"Sonic Riders" was primarily designed to appeal to fans of "Sonic" and extreme sports games, while the multiplayer modes were included for casual gamers. Yuda has said Sonic Team did not take any influences from prior "Sonic" games, reasoning they wanted to create a truly new experience that was unlike anything else from other "Sonic" games. The characters were chosen based on how relevant to the game's story they would be. The game's antagonists, the Babylon Rogues, were created because Sonic Team wanted to include "Air Pirates" as Sonic's rivals. Yuda considered them best-suited for "Sonic" series racing games, and noted "Sonic "characters are usually designed with one specific storyline in mind. Levels were designed to be "crazy" but still feature classic "Sonic" elements.