The Cooler Sonic Racing Game

Cat

**The Cooler Sonic Racing Game** is the 3rd episode of the RelaxAlax - Season 2 series. It was uploaded on Feburary 28, 2019.

## Synopsis

Alax begins the video by stating how Sonic has always been synonymous with racing and that there once was a sonic racing game that blended the style of sonic and fun of racing games before being ruined by an unfortunate sequel. That game being Sonic Riders.

Wondering how the game holds up today on its own merits, Alax discovers that the game received a Metacritic score of 59 to which he replies, "that's about right." However, Jay-Z replies saying that critics can kiss his ass to which Alax agrees with, stating that critics have led him astray before and that either the game is good or is just another mediocre Sonic game. This causes Cat to chime in, believing Alax to be purposely pissing off the Sonic fanbase.

Firstly, Alax covers the intro, praising its visuals and presentation. However, he is then rudely interrupted by the horrific CGI cutscenes. While the cutscenes are in three-different artstyles, Alax admits that he doesn't believe the cutscenes are all that bad, actually believing that the model and animation styles befit the Sonic franchise more than the adventure games. In fact, he greatly appreciates the character designs, stating that it gives all the characters unique outfits that fit within the context of the game.

Alax then begins to summarize the plot of the game. He starts by criticizing the Babylon Rogues, specifically Jet the Hawk, who he believes to be the worst form of every sonic rival. After hearing Jet's laugh, Alax states that Sonic Riders is, case closed, a bad game to which Cat points out he hasn't even looked at the actual gameplay yet. Alax, blaming his own review habits, then proceeds to move on to the gameplay.

The gameplay, in his opinion, is actually good, taking different mechanics from other racing games to create something new. He argues that the mechanics emphasize skill over luck, something that other racers like Mario Kart relies heavily on. He states that these additions, like character-specific paths, make races dynamic and thrilling to discover these secrets. However, despite all this positive praise, there are still things he criticizes such as turbulance, a mechanic he feels doesn't work to well, and the fact the game is extremely prone to glitches.

After a while, Alax begins to wonder how to unlock the rest of the characters in the game, wishing to consult his good friend the internet, he discovers that he has to complete all the missions in the game. He reveals that he only started to appreciate the mechanics of the game because he had to complete those missions in the mission mode. While he likes the missions, more and more keep appearing, prompting Alax to grind his way for all the characters. With only two characters missing, he consults his friend again only to discover that the last two characters require him to play the game for 50 hours to which Alax quits his endeavor.

While he likes the tracks and characters, he ultimately feels that the game is limited and if more tracks and characters were added, the mechanics were refined, and had the game sported an online mode, he feels the game could've been a better game than Mario Kart. Alax breaks down knowing full well two other Sonic Riders games exist, ruining the franchise from achieving such heights as he would've wanted the series to achieve.

## Cast

* RelaxAlax
* Jay-Z
* Cat

## Sources

* Unseen64 - Sonic's Lost Skateboard Game

* Yuji Naka on Sonic Riders (2006)
* Sonic Riders development
* Yuji Naka on Prope