Poor controls, a sloppy storyline, and short length make Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity a weak sequel.
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity features everyone's favorite blue hedgehog and his colorful crew of characters. Upon hanging out with his buddies Tails and Knuckles, Sonic discovers a strange meteor crash landing on Earth. Sonic finds out that the meteor is a special stone that allows him to control gravity, that and there are five of them. Apparently, there are some rogue robots on the loose who wish to control the stones, along with Sonic's rivals, the Babylon Rogues, and Sonic's long-time nemesis Dr. Eggman. What you get is another "hunt for the treasures" storyline, but sandwiched in with some robot battling and an ancient Babylonian myth. I'm sorry, but this is a really, REALLY bad storyline. If the first Sonic Riders didn't confuse you with its emphasis on "Extreme Gear," then Zero Gravity will leave you speechless. It's awful and forgettable, but to unlock most of the serious content, you'll have to persevere through the whole thing.
So let's talk controls. The good news is that there are three setups: horizontal Wii Remote, vertical Wii remote, and Gamecube controller. The bad news is that the first two controls don't work. The whole gist of the Wii Remote setups is that you tilt the Wii Remote to turn. The problem is that the tilt recognition is poor and in such a fast-paced game where perfect the turns is essential, that just won't do. Fortunately, the Gamecube controller works fine, though you'll probably feel like Zero Gravity is just Sonic Riders 1.5 that way. New to the mix are some gravity defying abilities, like controlling gravity to match a tight turn or riding the air minus gravity to blast down straight-aways. These are actually pretty cool and add a dimension of speed to the game. If you can get a handle on the controls, then the game moves well and quickly, though getting a handle on the tilt controls is a feat itself.
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity offers a few twists to the racing formula. Performing tricks (or typically pressing the jump button at the end of a ramp) charges up the characters' GP, or Gravity Points, special points that let Sonic and crew use their Gravity powers. Collecting rings during races charges up Gear Changes, different modifications to the Extreme Gear. The modifications can range from a speed boost, to special abilities like Tails' ability to fly through air rings or Knuckles' ability to punch through obstacles. These do add a cool dimension to gameplay, and keeping both GP and Gear Changes balanced can be a challenge. Different characters can go through different shortcuts depending on their Extreme Gear and they do show a much better emphasis than the original Sonic Riders. The track design, however, though it encourages shortcuts and multiple routes, is awfully bland and repetitive (most of the time) and considering that there's a very small amount of tracks, there is a serious lack of interesting ideas in the design.
As far as options go, there's a decent amount of content. The Story Mode is purely for unlocking courses and the whole thing can be completed in about a day. There's also some Time Attack, Survival and Grand Prix modes, along with the ability to purchase new Extreme Gear by spending rings. New to the mix is an online support, though there's no online racing. There's a leaderboard and downloadable ghost data, but you won't be able to compete head-to-head against online opponents. If you can overcome the issues of Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, you'll find a lot of things to do, but since many of the mechanics are broken and the courses so bland, this may be more an ordeal than expected.
Graphically, the game actually looks okay. It pales in comparison to a game like Super Mario Galaxy, but Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity has some good graphics and cosmetic track design. The cutscenes are animated well and the different tracks offer some interesting cosmetic twists. Some have a tendency to be pretty similar, but for the most part, the game looks pretty good. The sense of speed is definitely worthy of merit; it moves without a hitch. Sound-wise, you basically get what was the original Sonic Riders had. There's a cool mix of techno playing in the background and the sound effects are okay. The voice-acting is still polarizing: I personally found the voice acting to be cheesy and confusing, especially Jason Griffith's performance of Jet, who sounds in dire need of a throat lozenge. But we've dealt with weird voice work in the Sonic universe for years now, so there's no point in complaining now.
Pros
+ Nice sense of speed
+ Lots of things to unlock
+ Compatible with the Gamecube controller
Cons
- Wii controls are horrible
- Story Mode is short and poorly written
- Course design is sloppy
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is much better than its predecessor, but quite honestly, that's not saying much. The Wii controls are messy; you can't remove the tilt controls and the D-Pad turning isn't any better. If you have a Gamecube controller, stick to that, though you will then feel that the main premise of the Wii controls is wasted. If you can deal with the controls (or you have a Gamecube controller) the rest of the game is actually pretty adequate. The new Gravity abilities add a new dimension of speed and the entire game moves at a good clip. It's not as fast as F-Zero, but the game manages to produce some quick action and some good looking courses. Navigating the courses, however, is a pain due to some incredibly simplistic, though sloppy design. You'll no doubt be bouncing off the walls trying to regain control only to lose a first place finish from one mistake. Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity isn't horrible; it's just underwhelming. The game has its moments of high-intensity and over-the-top racing, but beneath the presentation are poor controls and generally broken mechanics. If you're looking for the next great racing title, avoid Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity and pick up a Mario Kart or F-Zero title. If you liked Sonic Riders, then Zero Gravity delivers the same experience, at the expense of its default controls. Anyone else may like it as a rental, but its mechanics and controls are too poor to be worth a serious purchase in that case.