uhh dude his name is literally in reference to a Sonic Boom which is what occurs when breaking the sound barrier.

the sonic riders intro makes me feel invincible lol

Bruh, next to SA2B, Riders was/is one of my all-time favourite Sonic games 🤩

When I was 8 year old and got this game for the GC it took me nearly a year to get all the mechanics or how to even jump on the rails as a speed type. After that time I discovered a tutorial video in the gallery but it was in english and I am german so thats that. Anways I remember having a great time with this game and at a point I even started speedrunning the story for fun back in the day

And to this day, from 2010-2009... I still play Sonic Riders. I thank my cousin for introducing me this game as a kid.

There's also this mechanic about jumping where you can take shortcuts if when you jump you press a directional button. For example, you sometimes see that there's a second floor when you jump, like at the very beggining of Metal City, in these cases, you'd have to charge up your jump while also pressing the up directional button in order to "go further". On the other hand, sometimes you want to get higher, not further, like in Green Cave at the end where you can get a triple jump on spider webs or at Splash Canyon, also at the end where you can jump through the waterfall to land on a Rainbow, both cases done if you charge and "move" downwards. This mechanic was eliminated on Zero Gravity and well, it added some extra fun. All in all this will forever be my favorite game, and I'll always remember for bringing me so much fun and joy! Thanks for sharing this video so a lot of people can try this wonderful masterpiece!!!

God I'd love an online remake of this game on steam and modern consoles, would love to see what extreme gear types people gravitate towards

I have a lot of nostalgia for this game, and full transparency, the nostalgia I have is why I will unironically defend the lack of tutorials. I spent hours doing tracks over and over to figure out how certain mechanics work and how consistently nail jumps that need both height and speed to reach. Figuring everything out and practicing the tracks is, for real, the most fun I had with the game.

I used to play this game a lot as a kid, but I recently got my hands on it again and DEAR GOD IT STILL IS AS GOOD AS I REMEMBER, one of my favourite games ever. I'm currently trying to beat all missions with gold rank and man are they fun to do. The sequel's great too, especially with the new additions to the level up system

For me, the main 2 issues of this game are: -1 The lack of a tutorial or practicing level, I still remember that I went to the free race mode to practice with the AI. And the worst issue for me is that the characters are too light, I mean that when you crash with an NPC (or wall or obstacle), the momentum pushes you out of the course to the limits of the track (I mean the grass or brown sand in the desert). That thing annoys me, because in the desert level of the Babylon story ( I don't remember the name since I skip the race introduction, bad for me) I always get pushed to the brown sand and I always lose on that race. Anyways great game, tha style and music makes me remember of Jet Set Radio Future and I love that game : 9/10

It's funny how patient we were when learning games as kids, because I'll watch some people play this game fir the first time and not be able to figure out the mechanics and get super frustrated, forgetting that I've known how to play this game for over a decade

I think you forgot to mention that when doing an air trick your height and distance are influenced by your tricks. If you rotate forward then you'll go as far as possible, if you rotate backwards you go as high as possible. Some platforms require you to do these types of tricks if you want to reach them, like the 1st track's 1st and last jump

Yet again another great video man, keep it up dude

Man back in the day with my ps2 I would play this for hours! Discovering the mechanics of a racing game were always one of my favorite pastimes. Learning this game was extremely satisfying. From learning the best way to hold the analog off a jump, the shortcuts with flying type, and experimenting with all the e-gear! Zero gravity wasn’t as good for me but I still put tons of hours into that game as well. Sonic riders will always hold a place in my heart as one of the funnest racing games I’ve ever played and still do to this day. Wish it could make a comeback.

This was absolutely favorite racing game growing up. Many hours playing these every weekend with my cousins

This is one of my favorite Sonic games. I could never figure out how to unlock all the characters, but now I know.

Yes dude the people has come to your Chanel lets gooo i hope you keep it up

Sonic Riders was a huge part of my childhood! I grew up with sonic on the Gamecube and wii 😄

Love this game. It's nice to see other people loving it too. First time I discovered this game, I played for weeks with my cousins. And it was fun slowly learning and figuring out how the game works on our own. But even so, yea I agree, a good tutorial never hurts. I love Mario Kart and all, but they really need to bring back the different racing games that we had in the past. Like this game or even stuff like Kirby Air Ride.

Thanks for making this video man. I was already interested in checking this game out since I'm a huge nights fan, but you totally convinced me. I'm sold

I had so much trouble getting this game to start on my old Windows XP laptop 10 years ago, after watching the epic intro and cutscenes, the game would just not play. I remember winning this in a Kids Magazine competition as a part of the Sonic PC Collection containing Sonic Adventure, Heroes, Mega Collection Plus and of course... Riders 10 years later (this year), I got a better computer that can play CDs, and I tried installing this game over there once I did, I got excited to play this hidden away gem. I remember each time I raced a track in the story mode, it would take me about 20-30 tries before I become 1st place and actually move on with the story then I went head first into the missions and aimed for Gold. They are what took up those 50 hours of required playtime to unlock E-10000R This game made me feel challenge like I never had before in a Sonic game, and it was satisfying. As of right now, I have unlocked all the tracks and characters (and Super Sonic), and I have also bought every last board, skate and bike in the Black Market shop and restored all the exclusive boards in Mission Mode I am 100% done with the game Going for a full-on 100% is kind of like my rite of passage into playing Tournament Edition (where all the characters, stages and gears are unlocked from the start) and I wanted to make sure I unlocked it all myself first so that I "deserve" to play SRTE if that makes sense

I played it back in 2008 so much fun i still have save data xD

I used to play Sonic Riders alot with my sister YEARS ago. She'd always beat me in races even with a handicap(using objectively bad extreme gears). I still play it occasionally here and there but not as much as i used to, but i still love the game.

Turbulence/tornado skill is very important in the first game. If you’re not careful the wrong turbulence at the wrong section of the map can send you off the map into a bottomless pit so knowing when turbulences are unsafe is important for higher level play. Also turbulences almost 100% of the time will redirect you from a shortcut to entrance, especially if you ride it out, sometimes if you ride them to the end you will be swung away from a shorter route or flung off the map as mentioned before. If you use the tornado skill while on a turbulence you can immediately exit it. Also tornadoes can be very useful to mess up an opponents approach to a jump or prevent them from following you into a shortcut. Lastly if you memorize where turbulences can and can’t form you can pull off crazy counters to opponents who are trying to boost at and attack you. In a few cases the opponent after hitting your tornado can be hit again when you boost allowing you to steal their air and recover the air you lost dropping a tornado (if they were boosting at you when they hit your tornado they will 100% have to run after that)😂. Okay last tip when you go at a jump if you evaluate the look of the ramp you can either pull your control stick back for a higher jump or push forward for a further jump. Its best to hold forward and press jump with correct timing on flat ramps. Edit: Sorry one last final final tip: When you drift begin the TURN FIRST then hold the drift button. A lot of people i see play this game try to do it simultaneously but honestly your just risking the game messing up ur input and giving you the braking response instead. Turn the stick first then hold the drift button.

Thank you very much for explaining this game to me :D I am definitely gonna try this game again

This is what created my love for games when I was 3-4

Holy crap! I came as a tournament edition regular to see this cuz indeed riders is probably one of the most underrated gems of all time, but geez you went so into it! Im honestly just surprised you mentioned tournament edition in the first place. I will say though, if you do decide to play tournament edition, there is so much more to learn than what he talked about. From tech like boost chaining to skips that cut out sections of the track, there is so much to do in tournament edition. Other than all that though, great video! Its so awesome to see so many people talking about riders now! I just wish sega would stop sleeping on it Edit: forgot to mention this video alone earned you a sub. You’ve earned it

Great video, I was actually planning to make something like this lol.

Honestly, Riders is a game I still routinely return to even with all the neat new consoles and gadgets and gizmos I could play literally anything on, it's a game that just immediately has impact and oozes charm. This video does a great job at discussing everything to love about the game, despite the jank that I personally feel adds a sort of charm to this game. The only issue I can take with it at all is that there's a few inaccuracies regarding the tracks. In particular, there are a total of SIXTEEN tracks, not fifteen, not fourteen. The bonus tracks still count, regardless of if they're bonuses or not. As well, you call the tracks "SEGA Carnival version 1" and "SEGA Carnival version 2," but not only is version 2 the ORIGINAL version of the track, it's the only one actually called "SEGA Carnival", as the other one is the alternate version called "SEGA Illusion." Beyond that, an utterly fantastic overview and video essay!

I loved this game as a kid. I even got the second one.

im very happy to see that recently the original sonic riders is getting the attention it deserves, and with it so many fan projects that reimagine what a remake would be like... and thank you for including sonic riders tournament edition!!

The animated intro and CG opening cutscene always had me giddy as a kid; I thought this game was so fucking cool and exuded style. Remember absolutely getting my ass kicked in the story races until I became good enough, still have nightmares of trying to beat both of those Babylon tracks in either story. Really hope to see extreme gear make some sort of return in a future title, I recently read the IDW comic and had a cheesy smile when Sonic and Knuckles made use of them so it gives me some hope.

I'll die on that hill with you, I love jet, always love seeing him in the sonic games, even though he's barely mentioned

Okay so this might be my favorite Sonic video on RU-vid. I have plugged hundreds of hours into Riders and it is one of my favorite games of all time. I'm so happy to see that very detailed tutorial you put in, considering that I had to figure all of that shit out myself as a kid I know how steep the games learning curve is. Also. Finally! FINALLY! FINALLY!!!! SOME RESPECT FOR MY BOY JET!!! FOR THAT ALONE I'M SUBSCRIBING HOLY SHIT!! Riders, more than any other subset of the series, is what I want a new entry in the most. Thanks for making this.

Keep it up with this amazing content!

hoooohh my god this is making me really want to finally give this game a play again after all these years dirt rally 2 has really changed my taste when it comes to racing games and this sounds like exactly the kind of thing i can sink my teeth into like that i really do wonder how i managed to somehow get to the sega parades as a shitty ignorant child with no direction though 🤔

I beat the hero story a while ago, and I didn't see this video, probably because I beat it before the video and babylon garden was a chore. But I've started bablyon story and am on ice factory. I'm definetly gonna use this video for help! This was super informative and is going to help alot! You earned a new subscriber!! Also, I'm playing zero gravity right now and even though there are different mechanics, it's still gonna be helpful!

My friend, you just summarized why I still enjoy Sonic Riders to this day. Totally not biased since it was my first Sonic game ever, but I still enjoy its art style and characters. Never got used to its mechanics, but it won't stop me from getting it again just to play it to its entirety.

I played Riders on PS2 and I loved the heck out of it. One of the best spinoffs in the Sonic series imo.

Great Video dude

nice video, T_T people underestimate the poggersness of a tornado and how dangerous they can be. Thanks for makin this video, i'm sure a good amount of people will pick up the game for a bit. This game is pog. Granted the comp scene is currently at a big divide rn so soon enough we're gonna have 2 riders mods lmao. But uh yeah Extreme Gear labs has 2 mods, dx and RG for ZG. good video 👌👌👌👌

thanks for this ive been struggling with the game due to the lack of a tutorial and couldn't get past race 4

huh ive been playing this game basically since it came out and I never knew about the tornado spin move

I grew up playing this a lot and pretty much mastered everything in your tutorial but still didn’t even know the tornado spin existed. Just shows how much this game needed a tutorial. Lol