Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity is a racing game that plays largely identically to its predecessor. It is based around a set of anti-gravity devices called "Extreme Gear". Players compete to complete three laps around the course the fastest, with each race having upwards of eight characters. The trick system from the first game returns, now requiring players to time their jumps off ramps for better ranks.

Each character in Zero Gravity has their own statistics that affect their performance, and are restricted from using certain Extreme Gear. Characters are divided into three classes: Speed characters are able to use grind rails, Fly characters can fly through boost rings, and Power characters can break through select obstacles.

The Babylon Rogues retrieve an Ark of the Cosmos, one of five relics capable of controlling gravity, intending to use them all to power Babylon Garden's warp engine. Other Arks fall from the sky, with one of them striking technology company MeteoTech's Crimson Tower. As a result, the robots inside go haywire and begin a global rampage. Sonic, who is traveling with Tails and Knuckles, finds one of the Arks.

He is attacked by the robots, but uses the Ark's power to escape. While being pursued, the trio runs into Amy, who has also found one of the Arks. The four head to MeteoTech to investigate, where they run into the Rogues, and Storm chases after Amy in an attempt to take her Ark. The others venture further inside, where they discover the company's owner, Doctor Eggman.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity was developed by Sonic Team for the PlayStation 2 and Wii, though it was originally envisioned for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was directed and produced by Kenjiro Morimoto, who also served as a designer alongside Hiroshi Miyamoto and Masanosuke Shimizu. The game features CG animated cutscenes by Studio Anima, directed by Kiyonobu Kitada.

Sega announced the game on August 22, 2007 at the Games Convention. It released in North America on January 8, 2008, followed by Japan on January 17, Europe on February 22, and Australia on March 6. The PlayStation 2 port was not released in Japan.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity received mixed reviews from critics. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic assigned the PlayStation 2 version 59.31% and 56/100 and the Wii version 57.04% and 56/100.

Like its predecessor, Zero Gravity received criticism towards its controls. com criticized how awkward it was to steer due to needing to hold forward on the control stick. Writing for GameSpot, Joe Dodson said "The basic Wii tilt controls are imprecise, and it's easy to find yourself ping-ponging between walls. You can and should use the D pad, although you can't disable the tilt controls."