Sonic Riders PC Game

Like most popular platformer franchises, the Sonic series has dabbled in the racing genre in the past with games like Sonic R for the Saturn. Despite the fact that Sonic's already-speedy nature might seem like a perfect fit for a racing game of some sort, the results of these attempts have been disappointing thus far. Sonic Riders is the latest attempt to get Sonic back on the race track, though this one eschews the typical kart- and foot-racing brands of racing usually found in a racer starring popular platformer heroes. Instead, Riders gives Sonic and pals their very own Back to the Future II-style hoverboards, which they can use to dart and dash around wacky tracks of varying levels of difficulty. 

Unfortunately, Sonic Riders isn't much better than any of Sega's previous attempts to make Sonic a racing hero, simply because it can't quite keep its diverse and chaotic racing mechanics together in one cohesive package. There are times when you'll find yourself enjoying how blazingly fast the game can go and other times when you'll be frustrated beyond belief by the very same thing. And that's all within a single race.

The premise behind Sonic Riders is going to be utterly impenetrable to anyone but the most ardent Sonic fans. Along with his pals Knuckles and Tails, Sonic is, once again, on the hunt for chaos emeralds. Suddenly, the team witnesses the theft of an emerald by some very edgy, cute-looking thieves riding hoverboards (or, "extreme gear," as they're known in the game). Not long after that, Dr. Eggman shows up and starts rambling about wanting to hold an extreme-gear racing tournament for some reason or another. 

Minimum:
 OS: Windows XP SP3
 Processor: 2 GHz Intel Dual Core Processor
 Memory: 2 GB RAM
 Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon HD 2600 (256MB minimum)
 DirectX «: 9.0c
 Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space
 Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible
Recommended:
 OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Windows 7
 Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Quad Core Processor
 Memory: 3 GB RAM
 Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX460/ATI Radeon HD 5850 (512MB minimum)
 DirectX «: 9.0c
 Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space
 Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible