Could Sonic Riders Be Coming Back?

[CertifiedNobody]

Okay, just hear me out for a moment. With Team Sonic Racing seemingly having not done as well as expected and been subsequently abandoned, it looks like Sega might be done with the All Stars Racing series and its gameplay. But Sonic can't stay away from racing, Iizuka himself even considers it a major part of the games. 

Even if we get another installment, I think that once the All-Stars gameplay has been retired, Sega will go back to Riders. The game's been resurrected by it's competitive scene in recent years, and could potentially evolve into a significant esport. On top of that, now there are significant fangames and modding projects like Sonic RIders X and Tournament Edition. If the community for this keeps growing, Sega will likely see a demand for Riders and bring it back. It's not like they're opposed to bringing back older stuff considering Iizuka confirmed Adventure remakes/remasters and being considered if Colors Ultimate did well (it did).

If they do eventually resurrect the Riders series, they'll likely try and balance things between casual and competitive like Smash Bros does.

[Wraith]

No. I loved Sonic Riders and have dreamed what another sequel would be like for years, but I don't see it ever happening. 

I would like another skilled based Sonic racing game as I think it fits the series's speedrun focus well, but a viable esport needs a huge playerbase of casuals to start with and the Riders games never did particularly well.  That's why each entry was different from the last. It never quite caught on the way they wanted to.

Maybe I'm wrong and a good, polished entry in the series would make it shine enough that more people would want to get involved. That's the main thing though: It has to be better than Sonic games typically are and it has to have enough hooks to make casual players want to stick with it. 

Is it worth making "Sonic Riders 4" to meet those goals when that game got a lukewarm reception at best or would it be better to start fresh? We haven't gotten that foot racing game people on here used to talk about.

 

[CertifiedNobody]

14 minutes ago, Wraith said:

No. I would like it to. but I don't see it ever happening. 

I would like another skilled based Sonic racing game as I think it fits the series's speedrun focus well, but a viable esports needs a huge playerbase of casual players willing to learn the game to start with and the Riders games never did particularly well.  That's why each entry was different from the last. It never quite caught on the way they wanted to.

Maybe I'm wrong and a good, polished entry in the series would make it shine enough that more people would want to get involved. That's the main thing though: It has to be better than Sonic games typically are and it has to have enough hooks to make casual players want to try it. Is it worth making "Sonic Riders 4" to meet those goals or would it be better to start fresh? We haven't gotten that foot racing game people on here used to talk about.

 

There's always a chance. I don't think anybody in the 2000s expected Sonic 4 or Sonic Mania.

[Wraith]

5 minutes ago, CertifiedNobody said:

There's always a chance. I don't think anybody in the 2000s expected Sonic 4 or Sonic Mania.

Sonic Mania was such an obvious move that I saw people predict it to the letter in like 2012. We all expected it. It was just weird how long it took.

But yeah, I'll admit to being cynical. Anything could happen, and I mean hey they tried Sonic Riders three times to begin with so they must have saw something in it. Maybe that spark will hit them again

[CertifiedNobody]

6 hours ago, Wraith said:

Sonic Mania was such an obvious move that I saw people predict it to the letter in like 2012. We all expected it. It was just weird how long it took.

But yeah, I'll admit to being cynical. Anything could happen, and I mean hey they tried Sonic Riders three times to begin with so they must have saw something in it. Maybe that spark will hit them again

I meant back in the 2000s when 2d platforming seem dead outside of handheld consoles.

[Red Hot Jack]

Did TSR do bad in sales? Or reviews? I'm constantly getting these vibes by fandom, but I haven't seen any proof.

Was it abandoned and dropped by SEGA? Absolutely, from day 1 in fact. It's like they were planning to have no additional content, no support, maybe because the game itself was delayed and there had been criticisms to DLC in Forces (Super Sonic).

The complaints they got were (rightfully) that it had not much content and it wasn't focused on speed, traditional races, but rather on a convoluted team gameplay. Not enough Sonic characters, and no SEGA crossover at all.

The thing is, IMO Riders might be harder to make than a traditional kart racer, plus it's more of a niche thing that is becoming popular, kart racing games are more appealing to the general public, Riders didn't do that well in sales (mostly Free Riders, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten 3 of them), I'm not sure, I would totally be up for a new Riders, as much as I prefer Kart Racers in general. Riders was original, even though, like TSR, it didn't have that much content.

It could be back, it's getting modded, popular again, even SEGA acknowledged it's 15th anniversary. I'm all in for more spin-offs.

Mario & Sonic Winter is not happening for now, as it has been said Winter Olympics are too soon and nothing has been announced.

[batson]

The Riders games were never critical darlings, so I don't see why Sega would want to revive that brand instead of just doing brand new racing spin-offs.

Personally, I can't say that the Riders series is something I miss. I bought the first game back when it came out and I could barely even play it, and it ruined my interest in any sequels.

[Multikaris]

5 hours ago, batson said:

The Riders games were never critical darlings, so I don't see why Sega would want to revive that brand instead of just doing brand new racing spin-offs.

Personally, I can't say that the Riders series is something I miss. I bought the first game back when it came out and I could barely even play it, and it ruined my interest in any sequels.

R spawned a bunch of memes, Riders is a darling of dark era fans, and ASR seems to have done the best overall. But given what happened with TSR, I don’t know what they’ll do.

[CertifiedNobody]

3 hours ago, Snowragnarok said:

R spawned a bunch of memes, Riders is a darling of dark era fans, and ASR seems to have done the best overall. But given what happened with TSR, I don’t know what they’ll do.

What's ASR?

9 hours ago, batson said:

Personally, I can't say that the Riders series is something I miss. I bought the first game back when it came out and I could barely even play it, and it ruined my interest in any sequels.

I've played through the first game recently and it's definitely not Sonic's Mariokart or Crash Team Racing, but that's part of the appeal. While the tutorial could be easier to find and it's sequels threw most of it out, it's a lot of fun to learn the techniques and strategy of the game rather than it just be another luck-based mascot kart racer. I love Mariokart and the All-Stars Racing games, but managing the air of your board and pulling off tricks flawlessly is immensely satisfying.

I'm saying this not as someone who grew up with the game and has nostalgia, I only played through it recently since I wanted to try another Sonic racing series.

With Mario and Crash, Sonic might have to step away from the accessible kart-racer genre, but I guess only time will tell. They could always test the waters with a Riders Ultimate.

[J.R.]

Probably not. But I hope so, those games is sick!

(Except for Free Riders.)