Nowadays, you probably see Sonic being treated like a toothpick by Sega. Bad camera angles, annoying/useless characters, long loading screens and overused content to try and keep the Classic fandom alive. The only reason why Sonic is still is still a thing is nostalgia and Sonic Colours/Generations. Don't get me wrong, I love Sonic. Heck, I even thought the hedgehog's recent outing (Sonic Lost World) was ok, and critics hated it!
Anyway, going onto the topic of Sonic R, the game was released in 1997 to compete against Mario Kart 64 and upcoming Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing. Published by Sega, developed by Traveller's Tales (People behind Sonic 3D Blast and Lego games) with the help of Sonic Team comes a racing game for the Sega Saturn and PC (and to be re-released for Sonic Gems Collection), Sonic R. Does it live up to the game's hype from 1997? Not quite.
After the cancellation of Sonic Xtreme, the Sega Saturn had no 3D Sonic game on it. Sonic Team tried their best to keep their fans happy with Sonic in Christmas Nights, Sonic Jam's Sonic World and the closest thing to 3D Saturn Sonic game, Sonic R. Unfortunately, fans had to be greeted with a game with slippery controls and cheesy soundtrack. Though critics loved it in 97, the critics now think opposite nowadays.
Sonic R has no story unless you were bothered to read the instruction manual, or if you were bored in the car and you had got the game. The story is simple. Sonic sees a poster about a race and decides to enter, but it turns out EggMan enters as well, so Sonic and friends race. Move over Heavy Rain! This gets story of the year! Seriously though, this didn't need a story anyway. It's a racing game.
Sonic R has about 11 characters, which is more than Mario Kart 64, but falls in track department, as there is only 5 tracks.About the slippery and cheesy music. The game is only playable if you play with the 3D Saturn controller. Sonic R with a d-pad is like chasing a Ferrari down the motorway whilst wearing baggy jeans. You might as well throw that controller out the window. The controls in this game are slippery. Bump into the wall or another person and you start skidding around. Fall into water, you take ages to get out. Collecting Chaos Emeralds and Sonic Tokens? Yeah, good luck with that.
Speaking of Chaos Emeralds and Sonic Tokens, you need to collect all seven Emeralds to unlock Super Sonic and the 5th track. You also need to collect tokens to unlock the other five characters. If you collect all 5 tokens in a stage, you have to come at least 3rd, so that should be ok, but you have to come 1st to be able to obtain the emerald you found, and the worst part about it is that if you are collecting them, you're going to find it impossible to come first, since the CPU players will go way past you when you are stuck in the emerald's area and cannot get out since you're trying to get out of the area but cannot do so, since you are playing a game with bad controls.
Also, the soundtrack. The soundtrack, despite being catchy and fun to listen to, it was not really meant for a racing game. It's like if someone developing the game said "Hey, my cousin is releasing a new album. Maybe we can ask if we can use her songs and she can compose only 1 song that has something to do with the game!". Just kidding, the soundtrack was composed by Richard Jacques, the man behind many Sega game soundtracks. His work is good, but it's not suitable here.
The summary? Sonic R is a game that is probably going to break your sanity. I'd give this a skip and instead play Sonic and AllStars Racing Transformed. If that's not your cup of tea, just play Mario Kart. Nowadays, you probably see Sonic being treated like a toothpick by Sega. Bad camera angles, annoying/useless characters, long loading screens and overused content to try and keep the Classic fandom alive. The only reason why Sonic is still is still a thing is nostalgia and Sonic Colours/Generations. Don't get me wrong, I love Sonic. Heck, I even thought the hedgehog's recent outing (Sonic Lost World) was ok, and critics hated it!
Anyway, going onto the topic of Sonic R, the game was released in 1997 to compete against Mario Kart 64 and upcoming Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing. Published by Sega, developed by Traveller's Tales (People behind Sonic 3D Blast and Lego games) with the help of Sonic Team comes a racing game for the Sega Saturn and PC (and to be re-released for Sonic Gems Collection), Sonic R. Does it live up to the game's hype from 1997? Not quite.
After the cancellation of Sonic Xtreme, the Sega Saturn had no 3D Sonic game on it. Sonic Team tried their best to keep their fans happy with Sonic in Christmas Nights, Sonic Jam's Sonic World and the closest thing to 3D Saturn Sonic game, Sonic R. Unfortunately, fans had to be greeted with a game with slippery controls and cheesy soundtrack. Though critics loved it in 97, the critics now think opposite nowadays.
Sonic R has no story unless you were bothered to read the instruction manual, or if you were bored in the car and you had got the game. The story is simple. Sonic sees a poster about a race and decides to enter, but it turns out EggMan enters as well, so Sonic and friends race. Move over Heavy Rain! This gets story of the year! Seriously though, this didn't need a story anyway. It's a racing game.
Sonic R has about 11 characters, which is more than Mario Kart 64, but falls in track department, as there is only 5 tracks.About the slippery and cheesy music. The game is only playable if you play with the 3D Saturn controller. Sonic R with a d-pad is like chasing a Ferrari down the motorway whilst wearing baggy jeans. You might as well throw that controller out the window. The controls in this game are slippery. Bump into the wall or another person and you start skidding around. Fall into water, you take ages to get out. Collecting Chaos Emeralds and Sonic Tokens? Yeah, good luck with that.
Speaking of Chaos Emeralds and Sonic Tokens, you need to collect all seven Emeralds to unlock Super Sonic and the 5th track. You also need to collect tokens to unlock the other five characters. If you collect all 5 tokens in a stage, you have to come at least 3rd, so that should be ok, but you have to come 1st to be able to obtain the emerald you found, and the worst part about it is that if you are collecting them, you're going to find it impossible to come first, since the CPU players will go way past you when you are stuck in the emerald's area and cannot get out since you're trying to get out of the area but cannot do so, since you are playing a game with bad controls.
Also, the soundtrack. The soundtrack, despite being catchy and fun to listen to, it was not really meant for a racing game. It's like if someone developing the game said "Hey, my cousin is releasing a new album. Maybe we can ask if we can use her songs and she can compose only 1 song that has something to do with the game!". Just kidding, the soundtrack was composed by Richard Jacques, the man behind many Sega game soundtracks. His work is good, but it's not suitable here.
The summary? Sonic R is a game that is probably going to break your sanity. I'd give this a skip and instead play Sonic and AllStars Racing Transformed. If that's not your cup of tea, just play Mario Kart. |
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