Nintendo GameCube
This game looked like it would be similar to Mario Kart. And, in a way it is, as you race around cheery and colorful tracks. But the handling is awful, which does not help the low-resolution graphics and limited number of courses. I love Kirby and the box art was right up my alley, so I was taken aback when I played Kirby Air RIde. There was a lot of potential that wasn't tapped into, and I expected better from HAL Laboratories, the developer behind the Kirby series.
Finally, a 3D adventure game that is truly approachable for casual gamers. One of my favorite spots in the game is right at the beginning where Sonic rides through the hills of San Francisco on a snowboard. That part of the game is filled with such rebellious attitude, it's ridiculous. Sonic goes against the grain of the Mario and Spyro series, and this is made very clear by the game's bad ass music and level design. Though the graphics are out-of-date compared to much of today's fare, as this game was originally released for the Sega Dreamcast console, a lot of the imagery is still stunning. The great thing about SA2B is that the level of difficulty is just right: approachable but not frustrating or overly forgiving.
