The Sonic Riders Spin Offs Deserve a Second Chance

gamerant.com:

As part of Sonic the Hedgehog's 15th-anniversary celebrations, a curious futuristic racing game by the name of Sonic Riders was released in early 2006. The game introduced the Babylon Rogues, a group of thieves consisting of Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, and Storm the Albatross who serve as the rivals to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. While this sounds like standard Sonic fare, the game stood out in numerous ways. Thanks to the unique flavor of the title, fans still crave for it to make a comeback, and Sega should look into it for many reasons.

Like many of the Sonic the Hedgehog games that came out during the darker times of the hedgehog's history, it was given so-so ratings by critics, yet many fans adored the fast-paced and action-filled gameplay. The title sold well enough to warrant two sequels, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity for Wii in 2008 and Sonic Free Riders for Microsoft Kinect in 2010. Both titles sought to capture the same audience that adored the first title but fell shorter and shorter with each installment. However, despite the series' shortcomings, fans still crave for the Sonic Riders series to return.

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One of the biggest things that made the Sonic Riders games stand out was its style and attitude. It used a futuristic aesthetic for its levels, and in order to make Sonic and his friends mesh with the level design used to the game's courses, also gave the critters seen in the series a design overhaul. The designs were given a great chance to shine with a sharp and crisp sketchy 2D art style that many fan artists still copy for fan art to this day. The game also featured an animated intro by TMS Entertainment, the studio responsible for Sonic X, and it featured the