Sonic Free Riders Boards
Icaro Aveiga
Extreme GearSonic and Jet on their Extreme Gear, from Sonic Free Riders.AppearancesFirst appearanceSonic RidersGame appearances
- Sonic Riders
- Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (cameo)
- Sonic Free Riders
- Sonic Generations (console/PC) (cameo)
- Sonic Dash
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (cameo)
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (mentioned)
- Sonic Forces: Speed Battle
- Sonic Speed Simulator
- Archie Comics
- Sonic Comic
- IDW Publishing
- AiAi
- Amigo
- Amy Rose
- Babylon Rogues
- Jet the Hawk
- Storm the Albatross
- Wave the Swallow
- Big the Cat
- Billy Hatcher
- Blaze the Cat
- Cream the Rabbit
- Dr. Eggman
- E-10000 series
- E-123 Omega
- Espio The Chameleon
- Knuckles the Echidna
- Metal Sonic
- Metal Sonic 3.0
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Nights
- Roblox avatar
- Rouge the Bat
- Shadow the Hedgehog
- Shadow Android
- Silver the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Super Sonic
- Werehog
- Ulala
- Vector the Crocodile
- Xbox Live Avatar
- Racing
- Transportation
- Stunts
It is still unknown the maximum speed Extreme Gear can reach, or whether this maximum speed is shared to all Gear or is only exclusive to certain models. However, it was once stated that Sonic himself can use Gear to go even faster than when running on foot;[1] as the hedgehog can reach supersonic speeds (915-3,840 mph), this would hint that at least certain models of Extreme Gear can reach speeds that exceed 3,840 mph.
Skate type Extreme Gear are a less powerful class of Extreme Gear, but are more agile and, in Sonic Riders, more Air-efficient. Skate type Gear resemble roller skates. In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, Skate type Extreme Gear allow their rider to grind on Grind Areas, an ability which was previously restricted to Speed Type characters not their Gear, and unlike boards, they do not require Gear Parts to do so.
Yacht type Extreme Gear have only appeared in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. Despite the name, Yacht type Gear are more reminiscent of windsurfing boards rather than large boats. In addition to Air Ride type Gear properties, Yacht type Gear allows the rider to ride on slipstreams and accelerate on them while riding directly behind an opponent, which is otherwise known as "drafting". Without this trait, Yacht type Gear tend to have very poor top speed compared to the other Gear types.
Robotnik Corp. is Dr. Eggman's corporation that produces Extreme Gear. First appearing in Sonic Riders, this is the company responsible for the character boards, even Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' boards. However, Eggman may have provided, or at least sold, the boards which Tails then modified to suit his friends' needs.
Introduced in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, this corporation is responsible for most of the Extreme Gear products Robotnik Corp. made in the last game, except for Blue Star, Red Rock, and Yellow Tail. The former two were redesigned by Tails, whereas the latter was built anew from the ground up. It could be a front by Dr. Eggman and that Robotnik Corp. and all its licensed Extreme Gear were sold, or they simply continue production where Robotnik Corp. finished. Either way, they now provide the character boards of the game.
Debuting in Sonic Free Riders, Accelovice created the Extreme Gear for the Xbox Live Avatar as well as a few other major boards and perhaps the new design or line of Extreme Gear. While the name is similar to Accevive Corp and claimed the creation of its boards, it is unconfirmed if it is the same business under a new name.
Extreme Gear (エクストリームギアMedia:Sonic Riders GC JP Manual.pdf[1]), sometimes referred to as just Gear, are the modes of transportation used for races in the Sonic Riders series and referenced in Archie and IDW Sonic comic books. Extreme Gear can refer to hover boards, mechanized footwear, bikes, and several other things. In the original Sonic Riders, there were several Extreme Gears available. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity adds the ability to upgrade gears mid-level for ability enhancement. When collecting the upgrades the appearance of the gear changes and parts are added.
There are three types of Extreme Gear in the game: Boards which are available by default and are the only gear used in Story mode. Skates usually have slightly lower performance than boards, but burn less air. Bikes, which resemble floating mopeds, have higher performance but burn more air. Most gear must be purchased from the shop or unlocked in story mode. There are 54 Extreme Gear vehicles in total.
Sonic Riders is based around characters racing each other using devices known as "Extreme Gear", anti-gravity-equipped vehicles consisting of hover boards, hover skates, and hover bikes.[1] Players compete to finish three laps around a racetrack before their opponents and complete the race in first place. Each race features up to eight characters competing. A key component of gameplay is the air tank, displayed in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Air serves as the fuel for Extreme Gear, and is depleted gradually as the race goes on.[2][3] Characters can also perform a Boost, which will give them a sudden burst of speed at the cost of a significant amount of air. If a player boosts into an opponent, their character will attack and stun the opponent for a brief period. Air is also more quickly spent using techniques like drifting, which allows the player to round sharp turns with ease, and building tension before a jump, which involves using the air to propel the player higher off the edge of ramps.[3] If a player runs out of air, their character will start running on foot; this prevents them from boosting, attacking, cornering easily or using charged jumps. Players can refill their air by using pit stops on the track, which force them to stay in place while their air meter recharges, or performing tricks when jumping off ramps or off an opponent's slipstream, with higher-rated trick sequences restoring more air. Players can also collect rings scattered across the track; collecting a certain number of rings will cause their character to level up for the remainder of the race, increasing the strength of their abilities and extending their maximum air capacity.
The game was the series' first racing game since Traveller's Tales developed Sonic R in 1997. According to Yuda, in the years after Sonic R's release, Sonic Team received many requests from fans for another Sonic racer. Though he played and enjoyed Sonic R, Yuda believed Sonic Team, "who knows Sonic best", should make another game that was superior to any previous Sonic racing game.[13][5] Yuda also did not want to make a conventional racing game, instead desiring a dynamic, unique style of gameplay that would allow the player to perform tricks.[5] Being able to do this in a car was illogical; Sonic Team noted that surfing and snowboarding were more flexible.[5] As the concept had a heavy emphasis on air, hoverboards were chosen since they could work in any environment and still be fun to use.[13]
Reviewers criticized or had little praise for the core gameplay and controls. GamesRadar+ derided the loose, floaty physics engine, writing it caused cheap deaths.[25] Eurogamer thought the premise showed promise and worked well as races started, but found it ultimately became messy, complicated, and convoluted.[23] IGN lamented that the game was "neither a full-fledged racer or an engaging snowboarder, but a shallow compromise of both."[2] They also found the hoverboards were technically pointless when considering that Sonic is fast on his own.[2] GameSpy described the gameplay design of racing, attacking opponents, and performing tricks as inconsistent: "Most games quickly prioritize these actions for you based on results," they wrote, "but Sonic Riders seems to yield similar results no matter what".[24]
Sonic and friends speed through tracks on air boards, using individual special moves to strike down opponents. Air is a big element of Sonic Riders. Your board's "fuel" source is air. You can fill up your air at various points on the course, but to race well you'll have to use another means of replenishment: performing tricks with your board. You'll also want to make use of turbulence from racers who are in front of you.
Sonic and friends speed through tracks on air boards, using individual special moves to strike down opponents. Air is a big element of Sonic Riders. Your board's "fuel" source is air. You can fill up your air at various points on the course, but to race well you'll have to use another means of replenishment: performing tricks with your board. You'll also want to make use of turbulence from racers who are in front of you.
Music: Now the music in the game isn't that good. but it gets the job done. For a video game, the music is actually really decent. But for a sonic game, it's pathetic. Sonic games are supposed to have a wide variety of music such as rock, electronica, midi, orchestral. But this sonic game only has techno music. There isn't even that much music. There are 16 levels but only 8 songs for the levels. For example Metal City and Night Chase have the same song. But nonetheless, the music is still catchy and upbeat.
The Bad
Level Design: One of the most important things in a sonic game is level design. All of the 3D sonic games have had large, imaginative levels ranging from 14-31 levels. But this game doesn't even come close to that. Despite the game having 7 level designers, they didn't take advantage of the fact that they were making levels for a Sonic game!! The first few times you play the levels in this game, they're fun and fast. But the best part about playing sonic games is going through the levels over and over again.... right? But the levels in this game last only 30-45 seconds long. The levels themselves don't really have very imaginative designs. Most of them are just long stretches of flat road with no loop, or corkscrews!! Also some of the levels in the game have the same design as some others..... for example: Metal City and Night Chase are basically the same levels but one takes place in day and the other in night. Splash Canyon and Red Canyon one canyon takes place in day the other in sunset. Seriously, how lazy can you get? There are 16 levels in all. The levels aren't bad, it's just that for a sonic game, they aren't intuitive.Story: Oh gosh, the story sucks so bad! First of all, there aren't even that many C.G.I. cutscenes, second the plot goes too fast and just feels plain stupid. The script in the game is also really, really bad. It seems they were aiming this game at little elementary kids. Definetly not suitable for a sonic game. Also, I dislike the Babylon Rogues ( A team of 3 generic rivals for Team Sonic ) They're so uninteresting. Jet the Hawk is just this stupid, generic rival for Sonic. Sonic already has more than enough rivals. He has shadow the hedgehog, eggman, metal sonic, and I guess knux. Also Jet the Hawks voice makes me cringe my ears. The other two members of the Babylon Rogues ( Wave and Storm ) well, they aren't as bad as Jet, but there purpose in the game was just worthless. It's a good thing these guys didn't appear in any of the other major 3d sonic games, or I would of gone mad!
The Bottom Line
Should you get Sonic Riders? Well if you have friends that are willing to be patient to learn the game mechanics in this game, then yes, you should get it. Believe me once you know how to play the game, it'll be alot of fun. But it has very low replay value. If you don't have any friends, then just buy it at a low price.