The Story of the Sonic Riders Games

As always, thanks to Windii for the translations.
btw, I cut a scene from Riders because nothing of real importance happens in it. But it does have a payoff to the robot Knuckles and Storm smashed up. It angrily chases after them with a group of robots. Not much, but a little gag and another payoff.
I realize this video is a lot more just breaking down what happens in the story than my videos usually are. That's because these games are much more focused on plot than character arcs and themes. So there's not as much to talk about. But I did what I could.
Also I quite like the almost movie-like feel of Zero Gravity's plot. I'm not too familiar with Pokémon, but it feels very similar to the kinds of sorties you see in Pokémon movies. I think. Someone correct me if that's not accurate.
And the music in the first two Riders is killer and really adds to the vibe of the games really well. I would love to see a proper follow-up that continues what this series is all about.
This is also it for the Sonic story structure of multiple character/team stories seeing the same events from different perspectives. From now on things get a lot more straight forward, only focusing on Sonic pretty much. This type of storytelling is definitely something iconic to the Adventure style of Sonic, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again one day. But at least these videos should get easier to make going forward lol.
Sorry about the fluctuations in my voice. I really need to work on speaking more consistently to avoid that kind of thing. You can really hear the difference at the start of my videos before my voice is warmed up, and the end where it starts to get hoarse. And when I break things into different recording sessions like this, you get sudden changes. I've been trying to improve with that. But it's pretty noticeable in this one.
You can support me here if you want. ko-fi.com/pariah695
Riders 0:00
Zero Gravity 31:25
Free Riders 54:37

[@Pariah6950]

Some things worth mentioning that I didn't say in the video. What happened to the Chaos Emeralds after Jet rose Babylon Garden? They're just gone from the story for no reason. You'd think Eggman or Jet would try to take those as well. Maybe the energy used to raise the garden caused them to scatter? We don't see that, but I guess that would make sense. Also, Amy is pretty awful in Free Riders. She's mean to everyone including her team mates for no reason. She comes off very self obsessed. It's probably her worst depiction ever.

[@erc3338]

I think you forgot the chapters.

[@tonycorona8501]

@@zekromfan1 No, if anything Amy has been absolutely harmless in all the games during the 2010's but Free Riders.

[@felipe_drawmania1604]

@@tonycorona8501 Characters outside of Sonic,Tails and Eggman meant very little in most of the 2010s.

[@amphicyon4359]

Also funny how in the very next game, Babylon Garden isn't actually connected to the Chaos Emeralds, but is actually to it's own separate set of macguffins. Sonic lore can't even be kept consistent two games into a sub series lol

[@SaintLoser]

The one question I had for all 3 of these games was why does everyone have eye wear and no one besides the Babylon Rogues actually wears them?

[@Zejgar]

I really appreciate Jet as a character. I dunno if it's a language or culture difference for me, but the word "rival" implies to me the existence of some kind of activity which both parties engage in trying to one-up each other. In this sense, I barely understand why people call characters like Knuckles, Shadow, Metal Sonic, (Generations even calls Silver that, which extra-makes no sense to me) "rivals" to Sonic, because they are not trying to one-up each other at anything in particular. They may be at friendly (and not so friendly) odds with each other, but there's barely anything I would consider rival-ish with these characters. Now Jet, this is finally the proper rival to Sonic, because over the course of both games, they're trying to prove to each other who is better at handling the Extreme Gear. The final scene in Zero Gravity where Jet and Sonic provoke each other to start riding *just by exchanging looks* is exponentially more rivalrous than any other interaction between Sonic and whoever else that the community deems a rival to him. I thank Riders for this character.

[@Aquablossom21]

What you describe is pretty much what rivalry is meant to be about.

[@sonic5993]

I like Jet for this reason actually. But its not some sustainable long term sadly

[@ObaREX]

Shadow is the definition of an antagonist rival. He was a villain trying to destroy the world, true. But part of his relationship with Sonic was them also trying to prove to each other and themselves who is superior. Shadow, like Jet, is introduced as more skilled than Sonic at his own game. So Sonic takes issue with that. Sure, they are fighting for the fate of the world, but they also are trying to one-up one another throughout the game. He was sorta like Vergil from DMC3.

[@Zejgar]

@@ObaREX I just can't assign the "rival" label to someone who wants the other side dead. Sonic may treat it as a competition, but Shadow in SA2 treats Sonic as an obstacle in the way of fulfilling the plan to kill everyone. Shadow doesn't have a "game" to beat Sonic at, unless we count existence itself as a game.

[@ConfusedLemons]

@@Zejgar More like Mortal enemies at that point. Also, that was weirdly philosophical-ish. 10/10 point

[@maskofthedragon]

26:17 I love that Eggman just said "Fuck it!" and just robbed them at gunpoint!

[@colmeiadaangela1026]

The creepiest pasta is the one about the forgotten plank that floats

[@charmyzard]

Now that's one plank I'd actually walk.

[@CflowProd]

I guess you could say Free Riders really dropped the board.

[@tonycorona8501]

I get it!

[@ominicronikalvol.2580]

Brilliant. Just Brilliant.

[@damo3820]

Dropped…the board. Dropped… The board

[@JustJohn43]

I just noticed, in the CGI cutscene revealing the Babylon Garden, Amy is suddenly in her traditional dress. I've always considered that Eggman is a super rich Billionaire making his money through robotics and oil. Also, Amy is pretty badass in Zero Gravity, knocking the shit outta Storm several times Here I am, rekindling the joy of the Riders games, and then we get to Free Riders, which I've never experienced before, and my hand is on my head. They drove the extreme gear off a cliff and buried it so low the ark of the cosmos couldn't bring it back... Holy shit that Metal Sonic stuff surely was unexpectedly in character

[@voltricity1942]

yes. i thought it was a bit weird at first, but amy likely took off her hoverboard outfit after she got eliminated by wave (in the first race you do as wave in the babylon story). makes sense to me

[@ObaREX]

We actually see Amy back in her normal outfit at the start of the final race sayjng she'll be cheering Sonic on. By then she had been eliminated from the competition.

[@nebuelle1330]

Tails and Knuckles also lack their goggles in the CG cutscene that plays after Stage 5 like they did in the opening CG cutscene, despite the fact that they still have the goggles on in the final hero cutscene.

[@HydraBread]

I think it’s cool that racing games have such effort put into story cutscenes (until free riders), it makes the games more memorable for me

[@fedeluca4015]

Fun fact: in zero gravity's manual it is mentioned that sonic is even faster on a extreme gear

[@jocoolshow]

@Kian the whole point of manuals and extra statements for video games is to give extra context that the gameplay can’t

[@samuelpierce2.088]

Entirely off-topic, but does anyone else think that Sonic Free Riders - from a gameplay standpoint - would’ve absolutely done gangbusters on the Wii? Like, imagine a version of Free Riders where you use the Balance Board in conjunction with the Wii Remote (and/or Nunchuck) to control your character and their Extreme Gear…you could shift your weight across the Balance Board to steer the characters left and right, crouch down and then stand back up quickly to simulate jumping, use the Wii Remote to reach up/out and grab the poles along the sides of the track for a quick corner boost, and even use said Wii remote to activate the various power-ups/items (e.g. making a lobbing gesture to simulate rolling the bowling ball forwards, shaking the Wii remote to release Rings from that weird canister thing, etc.). All this, combined with Free Riders’ Extreme Gear customization and the ability to play any character from the given roster, sounds like the ultimate Nintendo Wii experience (at least to me anyway).

[@ILikeMakeBelieveUnironically]

If It was on the Wii and played like you described, had a decent story mode and not too much stuff on the story mode but still a lot of content, it'd be cool.

[@ThisisTheUltimate]

19:25 Actually in the Sonic Riders website, it used to say that Wave's father was part from the past Generation of the Babylon Rouges as the mechanic from his generation (before Wave got that role probably), so probably Jet's father was the leader of the Babylon Rouges that was made of Jet's Father, Wave's father and maybe Storm's father too? Jet's father could continue being the leader after the 3 were born and got older, or he could have passed the leadership to Jet for him command his group as soon as the 3 of them got old and ready to form a team Since Wave and Storm are older than Jet, we can assume that maybe Jet's father could have been their leaders before Jet, but in both of the cases, maybe Wave and Storm really have respect to Jet just because Jet's father was the previous leader of the Babylon Rouges, even if they were commanded by him or not

[@randomfox12245]

Meteo is just how they say Meteor in japanese. This is why there's disparity in how the spell is handled in the final fantasy games. In FF7 Sephiroth wants to summon "meteor" in english, but he wants to cast "meteo" in japanese.

[@Pariah6950]

Wouldn't that be "Meteoru"? What's even weirder is it's the same in English. That still say Meteo.

[@JoshingYa]

@@Pariah6950 Actually, depending on how one would want to say it, it could be "meteo", "meteooru", or "miitia".

[@bruxtle]

Only true fans remember the first upload

[@kex2247]

Plank!

[@Zejgar]

Zoom in on Knuckles's deep fried forehead!

[@spartanq7781]

Raises hand.

[@NIGHTBLOODUSAGI]

but they could just watch the first one n become a true fan

[@murdcrockdolphin]

“Still, how can a plank float just like that.”

[@DoritoGOD2811]

I like that Jet and the Babylong Rogues were huge assholes. Characters being mean to other characters is funny to me, and if they were friendly then things would be boring.

[@anothernoise216]

Aren't the Chaos Emeralds mystical gems that simply can even realise wishes when all 7 are collected? So it makes sense that all of them can be used to activate basicly anything, maybe the Babylon Garden key just needed lots of energy to activate and the emeralds can offer just that too. By the way, the respect the Rogues have for Jet comes from his skills being the best and his pride, like when he loses to Sonic and doesn't want the key since he doesn't want some pity, they respect this side of him, Jet it's basicly their Sonic, he is the one they look upon on.

[@graysongdl]

The only thing I knew about the story of Free Riders before this video was the Metal Sonic reveal, being a Metal Sonic fan and all. Glad to see I basically knew the whole story already from 1 wiki page. Good job, Sonic Team of 2010.

[@lololordjr]

"We're jamming to some cool tunes anyone want to listen to queen?"

[@Sauceboi26]

2D drawn sonic has always been better than 3D I’m with ya

[@Ender-kk7gg]

I never thought Pariah would have lost media

[@Mew4U]

I agree with you. Sonic's design was drawn to look it's best in 2D

[@thinkabout42]

Thanks to this video I appreciated ZG's story even more and finally learned the story of Free Riders. And my god, except for the main vocal theme, that game seem to do absolutely everything else wrong, that's truly an achievement.

[@prestige8477]

57:24 Man, we can't have Big be on Team Rose because his physique wouldn't be conducive to a riders game. It's too bad we don't have a DIFFERENT purple cat who is friends with Amy and Cream who is more powerful than the two that would be better suited to riding extreme gear and would actually fit on Team Rose even moreso than Big. *cough* Blaze *cough*

[@sebastianmartinez5963]

Recently in Sonic Frontiers, Sonic mentioned Babylon Garden and Jet which makes Sonic Riders totally canon, but I honestly it does not finish convincing me because the Riders games take place in a very modern and technologically advanced world to begin with. I know that in mainline games they present futuristic places like Grand Metropolis in Heroes for example, but in games like Sonic Adventure, Adventure 2, Sonic 06 and Sonic Unleashed the cities there don't look very futuristic. The Riders games make us understand that the Extreme Gears is the thing most common in the world and even so we don't see a single hoverboard in Station Square or in Soleanna. Also, if the Sonic we see in Sonic Riders is the same Sonic from the main games, why would he need to use a hoverboard if he's supposed to be fastest being in the world? It doesn't make sense.

[@ChrisTheSaiyanhog]

Sonic uses a hoverboard to play by grand prix rules. The stakes in riders, at least the first one arent super high so sonic takes the air board riding competition as a challenge. The other stuff is just inconsistent world building and probably will NEVER make sense on its own without a retcon lol

[@Pariah6950]

Nothing really presents extreme gear as common in Riders. We see 1 advertisement for them on a billboard, and people use them when racing. Grand Metropolis from Heroes tells us that apparently the Sonic world has places with vastly different levels of technology, somehow. So I see this as no worse than an Sonic game that shows little care for canon.

[@tonycorona8501]

Same thing as previous video: good summary, and I appreciate the pointers to Free Riders, what little there is to it.

[@donovansantaella7861]

You know, as funny as the black out was, I definitely admire the reupload to correct that misconception. I mean heck, during the initial viewing I was thinking about how I could've missed such a blatant continuity error when playing through the story mode. It's a reasonable mistake to make, especially when you're already used to stuff like this happening in the games' stories, but the correcting was certainly worthwhile. Also gosh the way you were talking about how Shadow and Rouge could've been used in Free Riders made me really wish the game's writing could've been like that. Especially with Shadow slowly coming to like competing with Sonic. I think that could've been a really nice way to have Shadow feel more connected to Sonic in a way. I feel that after Shadow's game he honestly wouldn't be around Sonic much unless the circumstances called for it. Nothing personal he just isn't all that close to him compared to Rouge and Omega. Of course I wouldn't want things to devolve to Shadow's life revolving around Sonic's, but I think the small potential arc you discussed could've been a fun way to have them become more like friendly rivals or something. It really is a shame that there could've been some cool stuff going on with characterization in Free Riders despite not having much of a plot beyond the ending bit with Metal. But here we are with it being the harbinger of the stylings of the 2010's writing. Ah well, nothing we can do about it now.

[@Pariah6950]

Yeah. I'm fine with making a mistake. But I don't want to spread misinformation. Glad you liked my idea for Shadow. I've been enjoying tossing in my little fan fiction rewrites into these videos. I've been thinking of maybe trying to do a whole video where I basically write an original Sonic story, and explain it like I do these story videos.

[@ohgodwhy5626]

@@Pariah6950 that’s sounds like a cool idea

[@Zejgar]

I thought he was talking about the island back when I played the game in 2006, and I thought it made sense through the absence of Angel Island as an entity in the Riders series. It felt like an AU (much like Boom), so that infamous line just informed me that in this particular AU, not only everyone is wearing goggles for no reason, but Knuckles' role is different. I took it, heck, I'd take anything at that point that would explain why he isn't guarding the Emerald again.

[@Breakaway-ic5gj]

@@Pariah6950 That's awesome I like that

[@xraiderblack1850]

I agree with you. This game in particular feels pretty cinematic. From the box cover, the overall improvement of the graphics and a more realized futuristic setting and plot, and on top of that, the music. A lot of the music uses orchestral instruments, making the game feel a lot grander and cinematic. Is it like Pokemon tho? I’m not too sure but one that comes to mind is the 7th movie: Destiny Deoxys.

[@xavierb.2378]

Never stop making these I love you

[@gemlik_rogue]

Correction: The Nocturnials from Chronicles came later than the Babylon Rogues, so technically there weren't "so many ancient civilization" outside the Echidna tribe back in 2006. I don't get why it should be a surprise that in the past there were different civilizations. P.S: I didn't count Black Arms, but I suppose they are an ancient civilization as well?

[@ashleywhite8888]

i just wanna say, im 99% sure the babylon garden is supposed to be from the split continent, and the babylon rogues would then be tied to south island, so it's a pre-established lost civilization that simply moved from where it was alluded to previously. if you even follow that jp manual-based headcanon

[@chadisnotachad]

The only reason I knew what Babylon was as a kid was because of Riders.

[@raptortown]

Nice video! The riders game were awesome when me and my friend play them (besides free riders) when we were younger. Also, I pray that we get a story about sonic unleashed because that game has a lot more story then this one (also personally from story I really like it) :) Keep up the good work

[@joshhacker8503]

Id justify Shadow by making him the only one with common sense. He came initially because of Rouge, butche is the only one to point out Eggman's obviously wearing a disguise. Have him say it nonchalantly, and he points out intends to keep an eye on Eggman.

[@charmyzard]

Guess we could say Jet's quite the bird-brain as a character?

[@ObaREX]

I do enjoy the plots of both games. While nothing really deep happens, there is a lot of character interaction. And while the characters are goofy, it never feels too goofy (until the third game but I don't wanna talk about that one)

[@sethisevilone02]

that game not cannon so dont worry

[@GribbleGob]

What third game? there never was one, only a complete idiot with no talent would make a third sonic riders.

[@sethisevilone02]

@@GribbleGob that is sega official stance

[@sanicsanic6890]

3:34: That was an illegal left, by the way.

[@justinc.5591]

I get why people complain about Knuckles not guarding the Master Emerald, but I feel like it would get tiresome if they had to rope the Master Emerald into every plot if they wanted to put Knuckles in it. I guess it’s a catch-22 Sega put themselves in with him being part of the main cast but also having a very specific origin.

[@KidAL0]

Yeah, the only solutions to keep that role of his intact would be to exclude him from most games or find some excuse to write the emerald in. Frontiers spoiler below: (Or just have him decide to leave the emerald alone I guess, but they didn’t even address how they’d go about it being unguarded)

[@Pariah6950]

That's why he shouldn't be part of the main cast as a recurring character.

[@erc3338]

@@KidAL0 In the prequel animation, he has a reason for going there. I think it's because he saw the Emeralds fly past Angel Island and got curious as to why the Emeralds were freaking out, seeing as they are connected to his people? There was a reason at the very least. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZjNpK1-iamdsNE

[@KidAL0]

@@erc3338 yeah, I don’t think it was done particularly poorly in Frontiers as he didn’t choose to leave the emerald unguarded for an adventure; he was trapped. But that means the emerald was still vulnerable that entire time. Convenient that Eggman also happened to get stuck in cyberspace, but he shouldn’t be the only threat, otherwise they could all just keep tabs on him so Knux doesn’t have to play babysitter. I’m glad they’re finally doing something with his role but time will tell how it pans out

[@erc3338]

@@KidAL0 I can see it explained away with his headstrongedness. At least they bothered to write a reason this time. Way better than Knuckles in the past half decade.

[@tonycorona8501]

You know Pariah, since Riders recycles so much from the main games, I'm willing to think the story of Riders should be seen as something of a gaiden title. Gaiden titles are "A standalone entry, usually a video game, to a series with few or no ties to a Story Arc"., and sometimes recycle the plot of a main entry. For example, Toei Animation used the storyline of the Dragon Ball manga to essentially create their own villains and storylines. According to some reviewers (shout out to Dragon Ball Dissected), some of these products did a plot point much better than the main series. Ditto for Metal Gear Ghost Babel, that is very similar to the original Metal Gear Solid. is It makes sense then Jet feels so much like a recycled character from Shadow. However, I don't think Sonic Team thought of this as non-canon, as Jet became a favorite of the staff, with him appearing in The Black Knight and Generations as easter eggs, not to mention the Olympic titles. By comparison, no other spin-off character got this acknowledgment except maybe Emerl in Sonic X. This ended with Jet getting mentioned in Frontiers.

[@erc3338]

Wait Jet was mentioned in Frontiers? I can't recall when.

[@tonycorona8501]

@@erc3338 One of the many characters referenced in Sonic idle chat.

[@playerback7722]

Riders was always canon.

[@tonycorona8501]

@@playerback7722 Dunno why you tell me this, but alright.

[@paperprince2953]

I watch it too.

[@NiohArcadia]

After seeing this and getting nostalgic from seeing the Anime intro for the first Sonic Riders I really want another Sonic Riders game. It has the potential to be the superior Mario Kart/Mario Kart killer but oof was it one of those things where it was way too soon for something like it. To you're point of there being waaay too many ancient civilizations I half agree. I'm not going to defend it by making up headcannon to justify it I just think it's the execution the was not done well at all. It's pretty cool that there's more to the Sonic Universe than just the ancient Echidna tribe, Babylon, etc. It's sort of like how there's many ancient tribes and cultures in our world that we find out about new ones the more we discover. The first game was good gameplay wise (ice level not withstanding) but they had the fantastic idea of HIDING THE TUTORIAL behind the options menu so not many people knew how to play off the bat and not remembering the story due to not knowing how to play the game. Zero Gravity simplified gameplay and course design way too much to where it's just boring to play in comparison. However Zero Gravity has the better soundtrack and has one of the Best soundtracks of any Sonic game imo. Story wise I liked it a bit better minus the pacing and general inconsistencies (i know redundant point considering what franchise were talking about but I wanna say it anyway) and the fact the the plot could've ended way sooner multiple times if Sonic decided to run to where he needed to go instead of using the Extreme gear. My question when I played the game Originally as a kid was where the hell did this super futuristic setting come from with flyng cars and Tails driving a flying car. Did they live there? Is there a soley isolated place on Sonic's world that's like a century ahead technology wise? Never played Free Riders and I'm glad I missed out so I have nothing further to add there. One last thing I wanna share is Jet is one of the best Sonic characters from a design perspective. Without the obvious thing of Jet being a bird and... litterally being named Jet they even do a subtle switch of colors from Sonic and Jet. Sonic has Blue skin and Green eyes meanwhile Jet has Green skin and Blue eyes. Bird Flys, Hedgehog runs on ground yadayada you get the point. I love these Sonic videos even if I have plenty of disagreements with some points in most of the story vids but that's just me. I appreciate the effort you put into these and your other vids. I look forward to your next one, you deserve more subs.

[@nzpowa._.6662]

Honestly, a stylized 3d sonic game would be great. Like we need more canon sonic artsyles. That being said lemme watch the rest of this long ass video lol

[@Kingbeat1]

Sonic free riders the being of the meta era

[@LeafRazorStorm]

But how CAN a plank like that just float?

[@johnnycakemusic4069]

Air

[@tonycorona8501]

That's easy to explain. According to the Kutta-Jouwoski Lift Theorem, the control surface flow is balanced by the inverse kinetics of the...

[@What_A_Shane]

Pariah should do one of these videos analyzing the sonic fandubs for April fools

[@themissingbits6375]

Good luck with that, i dont Think he cares about the fandubs at all

[@xamp_exclammark]

My headcanon is that the hoverboards are boost before Sonic had a boost,in the opening cutscene of the game you can literally see said boost going faster than Sonic himself.

[@justzo3y07]

I’ve always said sonic is better as a 2d esque, shonen character. Yuji’s design screams 2d characters period

[@tailsprower8118]

[Insert one of many SnapCube quotes]

[@themissingbits6375]

I am very tall

[@ILikeMakeBelieveUnironically]

The redbox Matrix is the place of all time

[@DollarinoJones]

Minor gripe from your coverage of Free Riders- at the end, after everything's over and each character gives a lil' schpiel, Rouge and Shadow spend that time claiming they'd be "lying if they said they didn't expect any of that" and that "the Doctor's schemes are hardly anything new," which could potentially explain their uncharacteristically flippant attitude to mechanical life. Though, considering I'm seeing Japanese text on-screen and your usual penchant for Subtitled Sonic Experiences, it could be a dub change. Although, I will say it's a lil' fucking weird that they'd still recruit him if they're telling the truth. Like- What? They'd rather work with an Eggman spy than find a different third? Though, on the other hand, it IS known this is a type of Eggman Robot already from the other Riders games, yeah? So, at the end it's just a 'keep your enemies closer' thing, I guess.

[@silveramyknux241]

9:48 A KZbin recording, caught on camera.

[@paperprince2953]

😧😧😧?!?!?

[@Olivadababa]

Second upload supporter here❤

[@TheZoruaFilmsMC]

Wouldve been so cool if they made Sonic Riders 4 instead of Team Sonic Racing

[@PikachuGamerSMT]

They could have and should have removed Vector and removed Team Dark then put Rouge in Team Rose (because then Team Rose would basically be female parallels to Team Sonic and also Rouge was originally going to be in Team Rose in Sonic Heroes)

[@yuzuichikawa]

Zero Gravity is totally freaking anime. Sonic is anime :D

[@MinicMioda]

tbh ive always thought knuckles meant babylon garden when saying that too lol

[@shadow1w2]

A shame the assets from Free Riders couldn't have been used to make a non kinect version or the like. Maybe just a proper Riders 3 with a new story. After Sonic Team Racing who knows if we'd even get another Sonic racing game at all at this point. Least we have a good fan scene to keep things going.

[@vocalcalibration8033]

Not official, but there is a fan project called Sonic Riders X that is effectively a remake of Free Riders using the original riders gameplay.

[@lauraikoko]

a headcanon i have to explain why everyone rides on the extreme gears even though they're faster than normal vehicles,it could be because the extreme gears are faster than sonic and faster than the rest,i think that because of the futuristic vibe the game has and it's very debatable if the riders series is canon,it could br a futuristic alternative universe and that could explain why knuckles isn't the guardian of the master emerald and why everyone is always riding on extreme gears

[@alyssamontgomery2978]

Was this before Sonic & the Black Knight? Now that he's masterd the wind he can be Knight of the wind?

[@sonic5993]

Looking at this video, I'm reminded now that Frontiers really isn't all that special in plot. Like they literally just ripped off thr same exact plot point; ancient advanced race that used the Chaos Emeralds to escape from an impending threat. Its the same exact plot point. Right down to one of main characters being related to the ancient species.m.

[@Pariah6950]

The similarities to ZG is one of my biggest issues with Frontiers. It's all stuff we've seen before. And done better, I'd argue.

[@sonic5993]

@@Pariah6950 Its crazy that I didn't notice that at all playing Frontiers. Granted, it's been fourteen years since ZG, but still... Sonic Team develop an original idea challenge difficulty: Impossible. Interesting you hate the 2010's era like most of the fanbase. Not that I disagree, I just got really tired of hearing about it after a while, mainly because it just amounted to shit flinging. I'm fairly sure you have a much more articulate and justified reason for disliking those games which I tolerate much more than just....well what Sonic Twitter does

[@Pariah6950]

​@@sonic5993 I don't just flat-out hate it. There are some things I do like. And I will give credit where it's due. The Forces story video should be very interesting. Despite the endless talk about its story, I've never seen people point out things I realized about it. I'm even not that against the afraid Tails in that game, in theory. If it was done well. To be honest, I don't think Frontiers is that much better than the 2010s stories. We've basically swapped out the old problems with new ones.

[@sonic5993]

@@Pariah6950 Yea that's about my feelings too. Some things are good, while some are bad. Frontiers....slightly better, but yea it has its own host of issues. Think that game is gonna age pretty poorly over time tbh.

[@Pariah6950]

@@sonic5993 I'm quite afraid for the future, honestly. People are responding really positively to Frontiers, which will encourage them to keep going with this direction. Which I really REALLY don't want. It's looking to be another series shift that's way off the mark, just like the 2010s games.

[@graysongdl]

What happened to the original upload? I was in the middle of watching it but KZbin cut me off, saying it was deleted. There's no explanation in the description nor the pinned comment, nor was there an explanation in the original upload in either place. What happened? I know people were speculating it was something to do with something floating? But I kinda don't buy that considering a reupload wouldn't have been needed to cut a segment from the video if that's all that was needed.

[@yousefslimani99]

Does this video reuploaded?! I swear I watched this video yesterday!!

[@thetbhresistance7042]

Yea

[@Surgemaster2012]

Amy chasing Sonic with hammer is in like 3 games. lol In Free Riders though, every character who isn't Cream sucks or is horribly flanderized.

[@taylork2281]

why the re-upload?

[@bluebellsforever]

Wait, where did you get the Japanese version of free riders ?

[@thesleeprealm2182]

We I don’t really blame them for saying Babylon garden was a floating island cuz that what they said the real world Babylon was before it fell

[@odd-eyes6363]

Why did you re-upload?

[@DrakeMystical]

What’s the difference between this and the original upload?

[@kex2247]

he was mistaken about what knuckles was referring to when talking about the extreme gear so he wanted to re-upload.

[@mindtraveller4143]

Gemeril should have been the Team Rose power character.

[@tombstonepizza2299]

Wait a minute how many sonic games end with Amy going after sonic with a hammer? I can only think of riders and black knight.

[@Pariah6950]

Rush also. But not just the hammer. Sonic running away from Amy at the end. Happens in Heroes and Rivals as well. That's a lot of the same kind of idea in a pretty short span of time.

[@souptaels]

Wondering what was fixed

[@rickeybat]

Same

[@voltricity1942]

Same

[@numbug1234]

In the original, he misinterprets Knuckles's confusion about the hoverboards floating as confusion about the Babylonian island (in the legend) floating and goes on a whole rant about how Knuckles would be confused about that.

[@elmark3550]

What's different compared to the og upload?

[@themissingbits6375]

The Knuckles joke on 8:05

[@elmark3550]

@@themissingbits6375 thx

[@SuperNinja913]

I love sonic free Riders I used to Play all time i do not like story how Metal Sonic and sonic have to challenge me

[@thetbhresistance7042]

(brought this one over to the new upload, added some new stuff that wasn't in the original comment so I would appreciate if you read this) Honestly, I disagree with your assessment that Riders is extremely far removed from Sonic's origins. That's a very surface level view of the games, it's a different extrapolation for sure, but it still contains many of the elements that were in the series since the beginning (an Anime-esque style and Sci-fi inspirations are the most obvious ones, but the game also features a lot of the colorful surrealism that Sonic games are known for, mixed in with the detailed texture style of adventure era games) imo, I do think Sonic having a Megaman-esque setup with the different iterations of Sonic. But the problem there is that they just... Don't really do that, at least not in any meaningful way. The only classic sonic game we've gotten in the last decade and a half that I can remember was Sonic Mania, and also I am very much of the opinion that modern day Sonic Team doesn't really properly understand Classic Sonic on any meaningful level too. The differences it does have are justified and make sense through the whole theming the game has with the hoverboard racing. The sci fi look makes sense in that context, it's not like Sonic Adventure with the character redesigns and realistic world design being a departure from classic sonic, there's no real justifiable reason for that, not in the gameplay, story or anything and not even outside of the game really. And that's the issue with Modern Sonic when you get down to it. It's not really built on anything real and solid. It's just this malleable entity that changes over and over again due to the result of corporate demands and baffling creative choices. It's not a purposeful, properly defined entity with meaningful and thought through creative choices. It has no actual proper identity of it's own There's really not all that much that removes riders from classic sonic, like if you were to make a classic style riders there really isn't all that much you would have to change, give the game a bit more of an early CG style + less of the "realistic" detailed textures you would see in an adventure style game and... That's about it lol

[@Pariah6950]

It's not just the visual style I'm talking about. You say they could make a Classic Riders game. But if you were being true to what Classic Sonic is, something like Riders would never be made. It doesn't match with the style at all. Seeing Amy doing all these cool tricks is what made me think this. Classic Amy doing any of this is unthinkable. I do agree that Sonic lost a sense of identity. But that's just another way I think we have drifted from what Sonic originally was. Prior to SA1, there was a pretty consistent identity. Where I'd say part of Modern's identity is a lack of identity. Which I hate. You look at the games of this time, Shadow, 06, Unleashed, Storybook, Riders, Rush, Rivals. They were all doing different things that barely relate at all. It's such a mess. I plan on talking about this in a future video.

[@thetbhresistance7042]

@@Pariah6950 I also wasn't just referring to the visual style, moreso the general "vibe" of the game. Which is heavily intertwined with the visual style of course. Also, i don't think a character being slightly more capable than they were in prior games removes that entry entirely from those prior ones lol. That's just character growth over the course of the series. Like if you were to actually make a classic Sonic riders game, you would probably have to give Amy a hoover scooter. She could still do the cool tricks with it tho, I mean. This is the same Amy that drove casually through loop de loops and leaped off ramps in Sonic R, she seems to know her shit. The style is a bit more of a complicated topic, because while yes Classic Sonic was often depicted with a bit of a "softer" style incongruous with something like Riders, there were also a decent amount of depictions showing Sonic in more of a stylish, cool way. The Sonic CD intro is a prime example of this. And honestly speaking, Riders would be much more boring if it was trying to he 1-to-1 to the classics, the difference between it and something like 06 tho is that Riders doesn't completely throw almost everything that Sonic's identity had prior. Riders still contains a lot of what makes Sonic, Sonic under the hood. Just extrapolated in new ways with it's own flavor, expanding on and changing Sonic while not throwing everything prior away. Plus, the games DO contain a lot of the goofiness that would fit in a classic style game, not just in the cutscenes too.

[@silveramyknux241]

2D Sonic doesn’t always beat the 3D models for me, but when it comes to accurately capturing Sonic, 2D does it a lot better. Heck, in my opinion, 3D didn’t even reach the more exaggerated poses of the 2D adventure art until Smash Ultimate. And even then, the 2D designs still have a bit more charm than the originals.

[@Pariah6950]

The greater irony for me is that I think Classic Sonic looks better in 3D than Modern. Not the Gens crap. But those old Saturn models of Sonic are great.

[@silveramyknux241]

@@Pariah6950 Sorry for my defensive reaction to an unused rabbit’s fan name.

[@themissingbits6375]

I guess that Im the only one who liked “The Ass Brow” lol

[@Pariah6950]

@@silveramyknux241 All good.

[@NIGHTBLOODUSAGI]

I'm gonna @ you

[@sanicsanic6890]

16:03: FUCK DESKS!

[@joeker5208]

50:26 “Mobius Strip” huh

[@TronicSSJ07]

Also, why is it playing Mephiles’ boss theme?

[@BraviaGames]

I seems like you have an issue with the male Sonic characters not wearing clothes. Honestly I think Sonic's design is perfect without clothes. What would you even give him to wear?

[@themissingbits6375]

He Said nothing about that he had a problem with it

[@BraviaGames]

@@themissingbits6375 Ah, I see. It seems that fan works and spin-off games give the characters clothes all the time so I'd still like to hear more of his thoughts on the matter. Plus, he doesn't always delve too deeply into character design theory and his preferences.

[@themissingbits6375]

I Think he meant that he find it weird that all the male characthers dont wear clothes but the female one does

[@BraviaGames]

@@themissingbits6375 Yeah, I got that 😅. I don't find it weird since I'm used to it and they don't really need clothes. Many cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny and Lola Bunny are like that too. Sure, it's fun to think of clothes they could wear but it's hard to do that without losing something special about their original designs.

[@oyundelisi1578]

it's saddening to see you join the "2010's bad" circlejerk.Aren't you the one who points out the incosistencies and out of characterisations this franchise had since the beginning?What caused you to believe that the 2010's inconsistencies are somehow worse?

[@Pariah6950]

We'll get there when we get to the Colors story video. There's more to it than just inconsistency.

[@Breakaway-ic5gj]

Lmao all of that can't even touch the atrocities in 2010s. That scene of Tails twerking in front of chaos alone can get an essay

[@GribbleGob]

@@Breakaway-ic5gj What?

[@galten7361]

Forces was made.

[@bigbrainbitch6859]

7:20 rancid take. Floating ancient islands are cool, life has always existed, the sol dimension seems its supposed to be parallel to the ‘main’ dimension, stop drinking tht haterade

[@alescano3504]

BY THE WAY IAM BISEXUEL

[@ILikeMakeBelieveUnironically]

I'm the doom slayer