Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

[JezMM]

I also didn't think the graphics were as good. The other computer opponents in the game looked like they were still images running along, like a slideshow. I didn't notice such a problem in the original, which had slightly more consistent graphics.

Personally I didn't notice that. I thought ZG was prettier because I noticed much less "dead space" in the backgrounds (there were some jumps on certain courses which would reveal off-course buildings to be floating in mid-air etc), and also the textures were anti-ailased. Stop and stand around in certain areas of Riders 1 and you'll see the kind of large pixels I haven't seen in textures since the PS1.

As for my opinion on the game as a whole... it is good and fun. The story annoyed me a bit, not because of the fact the Babylon Rogues turned out to be descendants of genies of aliens, but the fact that it was so poorly explained. The fact that Tails literally monologued for the whole end sequence explaining everything was very cheap storytelling. The rest of the cut-scenes set up such a promising story too, slowly unravelling mysteries, and like Riders 1, they were very well animated considering at the time we were still a bit used to Heroes' sugar-coated prozac animation and Shadow's robotic animation.

Gameplay... was fine. Again, Riders 1 was better. The problem with ZG was while the new elements were good, they weren't flexible. You could only use certain moves in certain places so every race was essentially "grab rings to upgrade to level 2 > start taking the route designed for your character type > win". Oh, except the secret courses, Astral Babylon and the Boulevards. For the life of me I can't win a single race on those courses and I don't know why.

[Sean]

Zero Gravity's environments were definitely prettier and more attractive (compared to Riders's bland tracks), but the open space kind of bothered me. Riders felt more compacted, but a little more exciting that way.

[Rusty Spy]

Oh, except the secret courses, Astral Babylon and the Boulevards. For the life of me I can't win a single race on those courses and I don't know why.

This could be because the AI is cheating. They're programmed to speed up whenever they want, mainly near the finish line where it's most noticeable. And there's also the fact that whoever uses an Air Ride is almost guaranteed to win now that they're buffed up in this game.

[Sean]

Zero Gravity's AI is pretty erratic. I thought they were just all-around unfair in Riders, but in Zero Gravity, they're pretty retarded in some modes, such as story and grand prix. I think in normal race they go back to being plain sadistic.

[Blacklightning]

@Virgo: Actually, it's more because Astral Babylon needs a whole different approach to win for the most part. A lot of the noobs I see completely ignore the gap between both long stretches of track, even when the walls between them fall away. The idea is to gravity-corner (dunno what the actual name for the ability is) through the gaps in between when you're trailing behind, cutting the corner completely and skipping ahead a few positions. I can't blame anyone for missing it, but it's about the only time in the game where the hovering from the cornering move actually comes in handy.

Boulevard is something I never figured out though. There are so damn many obscure shortcuts in there and I simply couldn't find all the necessary ones that everyone else seemed to be using.

Edited July 19, 2009 by Blacklightning

[Jetronic]

I liked it better than the first, mostly because it has a better vibe to me and I really adore the music in this one. And why is everyone saying that it's slow? It wasn't that slow, and you can still speed up at will. Eh...I don't know, I play it more than the first, actually I don't even play the first any more since I sold it.

Also I downloaded a save file with all the missions beaten since I didn't want to go through the same process that I did in the first game. And I can actually win a race with Super Sonic now since I know the best way to save rings and blow past everyone on the track (:

[edge.]

MY favorite tracks on the games are Megalo Station, the Boulevard tracks (I freaking love all the nostalgia in them.), the MetorTech tracks and Astral Babylon. Also the Gravity Control for turning around on the 90 degree turns are easier to maneuver and pull than the Drifting in the original.

[JezMM]

I loved the fact that the music was dynamic in this game. Dynamic in a very simple way, but dynamic all the same. Dynamic dynamic dynamic.

But yeah, Megalo Station is one of the coolest opening stage tracks ever I think. It's too bad it lost it's impact by us hearing the first 20 seconds a few times in tutorial mode before getting to hear it properly in Story.

Also: Evil AI in Free Mode only? That solves why I can't win the secret courses. I only ever play them on free mode, whereas the rest of the time I'll play through story mode when I want to play (Do Hero Story + Hero Secret Courses, then Babylon + Babylon Secret Course ...s'how I roll with replay on Riders 1 too).

it's about the only time in the game where the hovering from the cornering move actually comes in handy.

I know of this technique and use it on Astral Babylon but still can't beat it, lol. My favourite place to use that technique is on Crimson Crater's U-bends. Very satisfying. In fact, the 100-ring capsule is only accessible by doing so.

Edited July 19, 2009 by JezMM

[Gabz Girl]

Hmm..Zero Gravity is, to me, about on par with the first Sonic Riders. It's good. Not as good as Secret Rings, but it's not average either like ShtH.

I enjoyed the music, the stages (which were better looking than the first game's stages) and the cutscenes, even real time ones. SEGA Carnival and the other SEGA stage are better than the ones we got in Zero Gravity though. ^^;

What bugged me though were the storyline, the controls, the AI and the unlockable content. First off, the storyline is ridiculous and makes no sense. Jet is an alien? Whaaa.. @_@

I don't know how the controls are for GNC controller (haven't tried out yet) but they feel really hard to master with the Wii remote. It took me a long time to get used to cornering and using Gravity Boost or whatever it is. Doesn't help much either that the AI is very unfair most of the time and hard to catch up to. SEGA should've had a Difficulty option for this game!

And the unlockable stuff is ridiculous. What do we get to fill in two slots? Tikal? Marine? NO. It's two daft robots! Then there's Super Sonic and other Extreme Gears and...eh. =S

[JezMM]

Lol, I always found it odd that people always complained about the robots. They didn't really "steal" any slots from other characters. They were made for story mode and the developers thought "might as well throw them in as secret characters". They didn't at any point go "okay what's our development time budget for characters?" "we have two spaces left" "okay, let's make random robots". D=

[ovarloard]

ZG is a pretty good game; in my opinion, everything is better than it was in the first Riders. The computers do cheat a bit, but it's still easy to win against them. I'm not as much of a "competetive" gamer as most; I really don't care how hard the game is, so I'm fine with the difficulty (or lack thereof). The tracks all look nice, and the techno music is just... really, really good.

I also like the addition of the Survival Mode; while the games are hard to pick up, they're a blast to play.

Edited July 20, 2009 by OvErLoRd

[edge.]

ZG is a pretty good game; in my opinion, everything is better than it was in the first Riders. The computers do cheat a bit, but it's still easy to win against them. I'm not as much of a "competetive" gamer as most; I really don't care how hard the game is, so I'm fine with the difficulty (or lack thereof). The tracks all look nice, and the techno music is just... really, really good.

I also like the addition of the Survival Mode; while the games are hard to pick up, they're a blast to play.

This. The ghost data thing isn't that good though.

[Leon K Fox]

Okay seriously, I've had this game for a few weeks now and I still can't used to it, even on the Gamecube controller, the boards just feel so slow and I can't stand the gravity powers. I suddenly feel like I wasted

Edited August 4, 2009 by Leon K Fox

[SchemingMinor]

Zero Gravity, while the curve is at first hard to control with the new gimmicks of "Meteor Blast" and "Meteor Dives", you get used to it pretty quick. Missions are easier in this game than the first one, and Eggman comments you on your rank after each play (which I am currently doing a codex for, collecting all of those wonderful little sayings from him.) The Grand Prix is bland and easy once you know your way around things. Honestly, they could have put in a winning animation cutscene for each character as a treat like in Mario Power Tennis, or even a ceremony like in Mario Kart! The bad things with Meteor blasts is that if you try to angle yourself to jump from mid air to a wall, sometimes you will go flinging off through the track, or your character won't connect to the road.

Good thing is that the models for characters are much better than the first one, for example, Robotnik doesn't have square sleeves. But again when you view replay and see the other computer controlled rivals, their frames are choppy and flat.

Good points:

Character models are better.

Ring collecting is easier.

Characters can now run ala the Sonic games and jump off of spring boards.

Meteor dives and blasts add a new and interesting element to the game's atmosphere.

Missions are easier.

Rail grinding connection is smoother.

Better soundtrack for the most part.

Bad points:

Characters only have one attack.

You cannot do named tricks.

Meteor blasts sometimes send you off course or through tracks.

Graphic frames are bad for AI characters.

AI isn't that bright or challenging.

Robotnik still can't ride hoverboards. In fact, he cannot ride the multi-skill vehicle (Rainbow) like in the last game (Omnipresence).

Robotnik cannot let one rip in Sonic's face. Blast you for taking away all of my fun!

It does have some replay value, but like any other racing game, you might get bored with it pretty quick.

(Also, Big Bang is a overpriced piece of shit. It wastes more GP than other vehicles, and it's harder to store them and has a low top speed. Good thing is that it will let your character go into 'attack mode' if you want to see that when you top your GP meter, but it's useless for the most part.)

[Link451]

The original was much better. I loved the air system. It made everything more intuitive and it made it not feel as much of like a bland racer. Not only that, but ZG took out the ability to boost and attack opponents completely. That was just dumb. It made it often feel like you were just going straight forward with no extra twists. The gravity system was also annoying, and I didn't like the music or storyline as much. It was also dumb how you had to go to the options menu and basically memorize the stats of all the boards. It was an unnecessary hassle. They easily could've just included the stats when you choose a board, like in the first one. So yeah, I wasn't a big fan of ZG. Disappointing, because I did really like the first.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Link451

[Blue Blood]

Good points:

Character models are better.

Actually, they're lower-poly in the sequel. Character went from having hexagonal ends to theior gloves to having trianglur ones.

[Leon K Fox]

Actually, they're lower-poly in the sequel. Character went from having hexagonal ends to theior gloves to having trianglur ones.

Yeah, the graphics on the whole were definatley alot worse in Zero Gravity I found, which didn't do the game any favours.

[JaidynReiman]

I, frankly, liked ZG... but I'll admit, it wasn't really any better or worse than the prior. I think it was very helpful removing turbulence, because that made things a hassle, -especially- if you were trying to take a different path but you were caught up in the turbulence (ZG still has -some- form of turbulence, but its only during certain intervals, generally during a curve, and you can easily get off in one of the directions, while the side you can't get off doesn't have an alternate path you can take unless you jump off the the top). Other helpful things were the addition of the Tutorial.

On the other hand, I kinda liked Gravity Dive, and Gravity Control was pretty sweet... I did -not- like how you were forced to use Gravity Control to turn, though. Also, the AI is definitely heavily flawed; the main game is too easy, while the Free Race is insanely hard. A decent AI system where you can -select- the difficulty, like in Mario Kart, would definitely be greatly appreciated if another is made. Finally, I dislike the continued use of "generic robots" as well as the inclusion of the SEGA characters, whom could've all been replaced by decent Sonic characters.

As far as the Air System goes, I definitely don't think it was used correctly... in the next game (if there is one) they -could- bring air back to replace gravity, and use it for sliding and boosting, as well, but it shouldn't force you to walk when you run out. That is something which is definitely a major detractor for many.