Sonic Free Riders

The gameplay of Free Riders looks like an improved vesion of Zero Gravity's gameplay. The graphics look more smooth and high quality, too. I can't help but be a little excited to try this game out and see if it is any good. I just question one thing: Will there be an improved story mode that would allow players to do more things and visit various places on foot?

 

Hey, let's talk about those new screens that were released a few days ago.

I personally can't decide whether or not the game looks good. I'm glad Sonic's model finally has some consistency to it, and the new gear looks kinda cool, but essentially upscaling an old game to HD resolution brings out every single flaw. It even looks like they started with something running in 4:3 and stretched it to 16:9. I mean, look how fucked up the perspective is on anything not in the dead center of the shot.

 

It's like they have Sonic Xtreme syndrome, where the camera is all fisheye all the time.

 

Exactly. If you were looking through a window of sorts, and Knuckles was to the left of Sonic, he wouldn't look that squashed and deformed, no matter how oddly shaped his head already is.

 

It's been the same consistent design since Heroes with the exception of 06. The other games have all kept the same design, with the only difference being his bottom spine was a bit longer than normal in the Wii titles, In fact, the Unleashed models are actually the official CGI models they've been using since a bit after Shadow the Hedgehog.

 

Eh, I meant compared to the past Riders games. He seemed even taller and more lanky than he was in Sonic '06.

 

Oh, yeah in Riders I have no idea what the fuck they were doing. I guess they just wanted a crazy new style.

 

Not to mention his hands and feet were hilariously WHOMG HUEG

I still think his shoes remind me of Ronald McDonald.

Which brings me to another weird thing I noticed, why in the hell didn't Sonic ever put his shades on? Same thing for Tails and Knuckles. Just there for show, I guess? I mean, Wave always put hers on during gameplay.

I know, I know, "Inconsistency, in MY Sonic game?" but still, always kinda urked me.

 

Moreso, why were they wearing them in the first cutscene, before they had any idea they'd be hoverboarding?

But yeah, that screenshot makes my eyes hurt. Maybe it's better in motion.

 

I'm more concerned in how horrible the characters look in the shot. They're all blurry and have signs of artifacting (more than would be expected from a professionally released jpg) and most of the characters look like they were just pasted in from a separate document in MS Paint.

I know Riders usually isn't a glowing gem for graphical superiority, but this is just silly.

 

No fake GI, no environment maps or self shadowing, I'm not even sure there's any real time lighting. Basically, what you'd expect out of a PS2 engine ported to the Wii ported to the 360, so it's no wonder that they don't look like they belong.

I get the impression they wanted to exaggerate the foreshortening of the character's arms and legs during tricks but didn't realize they could do it by messing about with the FOV, or perhaps realized their engine couldn't do it.

 

The field of view is seriously fucked up, compare the left ring to the right ring, I don't know what kind of effect they're aiming at but it looks utter shit, however it *could* look better in motion, but I seriously doubt it.

 

This game looks like it could work on the Wii.
Its not technically good, but it does look decent.
Riders have always had their batshit insane art directions.
But Oh my god...Anti-aliasing! Where the hell is it?


Although I did always find Sonic's interactions with Amy to be hilarious, even if the acting was a bit wooden.

 

The Riders games always look better in motion. Play either of the first two, pause, and then look at the ground. Yeah.

For what it's worth, they usually have fantastic aesthetics from a design standpoint, filled with surreal architecture, colors, and busy backgrounds. A spinoff series like this is also a perfectly acceptable way to use a quirkier style.

I'm not gonna get my panties all up in a knot over these screens. Whatever they're doing here may very well look great in motion. And I mean really guys, it's just Sonic Riders.

 

I've already accepted the fact that I probably won't play this until I have enough money to blow on a Kinect without putting too much of a dent in my account, or if there's something else released for it I actually want to play.

I will have to admit, the image Krigo posted doesn't look all too bad, outside of those hideous rings. Sonic in particular looks pretty good (though with a second glance I noticed his hand was also beginning to be absorbed by the camera).

 

Video preview from 1up, which has some direct feed gameplay footage:

 

Sonic Free Riders looks like a decent enough time-waster, not a game that warrants the purchase of Kinect though. Luckily for me I don't have to worry about buying Kinect since my brother is going to do that, so I might just get Free Riders in the future; probably around Christmas time when I get some extra cash.

 

The new voice actor for Sonic is actually surprisingly good. I've heard him in those lame Saturday Morning Cartoons.

On topic, I loved the first Sonic Riders and hated it. The A.I. was cheap and almost ALWAYS in the front. But I also loved the turbulence riding and the trick system. I do have a copy of the Wii version but I haven't touched it because I have a feeling the controls are abysmal.

And I'm not in any way excited for this because Natal looks boring as crap. When it comes to video games, until we have damned Virtual Reality, nothing will ever replace a button and a joystick. It just feels right.