Sonic Free Riders - Sonic Was Always Good

[@jasefrybo2232]

This man waited for this mod just to make a video about Free Riders. The patience in this guy is impressive

[@JonyPlayz1]

True lol

[@crimsonzone8984]

What about all the other meta era sonic games?

[@bigfanofsb653]

There is a way to make the controls less stiff if you enable the calibration screen and hold forward.

[@cosmiceternity2033]

How exactly do you configure that? That's a very neat thing to know!

[@tadaokou4919]

Just by watching this video I can at least tell that this game, visually speaking, looks amazing. Makes you wonder what a creatively designed 2023 Sonic Riders game could look like...or a Sonic Riders remake (faithful remake!). So much potential...but nothing is gonna happen with it...

[@TyvenPayne-sv6gw]

Here's a fun fact, this was the first sonic game that's uses the 2010's cast(In English), as well as the first spinoff games with this cast.

[@themissingbits6375]

So basically, Fans does What Sega-don’t.

[@Laekith]

Seeing Blaze and Cream playable in a "new" Sonic game brings me so much joy

[@charmyzard]

Cream returns from the void.

[@spritvio639]

Enjoy it. Aside from the mobile titles, you're probably not getting them again for a while. If ever anyway.

[@crimsonzone8984]

​@@charmyzardhow about this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHnId5uVjc-Vg7s

[@heroicgangster9981]

As a kid I really liked this game for the sleak modern Sonic aesthetics that Sega managed to bring for many of the characters that haven't featured in a modern Sonic game for a good while. I thank Cyberman65 for being a warrior always giving me the good gameplay and dialogue interactions that actually made use of more characters beyond Team Sonic and Team Babylon! If only there can be a new Riders game with a greater story ambition+budget with these characters - o-"

[@brian.d6808]

why does he call rings spray paint cans

[@ThyKosmikTym]

I can't wait to actually try this I always remember looking up playthroughs of this game. It was almost like an enigma to me bc of the Kinect stuff preventing me from playing it.

[@DanielAntovski]

Watching the footage gives me modern arcade vibes, it has that feeling of an arcade game

[@charleschamp9826]

I hope the renewed interest in this game means we'll get more models ripped from it and ported to other things, I don't mean only characters.

[@Romanode_]

Pariah avoiding colors like the plague

[@Laekith]

Can you blame him

[@Romanode_]

@@Laekithnot really

[@spritvio639]

He's missing the BBBE.

[@lpfan4491]

The colors don't feel right.

[@Kelps.mp4]

After seeing his Colors video, this is funny lol. Also, Colors is pretty good.

[@patofanatico]

Love the dedication of these modders. The game that doesn't even have that good of a reputation amongst the fanbase, but they went to great lengths to make it playable anyway. Off-topic, but after you're done with Pikmin 4, do you plan on covering Double Dragon Gaiden? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

[@Pariah6950]

I was considering it. But I've got some funky beats to attend to.

[@henriquezioto8760]

I knew you would make this video once i saw that this mod was a thing.

[@aahiljcat]

the sonic community maybe dumb sometimes, or can be toxic. But you gotta remember that they will never let a game die just like that

[@AdamSelvig]

Do a tutorial on how to get free riders

[@aahiljcat]

@@AdamSelvig on how to get what?

[@AdamSelvig]

@@aahiljcat the game

[@lpfan4491]

Me when constantly preaching that Shadow is a competent and possibly even good game beneath its faults:

[@jamainegardner4193]

​@@lpfan4491 all it needs is a minimap

[@ShoukerX]

In Order to do an X rank a lot of people say that you hace to press Y midair but actually thats not necessary as long has you have equip you're second gear part (to be more specific with regular stance characters its the gear on the left in the hud and with goofy stance characters its the gear on the right in the hud) and with that you just need to hold the right stick forward after jumping (and with bikes it doesn't matter anything of the gears, its just rigth stick forward) PD:also you can change the number of laps on the top right corner before choosing a course.

[@Hack_Man_VII]

God Speed, Mod Community!

[@waled7564]

balancing issues can be fixed with few modes so don't worry

[@self-absorbed5269]

You left out the most interesting part , this game introduced double boosting. Gears had gotten so efficient that updraft half-pipes only appear when gears connect. Plus it adds more to the interactive environment by interacting with other players. Double boosting isn't something Sonic Team wished into existence.

[@roiitzkovich4545]

You get an X rank by switching sides mid-air. Essentially, hold A and release to jump, and than press Y just when you take off of the ramp.

[@Pariah6950]

I tried that but it didn't work. Must have been timing it wrong.

[@roiitzkovich4545]

@@Pariah6950 It requires good timing to be executed consistently.

[@dioguin3120]

​@@Pariah6950 Actually you have to do that, but you have that while holding up on right stick

[@emperortoho]

@@Pariah6950 from what i’ve seen, you have to have your 2nd gear part selected to perform an x rank, meaning you need to press y in midair if you have your 1st gear part selected also yeah you also need to move the right stick up, but you don’t need to hold rt to do so

[@JonyPlayz1]

Interesting video 🤔I personally think that Free Riders is a really great & fun game on Kinect from my experience since you really just gotta play it right lol. The tracks, music & graphics are all things i think are great as well 👌 To get an X rank you can just tap the Y button once after unaliasing both controls stick which is how it's normally done. And also at 17:43 you say boosters don't speed you up but here you're showing your speed going from 170 to 200, so that didn't make much sense lol.

[@cosmiceternity2033]

Thank you so much for sharing some of these tips! I really enjoy this game now that I've gotten to try it and it's some of the most fun I've had with a video game in a cool minute (as shallow as that may sound, lol). Would you happen to have any other tips or tricks? (By the way, I think he meant to say that they only sometimes slow you down due to having a set speed unit. So if you're traveling above the booster's set speed, it'll slow your overall speed down. Unless it's like 17:43 where he actually is moving slower than the Booster's set speed)

[@JonyPlayz1]

@@cosmiceternity2033 No problem! It’s a pleasure. You’d like more tips for Kinect or Controller?

[@cosmiceternity2033]

@@JonyPlayz1 Controller if possible. I've been saving up to buy a Kinect and other consoles from the 2000's to properly experience them, so for now I'm stuck with PC 😂

[@JonyPlayz1]

@@cosmiceternity2033 I see lol

[@y2commenter246]

I'm interested in Kinect tips

[@aortaplatinum]

"Ay Ray, that's not even a Kinect, it's just a Monster can turned the wrong way" I'm REALLY looking forward to playing this on my 360 once it's playable without having to have a Kinect hooked up. Probably gonna jailbreak my console JUST for this.

[@LuigyMonsores]

I still don't because Sega decided to turn the Riders franchise into this aberration. It would be great if someday Sega would fix it, bring the mechanics of the previous games, the cutscenes and relaunch it for the new generation. Just a dream, I doubt Sega will do something like that but I miss the first two Riders even though the community keeps them alive.

[@CassiusStelar]

*finally* someone stripped away the one barrier of entry that made everyone turn this game away and call it horrible only for us to find out... Its still kinda poo

[@takeshihada9689]

In wise words of Johnny: "Do I look like a fit motherfucker?!"

[@unnamed12346]

Huh, I would have figured the Pikmin 4 video would have come out sooner. Besides that, though, I'm glad to see the game actually has controller support. With that, I think it definitely is better than SRZG. Not by much (I just want the drift back and the boosts to actually be something to watch out for), but honestly I just am glad we could get a Sonic Riders that functions in this day and age. Makes me feel like we actually got a Sonic Racing Game again compared to just a racing game with SSAR and SART and TSR. If there were some changes I'd wanna make to give this game some extra oomph and make it really challenging and fun, I'd probably have a whole list, which basically is: better handling of the character, having types be character specific, as well as making the gear switch have the caveat of using your Red Orbs to switch and also locking you out of the Boost, making it so if you do it too often, you may end up stuck with a gear mode you don't want for that situation if you run too low, while also then making it so you've leveled yourself down as a result, thus reducing your Air meter and means to boost should you do come back. It would also make the risk factor from the first game come back, but where that one was partially circumvented since you want to go to the 100 Red Orb Capsule, this one makes it where while you have the 100 capsule, you still need to get more Red Orbs because the best routes would require cutting into your Red Orb count.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

>underestimating the sonic community

[@retromannyli]

MAN!! I love the Sonic community!!

[@yall_girl_eve]

1:47 Acthually🤓☝️(sorry had to make the joke) The kinetic itself its Surprisingly good at tracking and the stuff it is designed to do, but the software itself is shit basically, so most games have absolutely terrible implementation of the mechanics. Some are great tho and i will defend the kinect until i die, or some Nintendo wii fan stab me idk

[@lpfan4491]

I mean yeah. I remember that someone pulled the tracking-configuration up when reviewing Free Riders just to prove that the hardware is not responsible for its games controlling like a scuffed lucid dream that goes against your command.

[@charmyzard]

Meow as Blaze speeds up right at the start 0:02 I lost it.

[@bobylenonia7455]

i'm still holding out hope we will get a new sonic riders game. They need to come out with a banger. please sega do it

[@yousefslimani99]

Yep same thing that happened to me 1:36 I mean I got this game but I didn't got a Kinect which is sucks

[@Shadow.EXE12345]

Unpopular opinion, I like the og free riders for kenect, I found it fun

[@JonyPlayz1]

Ayo same 👀Finally found someone else lol

[@Absolute_LUNA-C]

same thing here, i was even able to get my kinect hooked up, managed to clear the area, and it worked like a dream. maybe i just have the perfect environment for it to work, but when it works, you feel like an absolute badass. probably look like an idiot, but it feels sooooo good. good workout too.

[@CobbleCorn]

unfortunately the game still lacks in comparision to its first :(

[@johnnyhickman3083]

I wanted to play this soooo badly this past weekend, but I’m still stuck on the Xbox 360 iso extraction tool I downloaded being an rar document rather than the full application with NO IDEA WHATSOEVER how to get it to that point. The tutorials just aren’t specific or step-by-step or step-within-step enough for me, or someone like me to follow. And no one has responded to my comments/posts asking for help. It’s good to see so many people enjoying this, but saddening to think I may never be one of them 🥺

[@officialFredDurstfanclub]

Just get the ISO off archive or something. Worked for me

[@HazeX2]

I'll probably give this a try when they do a 4Kids voices mod, just to say I played it

[@applewind9318]

I would love to play this game but I'm too stupid to set it up. T_T

[@spritvio639]

I'm too lazy.

[@meleeludens]

8:00 it’s kinda funny because it sounds like you’re describing Sonic Generations GHZ act 2 lmao

[@Weda_Bretajune]

2:14 Angry Joe review lol

[@SaddieMoon]

20:00 What did you just say?! 😂 I never heard niggle before. So it cought me off guard. But also, I’m not shocked that I haven’t heard it before.

[@shresthasengupta8984]

Wait 10 years, and we will have a dx and te for free riders.

[@wrestlerdude6955]

We won't stop bothering you until you review every Sonic game👀👀

[@spritvio639]

Yes, Pariah must look at Sonic Schoolhouse.

[@ultimateshadeofwar]

11:11 Oh that explains a lot, i always felt that the racing lines(The path the racers take) through the circuit on Free Rider's footage was to stiff, not natural enough, and very kind of calculated, the difference is obvious if you have an eye or experience with racing games.

[@greenhillnerdnew8148]

your screen probably has g-sync, im guessing the tearing WAS there to begin with, but your monitor is set up to correct for it

[@jboyathegamer]

I always free riders was my first riders games

[@quasar4780]

I just gotta love how the Sonic community went from a reputation of degenerate, autistic OC/deviantart fetish makers, to talented and passionated groups who constantly make quality fangames, comics, artworks, series, and everything under the sun. It seems like after the 2010s, the fanbase just woke up and chose violence. I love it. Also, FINALLY I can play Free Riders! I don't know if it's particularly good, but I'll try it to form my opinion on it. Maybe it has some new ideas compared to the other 2 games, Idk. As long as it brings something new and interesting to the table, I'm all for it.

[@qstmrk8004]

so they can make everything except good ocs

[@Solluna2003]

Nah we still got 'em degenerates man... look no further than the Game Awards in 2022. They wild making that Sonic/Genshin "art", rn they're in hiding for the next mainstream event.

[@crimsonzone8984]

How's your new sonic canon video going, Pariah?

[@AndrewAndroid1]

have you heard about blue fire i think you might like it its a 3d platformer metroidvania

[@kakhome1]

Off topic a bit perhaps here but what's your favorite Sonic games? Maybe three for 2D and three for 2.5/3D. Just something I'm always interested in :)

[@spritvio639]

Sonic Advance 3 is his favorite sonic game. Sonic Unleashed is his favorite 3D game (or at least the Day Stages are).

[@Lazypackmule]

Hot take: I do not think we need more walled garden competitive Riders mods, especially not on games with widely disliked feature sets and poor content bases

[@carb0xyde887]

Walled garden? What does that mean?

[@benjoman8252]

Even if you can play it with a controller its still a flawed game, because the tracks are very gimmicky and straightforward due to it being made with the kinect in mind. If they had just made it a traditional riders game it could've rivaled the original

[@corbinpyles]

Some issues I have with this game besides the controller patch is there's no option to turn off power-ups in the rules settings, I like my power-ups off because I like my races to feel realistic. This game doesn't have a difficulty selection. How I've imagined the difficulty selection is the bronze trophy is easy, silver trophy is normal, and gold trophy is hard, for the hard difficulty, I imagine the AI being intense where you're never gonna be miles ahead from everyone in the race, unless you're using a really good gear, and depending on your gear parts, then yeah, you could kinda be ahead from everyone in the race. Besides that, one more thing I don't like is the world grand prix is story, I wish you get to race in the world grand prix where you only race 2 cups. One, the standard cup where you race on all standard tracks, and two, the expert cup where you race on all expert tracks. The story mode just could've been a different selection thing, instead of it being a story mode.

[@dailydelphox]

Some things I disagree with personally, like the fact it's bad certain abilities/elements aren't tied to characters. I'd rather play as the character I like, not the one dictated as "the best" or "suited for my playstyle" lol. I don't want this to be Mario Kart where my favorite character sucks and everyone plays as Waluigi. I think the gear change system is interesting too. Combined with the grabbing mechanics, items of course, boosting, managing your air, you also have to constantly be thinking about what's coming up in the track and paying attention to what gear ability you have on. It also lets you decide if you want to take multiple gear-type shortcuts or just one or none in favor of other abilities if you prefer. I agree it could be more interesting of course, but I don't think by any means this *hinders* the gameplay. You don't outright say that but you go on about it being incredibly underwhelming. And I think that sums up my feelings towards the game. I'm not looking for the next amazing, 100% perfect racer. Those are rare, even among popular racing games, and even among Sonic Riders. I'm just happy that this game requires the player pay attention and play well and has more going on than simply turning, like I expected it to be considering it's a Kinect game.

[@aaaamine]

Letsgoo

[@Skylancer727]

I've seen some people recently show that the kinect likely wasn't as big an issue as people pushed it as at the time. I kinda just believed people saying how bad it was but in recent times I've even seen people play the Free Riders without much of any issues. The only person I ever really saw review the game at the time was Projared, but then again Projared even showed his room was extremely dark and kinect does use a real camera on top of laser tracking. Even saw Mawde Wile play it and he didn't have a single issue with tracking other than the punching with the motor bike, but that doesn't at all align with what people used to say about it. Honestly it seems the reputation for the tracking may be just a well circulated myth. Or just over exaggerated like some people's claims of motion controls. I personally don't prefer motion controls but I think people way exaggerate it as a problem, I just don't like it being used as a substitute for a button.

[@sofialopes3321]

Hello, Pariah! I'd love to see you review a racing game for the Wii called Excitebots. It has motion controls, but they are very well done. Since you like Sonic Riders, I think there are high chances you'll like this one too.

[@SkyeCommons]

i played this on kinect and beat it btw ill have to try this mod out though

[@samuelpierce2.088]

Meh. Kinda just neutral on Free Riders as a game. Don’t get me wrong; Like most folks, I am very excited to see that we can now play the game with a regular controller. And the ability to mod yet another failed Sonic game so that it’s actually good is always a welcome change. But…I dunno. The emphasis on the Mario Kart-style items kinda bugs me, if only because I feel like they end up getting in the way of the things that make the Sonic Riders games unique in an attempt to court the Nintendo/Mario audience. Who knows, tho’. Maybe someone will come up with a mod that lets you turn off the items and/or replace them with Air/Ring capsules.

[@AdachiSimp]

Any chance you can give Chronicles a chance for a proper review?

[@alexandrpeterberg390]

You know, when there is a mod coming up that changes the game in a good way to the point it warrants your attention, you know they did it right and did it big time. I mean these guys have turned THE #1 worst Sonic game that was unplayable into something that is worth playing. Well, it is the weakest in the Riders trilogy as you said but it's a nice improvement. I hate to sound rude but I feel like you are procrastinating with the whole Sonic Was Always Good series. I mean sure you are taking a break but you are willing to talk about some Sonic-related stuff and stuff that the communities have made.

[@Pariah6950]

I'm not procrastinating. I just don't want to do it right now. I'll get back to it when I feel like it.

[@alexandrpeterberg390]

@@Pariah6950 Ok, procrastinating isn't the right word. And I am already regretting saying that. I was gonna suggest you play some recent retro shooters like Dusk and Forgive Me Father but I was like nah. Oh dammit! I just did. Playing Rebuild 3 (or Rebuild 2 if we are talking about the free games to try) is also a nice option. Ugh! I need to shut up!

[@commander_schnitzel]

17:20 it's like this in unleashed too i hated it so much i made a mod to fix it having dashpanels slowing you down is so fucking backwards and stupid

[@lpfan4491]

It is still hilarious that Unwiished knew how to handle dash panels as far as I remember(Which is to add to the speed value, not set it). One would assume the big sibling of such a project to get the memo too, but appearently not.

[@MrBreada]

Is that screen tearing?

[@EL-Pasha_Theft_Auto]

why are so harsh on the mod keep in mind it,s just one persone who done this mod and not sega or sonic team be thankful you even got it playable with a controller

[@Pariah6950]

Uhm... what? I said nothing bad about the mod. My criticism is for the game.

[@EL-Pasha_Theft_Auto]

Ok Sorry I Thought You Were criticizing the mod controls in this part 10:19 but if you were criticizing the game original controls you are right what will you expect from a kinect game

[@EL-Pasha_Theft_Auto]

By the way Iam also releasing something that most of the sonic community will like it,s a recoverment of some thing but i will not cover now =). 2024

[@BIG_MUNKY]

Why do you say we’re never getting a new sonic riders game?

[@spritvio639]

Well, Sonic Free Riders came out in 2010, and now it's 2023. The only Sonic Riders game that did well was the first one, and Team Sonic Racing exists.

[@BIG_MUNKY]

@@spritvio639 never say never

[@tailsic]

It's almost save bet we won't get a new riders, when as a sonic side series ever had more then 3 games for it? Shuffle 1, Riders 3, Rush 2, Rivals 2, Battle(GBA) 1, Storybook 2, Chronicle 1, the sumo racing game as 3 technically, and................................ Oh... I forgot about the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games... well that hurts my point. well maybe there a bigger change, I don't know.

[@orishpiner4390]

Is it possible on ps5?

[@oopsies4155]

Actually Super Sonic from base Zero Gravity is the worst. Super sonic only has power type, 2 of the gear shifts only increase max rings. Base max speed is 160, then when you get to 60 rings Super sonic goes 20 speed faster for the cost of 3x rings. And don't get me started on Gravity. Any gravity action costs 20 rings a second. Which means you have to not use gravity control which makes it really hard.

[@joeker5208]

12:56 what song is this?

[@TheHardStyleLife]

Thr worst part about this racing franchise. You just loose speed all the time. I thought you're meant to gain speed. Kid me bought the og one full price on gamecube the day it came out. NO WONDER I thought this feels like shit.

[@glenmccausland3807]

7:18 Spray paint cans? Did I miss something, or why are rings being referred to this way?

[@CarmSmoothie]

Rings? What are you talking about?

[@NorthSutherland]

Except the story is still crap (and I mean REALLY bad. Just because you make a game playable, doesn't mean the rest of the game is fixed. Same story with Project 06. And if bought a copy of the game for the system it was released on, it would still be crap. I'm all for improving games, but the best thing for the riders series would be to do a remake/compilation of the first two games, while adding stages, characters, and modes from Free Riders as extra content.

[@lpfan4491]

Riders 1 story:"A special race, to see who's fastest."

[@NorthSutherland]

@@lpfan4491 Free Riders: The same plot, but even more bare bones, and really insufferable characterization (looking at you, Amy Rose). Besides, the first game explore some lore regarding the Babylon Rogues and their Guardian. Plus, it introduced the trio for the first time.

[@lpfan4491]

@@NorthSutherland Let me guess, you are one of the people who thinks Generations sucks because the story is a nothingburger at best.

[@NorthSutherland]

@@lpfan4491 I would have to have played the game to have a full opinion on it's story. But from what I know and have seen in various Sonic videos: The game was written by Pontaff, classic Sonic never says a word, Knuckles is portrayed as a joke, Amy has zero-respect for him, and several of the Sonic cast literally stand on the sidelines during the final battle. Yeah, I'd make several changes, notably the cringe of Sonic's friends visibly goofing around during his party shot after shot after shot. I know it's a festive birthday event, but Generations staging of that scene make it look extremely goofy and ridiculous. How about something more nuanced like still portraits during the credits featuring each character in order of debut before closing out on Sonic, followed by the two Eggman epilogue (if that scene's necessary at all).

[@bluestar5812]

Please, make a video explaining how to setup the Xbox 360 emulator and the Sonic Free Riders with No Kinect patch

[@karnagefails333]

Sanic 🤢 Free 🤢 Riderz 🤮

[@AccelerateHedge]

Wait, if Zero Gravity is awful and this game is okay, how is this the weakest of the Riders games?

[@Pariah6950]

Compared to Regravitified.

[@AccelerateHedge]

@@Pariah6950 Ah, whoops. Sorry for misunderstanding.

[@itzdcx]

its not that good but its decent