Just in case you didn’t already know, 2024 is the Year of Shadow. The often-ignoredSoniccharacter is finally getting the spotlight as he prepares to be introduced to the series' movies in December, and becomes a part ofSonic x Shadow Generationsin the fall. So much more Shadow stuff has already happened this year with more still to come, starting with a first look at a real-life Dark Rider being showcased at the MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas this weekend.
That’s right, just when you thought the wildest thingSegawas going to do with Sonic in 2024 isturn the blue blur and his buddies into IHOP dishes, the studio goes ahead and reveals it has made Shadow’s iconic motorcycle a reality. Sega gave Sonic fans a first look at its real-life Dark Rider on Tuesday alongside confirmation that 2024 is officially the Year of Shadow. You can check out the bike below, and if you want to see it in person, you can head to Austin to check it out between April 12 and April 14.
The Dark Rider first appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog, the brooding character’s spinoff game released in 2005. The first time you see Shadow during the game’s opening cinematic, the hedgehog is using it to smash a GUN soldier out of the way. The first of many indicators that this game would be unlike anything Sonic had ever served up before or since. A GUN vehicle Shadow stole during his escape, the black and red blur kept hold of the bike, renamed it the Dark Rider, and slapped his own logo over all of the GUN ones to truly make it his own.
Shadow has brought the Dark Rider with him in various games since its introduction, including whenever he and the rest of the Sonic cast have raced against one another. Somehow this isn’t the first time in 2024 that a video game bike has been turned into a real-life motorcycle. The Pokemon Company hasteamed up with Toyota to turn Pokemon Violet’s Miraidon into a motorbiketoo. The Miraidon motorcycle will be showcased later this year at Toyota’s Waku Waku World.
The only downside of both the Miraidon motorbike and Shadow’s real Dark Rider is the lack of indication that either of them will ever be mass-produced soPokemonand Sonic fans can buy and ride them around themselves. There’s also no indication that won’t happen, and unlike the Miraidon bike, the Dark Rider is just a normal motorcycle with a Shadow-inspired design. There’s no reason it can’t be a motorbike that goes on sale one day, and I’m sure there would be Sonic fans eager to buy it.
