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Sonic riders, supposed to be the sequel to Sonic R, which had no plot. I loved it. The new one then has to beat the original Sonic riders.

What Sonic Team have done is made a sequel that works

But I want to firstly point out that I am disgusted by the reviews already out there. They say the same, ? controls are bad?, ?far too slow?, ?far to short attitude. I'm sorry, all of them are wrong.

Let me explain: The bad controls for one, are bound to be a bit shoddy on the Wii using the Wii-mote because the game was never originally designed for the Wii. Also there is a certain ?knack? to play this game. What you have to do is when you cross the starting line, leave the left joystick alone, till turning a corner, then turn in the direction of the corner. (still get under-steer but not as much). This saves you bashing into things.

Too slow? I agree that sometimes, yes it is too slow in parts. But like I said before you have to really know how to play this game, to reap the rewards. I blitzed most races, only going slow up till the first corner. I just kept thinking, ?How is this too slow? Come on!?.

And as for short story? The plot is good, I least I think so, its not serious unlike previous Sonic titles. And for the record, Sonic racing games have a sort of genetic code, remember the original Sonic R? You could complete that in under an hour. So the shortness of the story, campaign mode just makes this game a proper Sonic racing game.

So the Original Sonic Riders to beat then.. Has it done it?

Well the graphics look, sort of the same really I struggle to see any difference.
Same voice actors, improved with experience I guess but.. Errr
The soundtrack is awesome, less annoying songs than on the original, and it changes slightly when you used that furious gravity control. Which is a nice touch.

Gameplay is different, very different. You have to upgrade you gear during every race to unlock abilities like grinding and smashing stuff up. Then there is that mega gravity control which lets you drift around corners similar to the wind drift mechanism in the previous title.

Its the same story with the gravity dive, its a hyped up version of the boost button used in the previous title. These aren't annoying differences, just different.

What Sonic Team have done is made a sequel that works, these changes and tweaks they've made have completely changed the game, the entire experience.

Which is all very, good and dandy. But its lost something, I can't put my finger on it. I can't say what it is, but I kept thinking it the whole time. I didn't get the same thrill I got from the original Sonic Riders; I got a different thrill, of that I am certain. But it lost some of it's magic? If we can call it that?

The thing is I can't even tell you to buy this game, because, why I loved Sonic Riders so much is because I kept going back to it, after a week, or two, for a quickie. It's affect hit me only after I cleared the campaign. So if it doesn't happen that way for you, you would have wasted your money. So rent before you buy, my advice to you.

Having said this though; I can't even say if Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is better than Sonic Riders, because I've only had it less than a week.

What I can say is this: Its a different experience, a good Sonic game, and it will only be a good Sonic racing game if I come back to it in a few months.. Which I suspect I will.

And to anyone saying this a Mario Kart rip-off, three words: Crash Team Racing.
And to anyone saying this a F-Zero rip off, one word: Wipeout.