365//365: Day 025 – Sonic R (SAT)

I’ve neglected my Sega Saturn for a while now. I had purchased it early in 2008 and since then, it’s had about 5 hours of total play time across three games. I decided that now was the best time to expand my library of Sega Saturn title, and the first title I got was Sonic R. Boy am I glad I didn’t pay that much for it!

The concept of Sonic R should be self-explanatory – take the Sonic gang and throw them into their own racing game. With the speed that we’re all accustomed to in the Sonic series, you would think this would be a recipe for success, right? Well, not if Sonic R didn’t even know how to boil water.

Controls are vital to the success of a racing game. In Sonic R, apparently the developers didn’t think they were that important. It’s hard to describe what’s wrong with them, because it defies all logic. Playing any of the on foot characters, you have almost no traction, no sense of control in your turns, no sense of speed, yet sometimes you run too fast for the road. The vehicles are too slow, but can stay on the road with little problem, but don’t ever go fast enough to catch up to the on foot characters.

What?

No, this isn't some kind of image trickery....the game really does look this pixelated.

Universally, taking corners with any character either greets you with the wall, or a complete deceleration, making the game have too much stop and go for its own good. If you encounter a turn near bodies of water, you’re more than likely going to run into it, or slow down so much that you won’t fall in, but your forward progress will come to a screeching halt. You can alleviate this somewhat with a few characters, mainly Tails and Knuckles. Pressing jump a second time with either lets them glide through the air for a few seconds, giving you a lot better control than you’d have on foot.

About the best thing going for Sonic R, can also be considered a shortcoming – the audio. Everything you’d expect to hear from a Sonic platform game turned racing game, pops up at all the right times. The music? It doesn’t fit the game at all, though it’s still pretty good for what it is. I’d rather see these songs in a 3D platformer like Sonic Adventures. It sounds out of place, even if you try to tune the vocal portions out.

Navigation becomes nearly impossible as you get further into some tracks

Mostly everything else defines mediocrity. You have an extremely limited number of characters to choose from (nine, with five of them locked) and even less stages to play through (five, with one of them locked). Although the stages are pretty big, thanks to the many detours and shortcuts you can find, you still find yourself pretty much done with the game as soon as you start it. Character models look substandard for its time, with most characters looking like a blob of one color with feet. Some stage layouts looks confusing, with many obstructions up ahead looking like dead ends. Most of the time, it’s a turn, but you can almost never tell if it’s a left turn, right turn, or even a wall. This perfectly compliments the frustrating and somewhat lack of control you experience.

A racing title starting the Sonic gang should have been epic. Instead, Sonic R is the equivalent of driving the wrong way down a one way street. The mechanical logic feels backwards, its looks are bland and often confusing, and it lacks everything you’ve come to expect from a proper racing game. Even die hard Sonic fans should avoid Sonic R, as it lacks any sort of consistent speed to it, among other things.

Rating: 3.3