Even though the version I played is much more recent, at first I couldn't understand what TYP saw in Sonic Riders when he praised it last fall. This hoverboard racing game has all the floaty controls and physics you would expect, given the nature of the sport, but it also uses some unusual gameplay mechanics that take a while to figure out. I would have had a smoother introduction to the game if the tutorial wasn't hidden in the Extras menu, but it definitely clears a few things up.

Sonic Riders plays like a cross between F-Zero GX (very fast, slick graphics, boost function) and 1080 Snowboarding or Wave Race (trick system, carve-style turning). The air boards (a.k.a. "Extreme Gear") use air as a sort of fuel supply. The air meter constantly drains as you race, and you can sacrifice a big chunk of the meter to activate a speed boost, the use of which is critical to winning races. There are pit stops to refill the air meter, but they bring you to a dead stop and can be hard to find in a pinch. No, the real method for refilling the air meter is to do tricks and land them cleanly. If you want to win, you need to boost often, and that means you need to pull off a lot of tricks.

The tricks themselves are very simple joystick manipulations. What's interesting is how you gain opportunities to do these tricks. Of course, there are ramps all over the courses, some of them mandatory. But the more innovative feature is turbulence. These visible jet streams are created by other racers ahead of you, and if you jump into one, you'll gain a lot of speed until you eventually overcome the character who created it. So it's basically a fancy form of drafting (see: Mario Kart DS), but that's not all. While being pulled along through a stream of turbulence, you can move side to side on it like a half-pipe to gain even more speed. When the character ahead makes a sharp turn, the turbulence rises up higher on one side or the other, and that's your chance to bank hard to that side and actually jump up and do tricks, hopefully landing back on the turbulence. It's not as complicated as it sounds, and it definitely looks cool when you pull a double-flip trick off Amy's wake, then sneak up from behind and smack her with a giant wrench (or whatever is your character's weapon of choice).

Although you can knock down other racers, Sonic Riders is primarily about racing, not combat. There are no special weapons that I've seen, other than the tornado you can drop (at the cost of some air) to foil opponents who are creeping up from behind. Items strewn through the tracks generally give you more air or more rings. When you collect enough rings, your air meter grows significantly, and the effect can be repeated until you max out the meter's size. At the end of the race, all the rings you collected are stored away and can later be used to buy new air boards with different stats.

Cornering also takes some practice, because it's quite different from most racing games. You have to start turning early, and if the corner is especially sharp, you'll need to hold down the corresponding shoulder button to carve in and edge around. If you do it without hitting the walls and also nail the timing, you can get a big speed boost when you let go of the trigger. Certain characters are definitely better than others at this technique.

The normal mode in Sonic Riders is a free race, time attack, or grand prix for up to four players. If you're playing alone, the computer will fill up the other seven positions with A.I. racers who are quite skilled. (A difficulty setting would be nice, but I didn't see one.) The story mode is strictly for one player; it opens with a gorgeous CGI scene and also has real-time cut-scenes between races, with full voice acting (and lip-synching!) that is well done but clearly aimed for a young audience. The writing is not without humor though…I cracked up when Tails mentioned the Kutta-Joukowski transformation to explain how the air boards are able to fly. Story mode attempts to explain why all these characters are racing each other on air boards, and it also seems to be the mechanism for unlocking extra characters and tracks. For the races I played, the character was determined by the story, which forces you to learn how to use each character type's abilities (Speed/Fly/Power).

The other modes are geared towards multiplayer, and they are more interesting than I would have expected. Tag mode is a sort of cooperative race in which you and a partner share one air meter and must stay close together at all times. You can ride each other's turbulence streams, of course, so a bit of strategy is in order. The survival mode is a variant of Capture the Flag, except here your goal is to get the Chaos Emerald and carry it through five gates placed on the track. While holding the emerald, your air meter drains very quickly, while all other characters have unlimited air. The point is for the emerald to change hands often, and it works quite well. Finally, there is a battle mode set in three specially designed stages. It's a lot like Mario Kart's battle mode, but there are no weapons, only power-ups that increase your attack, speed, or defense. You still have to boost into your opponents to win, and cornering becomes a critical skill since these stages are enclosed and much smaller than the racing tracks.

Overall, I'm quite impressed by Sonic Riders, despite my initial frustrations. The game has a learning curve, for sure, but if you take the time to learn how to play, it can be a lot of fun. I also really like the wide selection of modes, especially ones like the tag mode, which makes very clever use of the game's unusual racing mechanics. With functional controls and no camera problems (by design), this may be the best game from Sonic Team in years. Look for our full review when the game ships in February.