Many deemed it a lackluster game-both within the Sonic franchise and the racing game medium-that did have its highlights but ultimately fell to its shortcomings. Reviewers mostly criticized the gameplay, controls, and overall design while praise was directed at the game's visual style, soundtrack and sense of speed while racing. Sonic Riders was released to mixed reviews from critics, but was a commercial success and was later re-released under the GameCube and PlayStation 2 bestseller lines. Sonic Riders was also the last Sonic title produced with the involvement of franchise co-creator Yuji Naka, who acted as executive producer and left Sega shortly after its release. It was designed to appeal to fans of Sonic as well as extreme sports video games the development team did not take inspiration from any prior games. Sonic Team wanted to make their own game that was superior to any previous Sonic racing game. The game was produced in commemoration of the Sonic series' 15th anniversary and was the first Sonic racing game since the 1997 Traveller's Tales game Sonic R. A Game Boy Advance version developed by Backbone Entertainment was canceled.

It was released in Europe the following month and for Windows at the end of the year. It was developed by Sonic Team and Now Production, published by Sega, and released in February 2006 in Japan and North America. In the game's 16 tracks, the player competes against characters-either controlled by computers or other players-in story and battle modes. Sonic Riders is a 2006 racing video game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in which the player controls characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series on hoverboards.

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