Sonic Riders could have a future?

[BunnyMoon]

Personally, Sonic riders was an interesting idea for different sonic games, since these gave an intense and frenetic vibe, for me it could still have a few more games, but unfortunately since free riders the saga has not had a new game, What do you think?

(By the way my favorite of the whole saga is zero gravity)

[MetKey]

The Sonic Riders games are a part of the series I really loved back then. From the settings, the aesthetics and vibes, the songs, the concept, and a few other miscellaneous things. While the games themselves (or rather, the first two) were not perfect, they had their good amount of fun to be had and could be expanded upon with some QoL improvements.

That being said, I don't think we're going to see a new game anytime soon.

Ever since they decided to make the third entry a Kinect game (of all things), SEGA/Sonic Team have been distancing from it after the abysmal reviews it got, with only a few nods in some games and social media stuff.

It's sad that it had to go this way because it's was such a more interesting concept than Sonic riding a car.

[Sega DogTagz]

We will get another Sonic racer. It's his most consistent spin off and those will come back around eventually. 

Sonic Riders is likely dead though. The first two were fun enough, but the third was so bad, so poorly remembered, that the appetite for the nameplate just isn't there. It wouldn't be any different than going back to the Sonic 4 well. They are better off doing something different when the time comes to make another racer. 

[Indigo Rush]

I'll never sleep well until they make a Sonic Riders game with a cel-shaded visual style like the sketchy anime opening for the first game with a funky soundtrack by Hideki Naganuma. The concept takes up valuable space in my head and refuses to pay rent. 

But... yeah. Riders is likely dead, or if SEGA does decide it's worthwhile to try again, they'll tack on some sort of gimmick that would ruin the core experience in some form or another.

Now, I like the Sumo Digital racing games alright, but I don't think the kart racing genre is ever going to scratch that itch that Riders did. 

[BubbleButt TV]

Maybe some things are better left in the past. If they made a new one they probably wouldn't do it the justice it deserves anyways.

[Raya]

I loved Riders when it came out, but tbh I don't see any future for this sub-series. Sega is obviously more interested in classic racing games like Sonic Racing. Maybe in the future, but totally not in next 2-5 years. Especially when we are still drowning in nostalgic-classic-era bullshit and modern setting for games like Adventure or Riders is a little bit forgotten.

 

[itskidchameleon]

Yeah, I'm doubtful that we'll see another entry again, but you never know. With the way the most recent racing game leaned back into being Sonic-centric as opposed to Sega-centric that's at least a step in the right direction for, at the very least, a spiritual successor of some sort. Would be nice to see a racing game capture that more Sonic-like spirit again - kart racers just don't quite feel right.

You never, know, the original's 20th Anniversary is in 2026 - maybe they'll do a remaster for it or something then? Stranger things have happened

[Dreadknux]

Sonic Riders really was a product of a different era - and I don't mean in terms of quality or anything (although I'm pretty sure Free Riders killed that sub-series dead to be honest), but just the games industry and development in general. 15 years ago, you could get away with frittering a moderate budget on an experimental spinoff like Riders (while the Sonic Team worked on the next big AAA mainline game) because development costs weren't as high as they are today.

It's probably the same reason we haven't seen much in the way of interesting side games for Sonic since the DS/3DS era either really; those were the last machines where you could develop something on a reasonably low budget (that seemed to push the hardware at least - I know indie studios can make some amazing things happen on modern systems but they're not pushing any graphics benchmarks - and for big companies like SEGA, if you're not doing that then what's the point). It's pretty much understood that Team Sonic Racing was developed 'as a budget title', but even then I expect the costs of that would have been way more than SEGA would have likely been willing to spend on a Sonic Riders (and most likely the reason why TSR was as 'safe' as it was).

It's a shame because, as utterly chaotic and ridiculous as it was (with games ranging from surprisingly good to terrible and even downright strange), the 2000-2011~ period of Sonic games was never boring. I'd like to see some new low-budget, spinoff experiments being made with the franchise at some point.

As for Riders, I thought it was decent - once you figured out how to actually play the game (you're kind of left on your own to figure out a major gameplay mechanic which exponentially makes the game ten times more enjoyable).  Wouldn't mind another one.

[BubbleButt TV]

14 minutes ago, itskidchameleon said:

You never, know, the original's 20th Anniversary is in 2026 - maybe they'll do a remaster for it or something then? Stranger things have happened

bruh they didn't even do anything for Adventure 2's 20th anniversary last year

[itskidchameleon]

1 minute ago, BubbleButt TV said:

bruh they didn't even do anything for Adventure 2's 20th anniversary last year

to be fair, Adventure 2 has already had a "remaster" so doing something would've involved effort on their part - they've already ported Battle to most platforms, it's anniversary would've warranted a remake or something that would've been way to much hassle.

I'm not saying it's likely by any means, but at least with Riders they could just do the usual low-budget "HD Remaster" nonsense and churn it out in a few months if they wanted to, and people wouldn't be able to complain.

[isCasted]

If the leaks of Frontiers plot are true and we're going back to some of the more... "cool" aspects of the franchise, then I can see SEGA maybe trying to dabble in the "dark age" concepts like hoverboards again. Having replayed the original Riders recently (it's been, like, 10 years) with proper understanding of the mechanics, the game is simply crazy amounts of fun.

My wishlist:

1) OG Riders as a baseline. Even the air management system, which a lot of people seem to dislike, is something I consider important. The risk-reward aspect of it is simply too rewarding to be cut outright. To make the system less punishing for newbies they could make starter gear less air-hungry or place "air particles" along the track in a similar fashion to rings

2) Buying upgrades in the middle of a race, like in ZG, except with an actual abilitiy to choose and with more choices overall. Also, upgrades not resetting when you take damage or fall into a pit. Alternatively, you can choose which upgrade you're willing to lose in those cases instead of just losing all of them. Maybe have additional collectibles besides rings to pay for upgrades with

3) More tracks overall. Easier ones, as well as harder ones

4) More complexity in the tracks. More trick ramps, more short-but-sweet speed/flight/power shortcuts as well as ones that require more input from the player (some of the Mission Mode challenges where the entire track is plastered with grind rails, dash rings or breakables were really fun). Higher routes that require approaching the ramp at a specific angle, as well as middle routes that don't require perfection but are still better than the bottom routes

5) SEGA All-Stars cast. Please

[Red Hot Jack]

Man I do want a proper Sonic racing game with populated online and full of content. Riders is such a good choice, it was unique, still has a fandom as of today and it's still part of the canon (there have been a lot of official drawings with extreme gears and the Babylon Rogues). The thing is... the series is in the past, yeah.

As you guys said more tracks and more complexity would be cool in an hypothetical new installment, having the modern cast in it as well as some SEGA guests for tradition, and obviously it would have an actual story unlike anything since Free Riders.

I would also remaster some of the original Riders tracks, it would be so cool, man. Let me keep dreaming lol