Sonic Riders is a racing video game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in which the player controls characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series on hoverboards. In the game's 16 tracks, the player competes against characters—either controlled by computers or other players—in story and battle modes. It was developed by Sonic Team and Now Production, published by Sega, and released in February 2006 in Japan and North America. It was released in Europe the following month and for Windows at the end of the year. A Game Boy Advance version developed by Backbone Entertainment was canceled.
An example of gameplay in Sonic Riders, with Sonic in his super form
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main Sonic the Hedgehog games are platformers mostly developed by Sonic Team; other games, developed by various studios, include spin-offs in the racing, fighting, party and sports genres. The franchise also incorporates printed media, animations, feature films, and merchandise.
Sonic the Hedgehog co-creators: programmer Yuji Naka (left) and artist Naoto Ohshima (right) with a costume of the titular character (center)
The original Sonic the Hedgehog was released on June 23, 1991, for the Sega Genesis, boosting Genesis sales dramatically.
Hirokazu Yasuhara (pictured in 2018) designed most of the Genesis Sonic games.
Few Sonic games were released for the Saturn. The cancellation of Sonic X-treme is considered a significant factor in the Saturn's commercial failure.