Sonic Riders : Zero Gravity

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity for PlayStation 2 is Sega's 2008 futuristic racing game, developed by Sonic Team as the follow-up to 2006's Sonic Riders. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and a broad cast of Sonic characters compete on hovering machines called Extreme Gear rather than in conventional cars. The PS2 game turns the series' speed-driven races into a science-fiction adventure built around anti-gravity powers, with courses that send riders through cities, ruins, industrial complexes and space-bound locations.

Races generally pit up to eight competitors against one another over three laps. Each rider belongs to a Speed, Fly or Power class, which affects the routes and obstacles they can use: Speed characters can take grind rails, Fly characters pass through aerial boost rings, and Power characters smash certain barriers. The choice of character and Gear therefore matters beyond appearance, while ramps invite timed tricks. Rings collected during a race feed the Gear Change system, allowing a rider's equipped machine to activate preset parts that can provide useful performance benefits or route access.

Zero Gravity's defining addition is its Gravity Point system. Tricks and other racing actions build GP, which can be spent on two very different moves. Gravity Control alters the course's pull, helping a rider take tight turns, run along surfaces or reach alternate paths and shortcuts. Gravity Dive creates a forward pull for a dramatic burst of movement; nearby objects can be caught up in the effect, and hitting one during the maneuver can trigger a Meteor Burst. These abilities replace the earlier Riders game's fuel-based emphasis and make route selection and timing central to a successful run.

The game expands the Extreme Gear roster beyond returning board, skate and bike styles. Players can unlock additional machines through the in-game shop, and the new Air Ride, Yacht and Wheel types give the vehicle lineup a more unusual silhouette and handling variety. Story progress opens its racing content across eight themed areas containing 16 tracks. Outside standard races, Survival mode offers three multiplayer-focused variations: Survival Battle is a last-rider-standing contest with missiles, Survival Relay has two-rider teams hand off their Gear, and Survival Ball turns gravity manipulation into a goal-scoring game.

The story is split between connected Heroes and Babylon campaigns, although the Heroes side is the starting point. When the extraterrestrial Arks of the Cosmos begin affecting machines, Sonic and his friends become involved with a crisis centered on MeteoTech and its Crimson Tower. The Babylon Rogues—Jet, Wave and Storm—are also after the relics, which are tied to Babylon Garden. The campaign frames the races with CG scenes and eventually brings the competing groups together against the danger created by the Arks, giving this spin-off a larger plot than a simple tournament setup.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity follows Sonic Riders in the Sonic the Hedgehog racing spin-off line, but it is not a port of the earlier game. It was released in North America for PlayStation 2 on January 8, 2008, with a Wii edition released alongside the PS2 version in Western territories. The Wii version offered motion-based steering options as well as GameCube-controller support, whereas the PS2 release uses its native controller layout. Japan received the game as Sonic Riders: Shooting Star Story, but the PlayStation 2 edition was not released there.

For PS2 players, Zero Gravity is a self-contained arcade racer that mixes character classes, unlockable Gear and branching course opportunities with Sonic's fast-paced world. Its gravity moves provide both a way to recover from demanding corners and a route-planning tool, while the two campaigns and extra Survival events add goals beyond individual cups. The game was followed by Sonic Free Riders on Xbox 360 in 2010, making Zero Gravity the middle entry of the original Sonic Riders trilogy and a distinctly PlayStation 2-era take on Sonic racing.