Sonic R (Sega Saturn review)

[Anayo]

What kind of game is Sonic R? Imagine you're the kid from “A Christmas Story” and the Dad takes you to the Sears toy section to let you look at a Daisy Red Rider BB Gun. You make it apparent this is what you want under the tree. Dad leads you on by showing he has same amount as the price tag in his wallet, then winks and take you home. Then on Christmas morning you get a damn bunny suit that costs the same as what the Daisy Red Rider would have. No, the Red Rider is not hidden in the corner somewhere.

That's basically Sonic R: it's like Dad could have got you what you wanted, but spent it on this piece of crap instead. Sonic R has fairly polished, Playstation-esque graphics. It shows they could render a decent looking Sonic and make him move around in a polygon green hill zone. Then instead of making a real Sonic game, they make a half assed spin off. It would be like Nintendo canceling Super Mario 64 in 1996, then releasing Mario Party instead.

Actually, that analogy is an insult to Mario Party. This game isn't as bad as replacing the core franchise with a spinoff – this dung heap isn't even competent as a spinoff in the first place. It's supposed to be a racing game, but instead of cars, you're controlling bipedal cartoon animals. This raises the question of how they'll “handle”, since they don't have a transmission or wheels like a car. Answer: horribly! Tails is supposed to be young and nimble, but he has the turn radius of an ocean liner. Every attempt at maneuvering the course left me scraping the edges and diving into bushes and ponds on the side.

I have difficulty believing the music to this game was composed in earnest. Any other Saturn fans remember “I wanna fry-y, sky hi-igh!” from Daytona USA? Imagine about a million of those concentrated into a neutron star singularity of cheesiness. It's like they made the lyrics as awful as possible just to see what they could get away with. Sonic 3 had the funkiest tunes ever, why'd that have to change?

As a kid, I loved Sonic to pieces. I loved the 'jingle' of collecting rings, the mechanical bosses, the chaos emeralds and 3D bonus stages, using controller 2 to make Tails airlift Sonic around, the colorful scenery and different places I got to go... I can't imagine what it must have been for a like-minded kid from those days unfortunate enough to get a Sega Saturn, expecting to play a 32-bit version of that, and getting this instead. This game's very existence is a waste of resources and grim foreshadowing of the Sega to come.

Final score: Pathetic.

[Spike77]

I remember enjoying the game. It surely was not all that great. But for a Sonic fan I cannot totally bash it. I wished the would have made it into a proper Sonic game rather than a racing one. But it was a Sonic game afterall

[AmishSamurai]

as a review of your reviewing style, you may want to keep the causticness down a bit. You were so busy saying how awful this game was that it wasn't until halfway through the third paragraph I even knew this was a racing game.

[Flake]

as a review of your reviewing style, you may want to keep the causticness down a bit. You were so busy saying how awful this game was that it wasn't until halfway through the third paragraph I even knew this was a racing game.

Lol, Amish has kind of got a point. I did a ctrl-F for 'race' and got nothing. 'Racing' got three hits...only one of which was in the actual review. You should say more about the game itself, Anayo. Sonic R is a weird and almost lost part of the Sonic catalog ; for that reason alone it is worth taking a close look at. With no images or video to back up review, not much is conveyed to the reader beyond vitriol.

[Anayo]

This is probably the worst review I've posted so far. I usually like to articulate what a game is like so folks will 'get it' without necessarily playing it or swimming through a wall of text, but here I guess I just got the urge to moan about how Sonic Xtreme never came out. I probably should have started a topic about that instead. A mod can delete this as far as I'm concerned.

[CFFJR]

I always liked Sonic R. What can I say?

The Sonic series has a lot of black sheep, but Sonic R charmed my heart back in the day. I can't really explain it, and I understand why people don't like it, but I have lots of fun with it.

Its too bad its so skimpy on actual content. But at the same time, its nice that when I get an urge to play I can fire up the game, 100% it in about an hour, and call it good.

[Original_Name]

I need to put up a video on YouTube about how to play Sonic R sometime. There's a particular way to control it which not only makes it playable, but makes it a joy to play. It'll take a couple tries to get used to, but not because it's difficult or really complicated, but just because it's different from what you'd be used to from racing games. I think Sonic R's biggest fault is that it doesn't have a tutorial -- I assume the manual makes it pretty clear how to play the game in this way, but I don't have it with me at the moment to verify that. Anyway, if you haven't sold the game or anything, try booting it up again sometime and use this control method...

Okay, y'know how Sonic R is giving you headaches because when you tap the D-Pad (/Analogue Pad, although surprisingly enough the 2D pad is much better suited for Sonic R than the 3D pad), the character (let's just say Sonic) does this slight turn which doesn't seem adequate for most of the curving courses, making you feel like you have to stop midway through the curve, take a moment to turn, then start running straight again? That's because the D-Pad is meant for minor shifts in direction or making slight adjustments to your positioning for when you use the REAL turn: the Shoulder Pads. You'll weep with joy when you see the way Sonic hugs those curves, his body diagonal as he sweeps across the bridges in Resort Island, perfectly aligned so that he picks up every ring in a neat little row. Making a large turn? Use both the D-Pad and the Shoulder Pad in order to make Sonic skid around corners in a drift -- treat it like you would treat a sharp turn in F-Zero, the mechanic is very similar.

I've heard people complain that it's awkward to press forward on the D-Pad to keep Sonic moving forward -- well good news, you don't have to! Holding the "B" button will make Sonic accelerate a la Sega Rally or Daytona USA -- just let off the button to brake. And you don't even have to take your thumb off the accelerator to jump over obstacles using the "A" or "C" buttons, just orient your thumb so that the joint is on "B" button and the pad is on the "Y" button. This makes it easy and comfortable to quickly shift from accelerating to jumping and back effectively. Also, some people complain about the way the other characters knock your guy around at the beginning of the race -- that's what the spin-dash is for. Just hold the "down" button, rev up with your lower button of choice (I'd recommend the "B" button), and release just like in the classic Sonic games and you'll go flying past the competition.

Now, the game's still short, but it's a really fun little addition to the Saturn's library once you figure it out (/read the manual). Not to mention it's a jaw-dropping achievement on the Saturn graphically, dedicating a whole course to that transparency-thing that the "Saturn can't do." The lyrics are grating, this is true, but you can turn off the lady in the Options menu and you get the little poppy electronica tracks which are pretty nice little songs.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Original_Name thank you. I've trying to tell people for years it's not a terrible game if you know how to play it. Unfortunately, like most Saturn racing titles, its low on the amount of content you get though. Which is quite disappointing, because, Sonic R uses the Saturn to the fullest. If only the Saturn had not been so hard to develop for.

[Gnashvar]

I used to think this game sucked too. Then I saw my sister play it with such ease that the game actually looks good and fun if you can control it. I've found some games that I thought sucked but then you watch videos on youtube of people being awesome at them and then it makes me wonder if I was the one that didn't give the game a chance.

[Incognito D]

Sonic R has one of the best game soundtracks ever. I'm not kidding.

yes, it's cheesy, but I love it.