(“Happy Days” by Sesame Street plays)
This game is brought to you by…
The Letter E, as this game is for everyone!
The Number 49.99, as that is how much the game costs at this date without tax.
And a square in a car, as this is a racing game for the NGC, as being reviewed.
(The Sesame Street Characters come out to say hi, but then the film breaks, showing Denny W. Koopa putting makeup on.)
What? We’re on live? Already?! Hello… This game will be rated on a 1-5 scale, as that’s the number of fingers that I have.
Graphics: **
This is just another average score for the GameCube, as there is no real difference from any other game on it. As many people like all of the 3D courses, I like the unlockable tracks that give you a breeze through some classic Sega hits. I also like the Egyptian track inside the pyramid, as it seems very mysterious just like a labyrinth. Yet, these were the only two ones that barely stood out, and nothing at all “wowed” me.
Music: *1/2
Umm… Some music was okay, but it was not very good all together… The only song that I like was the Egyptian track… it has a sort of stadium type feel that just makes you feel as if you accomplished something great to make it there… Otherwise, the tunes aren’t memorable at all, some not even fitting into the theme of the track. Like, there’s one track called Splash Canyon that, once again, goes to the techno theme. Now that I think about it, the whole game revolves around techno, except for one track.
Characters: ***1/2
Characters are very reasonable in this game. It starts out with the four main characters, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, but also adds three new characters, Jet the Hawk, Storm the Albatoss, and Wave the Swallow. There are also many unlockable characters, like Shadow, Rogue, Dr. Eggman, Robots, and three classic Sega characters.
Gameplay: **1/2
All you have to do is basically race. There is a mission mode, but it still revolves around all of the tracks you go on. There is also the Boss Battle, probably the most fun part of the game, and Vs. Battle, with the same balloon idea basically.
Controls: **
I didn’t find the controls that appealing, and it’s always hard to get used to. You accelerate automatically, and to break, you have to hold A, which is also a charge. Of course, you use the control stick to maneuver. Also, you press L and R at the same time to trap your opponents, which I found absolutely useless, as it wastes your air and time. On jumps, you can charge to jump longer. Also, move the control stick around to do tricks, which help you get air. The air tank… Also, press B to boost, and if you boost into another person, you attack them. You need it to power your board. If you completely run out of it, you will have to run to a pit stop and regain. Running loses a lot of time, even if you are the fast, Sonic the Hedgehog! Also, different types of characters have special abilities. Speed characters can press A twice near rails to grind, Flight characters must go off a jump and control to go up or down through the air loops, and Power can simply punch through walls. All of these add air to your tank, unless you get a different type of board.
Boards: ***1/2
There were many varieties of boards, but half of them are just for looks. However, some have advantages to them. Some boards grant characters other powers, like Power and Speed Characters can use the Flying Carpet Board to be able to use Flight Power, along with their original power. There is even one that gives you all three powers! However, these boards also have disadvantages. Many have lower air tanks, or won’t let you get air by collecting rings or performing stunts. The one that gives you all powers has an AWFUL speed, and everyone passes you anyway. The best board you can get is The Legend, designed like the American Flag, which makes you jump extra high off jumps without using any effort. And what is the advantage of jumping high? Most of the best shortcuts force you to jump high to get to them!
Tracks: *1/2
Most tracks have their own unique style with many shortcuts to make the race very interesting. However, it’s not the quality of the tracks that mainly gave it this low score, it’s the quantity. (Boy did that sound smart! Two words that begin with Q in the same sentence!) There are 16 tracks in the game. That’s about the same amount as any Mario Kart game. So why’s it so bad? Half of the tracks are sequels, which are harder then the original half! This adds little variety. Here is a little run over the five main tracks.
Metal City: This is the futuristic racetrack. It shows many hover cars all around. Highlights of This Track: Jump at the start, traffic at an intersection, and the sharp turn towards the end. Its sequel is called Night Chase, with a confusing sewage part near the beginning, and raging cops chasing you around. Speed characters do very well here.
Splash Canyon: This course is like a tour through a national park, filled with a small pond, waterfalls, a cave, rapids, and a plateau! Highlights of This Track: The rapids, tight turn before the cave, a high jump, rainbow shortcut. Its sequel is Red Canyon, taking place at a sunset, and revealing a cave with many paths, rather than the first pond. Power does well here.
Egg Factory: This is a course in the villain’s domain. You race on platforms and mechanic, man-made caves. What lies below you? Lava. Highlights of This Track: Machines running all over, a capsule machine that leads to a daring shortcut, and the corkscrew at the end. Its sequel is Ice Factory, which is a mirror image, and instead of being mostly red, is mostly blue. This track makes you use a lot of air power. Power does well in the Egg Factory, while Flight has the advantage in the Ice Factory.
Green Cave: This is the jungle course, filled with crawling bugs, Susan’s favorite! This is also the only track with not as much techno music. It seems more Mayan,, Well, anyways… Highlights of This track: Corkscrew in the front, a millipede climb, and the spider web high jump shortcut. It’s sequel is White Cavern, which is obviously white, but also starts out in what looks to be a worm’s huge tunnel. Power does great in both versions, but Flight does too.
Dry Desert: This is the only track that gives the game fun. It starts in a coliseum, takes you out into the desert, through Egyptian ruins, into a pyramid, and you fly out at a little pit stop near the end back to the coliseum. Highlights of This Track: The many paths in the pyramid, a catching up pit stop, and coming into the cheering stadium. The sequel is Dark Desert, with monstrous sand dunes, a much more puzzling pyramid, as well as a race through the town in the end. Power does great in The Dry Desert, but Speed’s definitely the best choice for the Dark Desert.
Story: *
The story is really boring, and kind of hard to follow. Sonic and his friends are walking down the street, and see Jet, Storm, and Wave, also known as The Babylon Rogues, racing through on their boards. They have a trash-talking contest. Later, Sonic sees a contest on a billboard and signs him and his friends up. Then, they go to each track and trash talk more, not even explaining how they got there. I’m sure that you can just run really quickly from a futuristic city to an empty canyon just like that… Anyway, in the final race, Sonic is about to win, but one of the Babylonians explodes their board from a tick they put on it earlier, and Jet comes in first. He gets the prize, which is a cube that opens the Floating Temple of Babylon. There, they race, beat up Eggman, enter the palace, and have to face the temple spirit in order to get a treasure. I don’t believe racing games need stories. Think of Mario Kart. You just race in the Grand Pix to get money. It’s simple and flawless… A story in a racing game, from my point of view, is a waste of time. Basically, the story got in the way of gameplay.
Replayability: **
You can do the story in Babylon’s point of view to unlock the sequel tracks. It’s more challenging, but still beatable. Other then that, there’s nothing really to do but Mission mode, where you have to make stunt points from jumps, collect things throughout the tracks, and other stuff like that, including unlocking all the boards and characters. Battle and Tag mode, the two versus games, are very boring, and racing isn’t fun without an expert player as your opponent. Otherwise, the friend will be troubled by the controls, and a confusing explanation of the game that you have to say in a short amount of time.
Fun Factor: *1/2
The game is fun at first, but once you’ve mastered it and unlocked the sequel tracks, you’ll find it to be a boring game of just racing on the same tracks over and over again. With the lack of replayability and lack of variety in tracks, the game will soon be over, not long after it begins.
Overall: *1/2
Like I said in Fun Factor, it is fun at first, though challenging to get used to the controls. Once you master it, you will get too bored of the lack of replayability with the same patterns in tracks to even bother. The game is over not long before it starts. Also, friends new to the game will have trouble learning it quickly, as it is kind of tough to explain. Out of things that bother me the most, I feel that if I hear another techno song like thos, I will scream my head off! I didn’t like Mario Kart Double Dash that much. Compared to this game, I still thought it was much better than Sonic Riders. Why? Mario Kart Double Dash and Sonic Riders are both racing games. However, there are many more different tracks in Mario Kart than in this game, due to half of the tracks being sequels, giving the game basically eight tracks in total. Would I recommend you buy it? No. If you really HAVE to play it, rent it. It takes only two weeks to start to get bored of it. Here ends this Review, Denny W. Koopa.
(“Happy Days“ plays, but slows down very quickly and comes to a stop, making it sound unhappy.)
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