Trick It, Slick

In Sonic Riders™, you race on an Air Board. The Air Board works similarly to a skateboard or snowboard, except that the concept of catching air takes on whole new proportions. You fly along above the ground, leap off high cliffs, and reach new heights when you jump off ramps. Sonic himself is new to air boarding, so you and he learn together. With his taste for speed, however, you have to hang on pretty tightly. Here are a few tips to help you make the best runs possible and win your races.

Grinding a rail.

Skip on Air
Nothing spoils a race faster than running out of Air. Your Air Board relies on an Air Tank that you have to refill throughout the race. You do this in several ways. You refill your Tank when you fly through an Air Power-Up item, when you perform a special trick, or when you stop at an Air Pit. Air Power-Up items hang around throughout most tracks. Keep your eyes open for them and grab them whenever you can without going too far out of your way. As you come to know the track, you learn where these items are and you become more efficient at gathering them.

Tricks also extend your Air. The cooler the trick, the more Air you regain. Most tricks, when well-accomplished, don't slow you down, so don't hesitate to perform jumps, rolls, and flips along the way. If that doesn't work out for you, though, and you find yourself completely without Air (at which point Sonic has to hoof it), head for the nearest Air Pit. These stations refill your Air Tank quickly and spit you back out again without delay. It takes a second or two off your time, but it's your best option if you run completely out of Air.

Maximize your character's strengths
by performing tricks suited to them.

Flip It, Trip It, Own It
Tricks make you a true winner or loser. Sure, you want to win the game, but if you don't do it Sonic style, then you're just another Air Board rider. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when performing tricks on your Air Board is that each character has strengths and weaknesses. Maximize your character's strengths by performing tricks suited to them.

If your character excels in Speed, then you have an edge when attempting to ride rails and other edged surfaces. Called grinding, this move makes you go faster. A character with a talent for Flight employs it to fly farther and higher than others, possibly even flying through a whole series of Accelerator gates. And lastly, a character of the Power type has the strength to crash through barrels and other obstacles that sometimes hide shortcuts.

Take advantage of your environment to perform tricks. You find many pipes, half-pipes, and rails that aren't so obvious but that work for tricks. One of the most surprising places to perform tricks is in the Turbulence behind an opponent. Boarders create a wake of Turbulence in which you can ride. It's solid and sucks you along, even allowing you to gain speed and possibly pass the character creating the wave. Try a corkscrew or two while you're zipping along in your opponent's wake.

Perform super tricks.

Move It or Lose It
You have four basic controls available to you to help you perform tricks or simply race at top speeds. Use them to your advantage. Steer. It sounds idiotic to mention it, but the steering in Sonic Riders doesn't work quite as you might expect. You steer with the left stick, and that's the easy part. Your forward momentum never stops, however, unless you consciously stop it. All you ever have to do is steer.

What you need to know to succeed is that there are places where steering matters and places where it doesn't. Some sections of the tracks carry you along, around curves and over ledges. On these parts of the tracks, you can focus on doing tricks, or just catch your breath. Beware though, because there are tracks with sections where you can fall off an edge into oblivion.

Air Slide on sharp turns.

Press B or X to give yourself an added Air Boost, like hitting the accelerator. Increase your speed by using the Air Boost or by performing certain tricks (such as grinding on rails). The Air Slide move comes in handy on sharp turns. By using the left stick to indicate direction along with either the left or right trigger, you cut the corner sharply. Kick up a Tornado behind you and put anyone on your tail into a spin, basically slowing them down. Use the left and right trigger together to leave a Tornado in your wake. All three of these moves burn up Air, so use them sparingly.

Sonic Ridersis a game of racing strategy at high speeds. Ultimately, those who get really good at it are those who know how to take every advantage of their character's strengths and weakness, and have learned the tracks to such an efficient level that they can pop a trick, pick up an Air Power-Up, and diss an opponent without losing any speed whatsoever. Sonic and his pals have risen to the challenge. Be there with them. Get your trick on, Slick. There's some Air here with your name on it.

Article by Angel Leigh McCoy