Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is missing the sense of speed that we expect from Sonic. It isn’t entirely gone, but only shows up in short bursts. The really fast parts tend to happen on invisible (or visible) rails. Everything else seems like the slow part between the shortcuts and boosts. We do like the courses, which are packed with flashy scenery and things that will slow you if you run into them. And we’re indifferent about the new gravity controls.

Part of the lack of a feeling of speed comes from the fact that the characters handle sluggishly. Corners are tough to get around - which is ok if you like a challenge. The new gravity powers launch you into the air at really fast speeds with a satisfying space/time warping gravity burp effect, but they’ll fly you straight into a wall when not used in the parts of the track that are designed to accommodate them. You’ll recognize these sections because a message will literally flash onto the screen telling you what power to use.