UPDATE 2: SEGA has released clean, hi-resolution versions of the Rocky Ridge screens CVG released earlier, as well as some old Dolphin Resort screens on the Sonic City Blognik. /UPDATE END

UPDATE: CVG has released three high quality, but watermarked screenshots of Rocky Ridge. They also claim Rouge, Shadow and Silver are in the game.

Characters announced so far include Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Shadow and Silver. Sonic Free Riders will also support the use of Avatars.

/UPDATE END

Original article below:

Some photos of Sonic Free Riders‘ have hit the net courtesy of Andriasang, with two of them giving us a glimpse of ‘Rocky Ridge’, a track that SEGA Europe Community Manager ArchangelUK recenty hinted at in an entry at the Blognik and named at the SSMB. The photos were taken at Microsoft’s Media Briefing, which was held in Tokyo recently to promote Kinect and its software line-up in Japan.

One photo shows Knuckles riding a hoverboard through an environment surrounded by tall rocky hills. It’s no wonder where the track got its name eh? The other photo of ‘Rocky Ridge’ sees Tails in the minecart that ArchangelUK mentioned, a section where he said “you actually have to pull a lever left and right to change the points and avoid rockfalls. It looks quite slick actually.”

Andriasang also posted their brief impressions of the demo:

Next, I tried Sonic Free Riders by Sega, which also launches on the same day as the Kinect hardware. My menu experience didn’t go so well here. I was stuck on the menu screen, which appears to require that you make selections by holding your right arm out and sliding diagonally in a relaxed motion. The Sega representative had to step in and make the selection for me because I just wasn’t getting it right despite my efforts to try to imitate his movements.

Sonic Free Riders is a racing game featuring Sonic and his “wonderful” friends. Movement is automatic, just like Crossboard X, so you have to just wave your arms to each side to collect rings and power ups, and make the occasional jump to the next part of the stage.

Many of the elements one expects of a sonic game are in here. When you’re hit, your rings go flying out. You’ll have to shake your hands to get them back. Sonic also has a speed boost. When a power gauge on the lower right side of the screen fills up, you can make Sonic dash forward by moving your left leg forward then swiftly kicking back.

The demo required three laps around the course to reach the goal. I have to admit to being a bit tired after the three laps.

What do you think of the new track? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Andriasang
Kinect impressions
Photos