DVDfever.co.uk - Sonic Free Riders Xbox 360 reviewDVDfever.co.uk - Charts, News and Reviews of Blu-rays, DVDs, Games, CDs, Hardware, Laserdiscs, Cinema Films & more
Sonic Free Riders: Video 1: Speed Showdown (720p HD)
Sonic Free Riders
is a board game... in that you're travelling on a hoverboard, but this isn't exactly as exciting as Back to
the Future II. Well, technically, it's an Extreme Gear, aka an air-board.
Now at this point, I'd go into detail as to what the game's about, but I really can't get that excited about it
for reasons that will become very much apparent, so I'm just going to sum up the press blurb which was essentially:
"For the first time use full-motion body control to twist and turn your way through a range of visually
stunning courses. Hi-octane fun for 'riders' of all ages, Sonic Free Riders brings extreme fast-paced
boarding action in a main event you won't want to miss!"
The point of the game is to stand sideways to the screen, leaning forward and back to move Sonic (or your chosen
character) the same way in the game. Stick your hands out to the sides to get rings, if you can't get them normally
and then up to catch those above you. Every so often, particularly while going over a ramp, perform air tricks by
catching air... i.e. jump.
Well, that's the idea, anyway. At first, I thought Sonic Free Riders was difficult to get used to, but it's
not that. It's just not precise enough and delays or ignores any reaction you make from your 'gear'.
Kinect Adventures
worked through this a lot better. It's just not very good at recognising where you are. Perhaps this project was
just a bit too ambitious, or maybe it's just badly-programmed. Sometimes it forgets you're in the middle of
a game and brings up the option to cancel the game. Huh?
Sonic Free Riders: Video 2: Ring Grab Challenge (720p HD)
Add to this, you'll generally get rings through luck rather than judgement and another level I played just ended
mid-way through just before I even got to a jump. Huh?!
Also, the between-level scenes are tedious and go on for ages, and why do I have to keep getting 'on my gear'
with Ochimao before EVERY SINGLE RACE?! It's just so annoying.
With poor control response, it's as bad as Lee Carvello's Putting Challenge, on The Simpsons. After a
few games, "Do you want to play again?"... "You have selected - no."
Is there anything good about this? Well, it looks and sounds okay, but when the gameplay is all-to-cock, you won't
be going back for regular trips on a board...
In this review, I've uploaded a number of videos which are as follows:
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
