Sonic Free Riders Kinect Game Review

Microsoft's Kinect has finally arrive and there are a bunch of titles already available, most of which are family party games for kids. Sonic is the only big-name franchise to hit Kinect with Sonic Free Riders. It's definitely one of the more exiting titles and if players take the time to learn the controls they might find this hoverboard racing game with Sonic and friends a delightful experience.

As previously mentioned Sonic Free Riders is a hoverboard racing game which has seen entries on the Gamecube, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 2 in the past. Players race around closed circuit tracks launching of ramps, attacking each other with weapons, grinding, gliding, and boosting their way to victory. None of the previous titles have received much success but with the gimmick of Microsoft's Kinect to back the latest game, Sonic might see more success this time around.

There really isn't much of a story, Sonic must utilize the power of the Extreme Gear (a hoverboard) to teach the Babylon Rogues (a group of wack Birds) some manners. Somewhere along the way Dr. Robotnik (or Eggman) shows up and the Chaos Emeralds play a part in the story. There is nothing here to make you care, or even interest you about the story, it's just about classic arcade racing fun. Disappointingly all cut scenes are done with talking heads, at least they are all voiced by a completely new cast which finally makes Tales sound like a little boy, Jet however manages to sound even more annoying than ever.

Players control the board by standing with their feet parallel to the screen, just as if they're on a snowboard. Bending at the waist is how you navigate the board, leaning further back to turn sharper corners. Players can boost by kicking their leg forward and striking back as if they where pushing a skateboard faster. When approaching a ramp or jump players can crouch and jump to pull off tricks in the air. Each of the weapons have a specific motion control as well. The bomb is thrown like an American football, the Bowling ball is bowled ect. The famous golden rings present in every Sonic game are scattered across the tracks and if collected they will level up a players hoverboard. Once you level up you're board will become faster, however if you get hit by an enemies attack you will loose some of you're rings which will cause you're board to level down.

Sonic Free Riders also contains bikes, players stand facing the TV with their hands out as if they're gripping onto handlebars. When on a bike the boost and attacks are controlled the same way as the boards. You can even sit down while playing on a bike which some people might prefer but it does get tiring on you're arms after a while.

The controls have to be pulled off exactly as the game wants otherwise it has trouble reading you're actions, simple things like not throwing with the same arm as the on screen character was using would cause it not to work. It was frustrating at first but as i played more the game became more fluid and responsive and i was able to pull off the actions with much more ease. None of the previous Sonic Riders games have impressed me at all, i found them all boring but this one seems to capture the arcade feel very well and does provide allot of fun.

Sonic Free Riders story mode is broken up into a variety of missions, with each team having their own individual missions. They all seem to similar and feel like extended tutorials. Players begin by learning the various skills each character has before heading into full races. The game breaks up races so you are not just doing race after race, in between you will have to collect rings and pull of skills which does help stop the feeling of repetition slightly.

The motion controls are extremely frustrating in the poorly designed menu, however surprisingly good voice commands make this less of a disappointment. Players can simply say "Free Race" to select that mode. It is a bit much to ask players to remember the names of all the courses and gear parts though.

As players progress through the campaign they will earn new boards, gear parts, and rings which can be used to purchase additional items. All boards have their strengths and weaknesses but the real depth comes with the gear parts. Each board has two slots which can fit gear parts, whichever part of the board is facing forward is the part that is activated. These can be anything from skills that allow players to grind rails to a shield that pulls in rings for a power-up that gives players a bigger jump in the air. Choosing which gears parts to add to you're board will effect the way you play the game, this was a delightful addition to the game which I'm sure everyone will welcome.

Each of the 16 tracks has a number of shortcuts and secrets which open up different strategy possibility's. They're all well designed, feel unique, and they are all vibrant and beautifully coloured. The big problem i have is that 90% of every track is just going in a straight direction, it's extremely boring when essentially you are just going in a straight line all the time. This also makes me doubt Kinect's capability's. The game does run beautifully though and it is very pleasing when Dolphins jump over the track or Temples crumble.

The online multiplayer is where the game really shows the importance of having a strategy, players will need to know the tracks and know how they want to play these tracks to compete online. The co-op is fun as well, the mode "tag" links two players boards together. The mode is quite hard to master but it is extremely satisfying when you get two players synchronized together pulling of a special move or trick. On the other hand though if the two players don't work well together it can become a bumbling mess.

Overall Sonic Free Riders is probably the only game worth picking up for Kinect at the moment, but it's nothing more than a regular arcade racer using the Kinect gimmick to improve sales. The game does have some interesting depth which was a surprise as well as some impressive visuals but the disappointment with the tracks, poor menu, and nothing new or creative makes this passable.

Sonic Free Riders is not the reason to buy Kinect 6/10