Sonic the Hedgehog loses a Chaos Emerald to Dr Egghead's minions and has to compete in a tournament against the Babylon Rogues to win it back.

Yeah yeah, whatever. We're not bothered about the story, all we want to do is to jump on our hoverboards and get racing.

Once on board we get some of the fastest futuristic races around, like a supercharged version of the late, great Wipeout.

Speed is at the root of the best and worst aspects of this game, however, though thankfully the good outweighs the bad.

On the plus side there's breakneck action, dozens of nifty vehicles, lots of secret shortcuts, and the thrill of riding other racers' turbulence.

On the minus there are dodgy controls, tracks designed designed without enough thought, and the frequent frustration of coming off your vehicle.

Sonic Riders is a fun arcade game, but it's certainly no classic of the racing genre.

David Knights