Sonic R

Sonic R is an unorthodox racing game where sonic and his friends run instead of being in karts (except for Amy). First, let me talk about the controls. The controls in this game are very rigid. It’s hard to turn back in this game once you mess up. This is especially more frustrating when you try to collect the sonic tokens in this game. Sonic tokens are crucial for unlocking the many characters in this game. The only caveat is that you at least have to place 3rd which I guess is fair, but the controls make this way more frustrating; but at least it adds challenge to the game. There are 6 unlockable characters. Robonick, Tails Doll, Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles, Eggrobo, And Super Sonic. You have to collect the tokens in 4/5 stages to unlock the characters. I can go on and on about this game but overall; this game is alright and fun but not really great or horrible either.

The version of this game I played is the PC port. I've attempted to play it several times in the past through a Sega Saturn emulator before deeming it a worthless venture. Sonic R is generally considered a mediocre racing game at best and yet another terrible Sonic game at worst.

Segwaying into my experience, I was able to beat the entire game (unlocking every character, stage and all Chaos Emeralds) in under an hour. To put things bluntly, the characters are very unbalanced, the draw distance is distracting, the stages are either under-designed or too cluttered, the music (while incredible) does not belong in any video game and the Chaos Emerald and emblem collection are intrusive to the game play at large. The game also is lacking in content, containing only five stages and *ten* characters.

Clearly Sonic R is incredibly outmatched by most racing games at the time. To elaborate further on the poor balance of characters, all of them have different stats. Some are faster, have weapons, can fly, glide on water or have a dash ability. It seems like the developers wanted each character to have benefits and drawbacks. Instead we have characters like Amy Rose and Tails Doll who are incredibly slow relative to their competition. They have no chance at winning any races unless they cheat with shortcuts that their competitors just don't bother to take often by hovering over long stretches of water or opening gated areas at the proper time (the latter is how I won Radiant Emerald as Amy). On the flip side, there are characters who are overpowered like Metal Knuckles and the infamous Super Sonic. Additionally, the game doesn't load in different characters for the player to race against either. For instance, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Eggman only ever race each other. The same applies to the unlockable five. This meaning you can't do something like race Tails against Tails Doll or Sonic against Metal Sonic. This also means if you select to play as any of the unlockable characters besides Eggman you will always have to race against Super Sonic, a character that can only be matched by Metal Knuckles even when using shortcuts.

The level design was something to get used to. Some stages, like Regal Ruin, feel cluttered; containing sudden turns, gaps, random walls and other strange oddities. Branching pathways feel random with no correlation with the rest of the race which can often make the player feel lost. Then you have stages like Radiant Emerald that are designed like an actual race track. You get a blend of both approaches in the other three. I say "get used to" because after about fifteen to twenty minutes, I began to have fun with these stages. The only exception being Radical City but that's because I found it the easiest in the game being able to win as every character except the Egg Robo.

For me, the first thing a game needs to do to win my attention is play well. In this case, I have to understand how the characters control before overcoming anything else the game offers. For instance, I couldn't bring myself to enjoy anything Sonic & the Black Knight had to offer because Sonic himself controlled terribly. During the first few minutes, I could not figure out how to play Sonic R. Turning as any character felt clumsy and slow, I couldn't stop hitting walls and winning a race felt like an impossible demand. It wasn't till I decided to reconfigure the controls when I learned there were two drift buttons. While it didn't fix my problems with hitting walls, learning of this did make me more tolerant with the control imperfections.

The presentation (graphics and music) is probably the most dated aspect of this game. The music is Euro-Dance and despite having no place in any video game, I genuinely adore every track in this game. The music is the most iconic aspect of Sonic R. Matching the overwhelming 90s energy of the music, the graphics are truly something special. This may not mean much to most other people (some of you maybe think they look especially poor) but as someone who is fascinated with Sonic's history during the Saturn era, particularly the canceled projects of Sonic Mars, Sonic Saturn and Sonic X-tream, this plays a big part in facilitating my fondness of this game. This is the only original game in the series developed and successfully released for the Sega Saturn and the novelty of that status still influences my perspective at this time. I love the low-poly characters and locals and for someone who doesn't own a Saturn nor $500 in spare cash (I certainly am not playing Sonic Jam anytime too soon), this is the only place where I can get them.

If it isn't clear, I really like Sonic R but there are aspects of the game play that even I can't ignore. No need for me to remind you here. You should be aware of them by now.

gonna be real, never got the hate for this game, its fine it plays well and the music slaps so theres that.

Absolutely overhated. While the controls get some time getting used to and there's not enough content, it's actually quite fun to play. The graphics are great for the Saturn, the soundtrack kicks ass, and the game has a quirky air about it that I appreciate a lot. The stages are sometimes a mess, but I also think it stands out in its messiness. There are a lot of paths and shortcuts as well, adding a bit of replayability to the limited number of tracks.

I even had the urge to finish the game. I stopped after beating the regular game, unlocking Super Sonic by getting all of the Chaos Emeralds, and unlocking Metal Sonic by getting the 5 coins on the first stage and then beating him in a race. There are other unlockable characters, but why would I want to go through the trouble of unlocking Tails Doll?

(In the tune of Can You Feel the Sunshine)

♫ Can you see?
This game is really shitty.
It gives me a migraine,
so shitty!
It makes me wanna die.
The graphics
they look so unfinished
It’s like Bubsy 3D,
but it’s worse,
It began the 3D Sonic curse!

Can you feel they half-assed?
This garbage Sonic racing game
One would think it would be hard
To fuck up to this degree
Considering that Sonic
Is built just for speed
This could’ve been a great game
But they swindled the budget!

Feel the garbage

The controls,
there are so many holes
They botched this aspect too!
The characters move,
Like slipping through puddles
Don’t know why
They all insist to slide
Extinguishing my pride,
in Sonic
It’s only getting worse from here!

Can you feel they half-assed?
This garbage Sonic racing game
One would think it would be hard
To fuck up to this degree
That Tails Doll creepypasta
Cannot save this game
Neither that nor this song
Cause it’s so goddamn corny!

When Sonic gets stuck
I feel so damn frustrated
Wish I could back up
Instead of turning like a slug

Can you feel it?
Ooh-hoo…
Can you feel it?
Oh…

Lack of effort?
Oh…
Lack of effort!

Can you feel they half-assed?
This garbage Sonic racing game (garbage racing game)
One would think it would be hard
To fuck up to this degree (fucked up bad)
Considering that Sonic
Is built just for speed
This could’ve been a great game
But they swindled the budget!

Can you feel they half-assed (Can you feel it?)
This garbage Sonic racing game (garbage racing game)
One would think it would be hard
To fuck up to this degree (fucked up bad)
That Tails Doll creepypasta (creepypasta)
Cannot save this game
Neither that nor this song
Cause it’s so goddamn corny!

Whoa-oh-oh-oh
Piss you off, it may
Never play this game…
Pissed off, you’ll be pissed off
An embarrassment
I say fuck this game! ♫