ne of Sega’s most major problems in the 90s was that they waited so long to bring Sonic the Hedgehog into the 3D realm. They released a few stop-gap titles, like 3D Blast, but they knew darn well that’s not what fans wanted. They needed an answer to Super Mario 64, but it wasn’t until a generation later that they finally delivered. Sonic R is one of the aforementioned stop-gap titles. This Sega Saturn release was a racer that has more in common with Mario Kart than any platformer.It’s definitely not a clone, but this was definitely a monkey paw release. Today we’re going to take a look at Sonic R and determine if it’s still worth playing. Let’s dive right in!
Sega tried their best at a plot, but it’s not very good. Thankfully it’s relegated to the manual. Sonic and Tails discover a grand prix race, and that Robotnik is a participant. As it turns out he’s using this tournament to gather the Chaos emeralds and enslave the world. The two, along with Knuckles and Amy join so that they can stop him once again.
It’s a basic Sonic the Hedgehog plot. Sonic R is a 3D polygonal racer where you choose from one of ten characters (six are locked away in the beginning) and compete with four others in a contest of speed and accuracy. What sets Sonic R apart from it’s contemporaries is that there aren’t vehicles per-se. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all race on foot. It kind of comes with the territory; Sonic being based on his ability to run at super fast speeds and all. Amy is the first outlier and rides in a small car of all things while Robotnik competes in a flying craft. The other characters are a little more strange. Metal Sonic, Egg Robo, and Doll Tails hover. So does the final secret racer Super Sonic. To be honest the mix of on-foot and vehicle characters is a little strange.
When I said that this isn’t a Mario Kart clone I meant it. There are some basic similarities (it’s a mascot based arcade racer, after all) but the differences are apparent right away. For one thing many of the characters can jump. You’ll need to use this to avoid hazards like water, find shortcuts, or even to aid in turning corners in some of instances. While you can collect rings (which open up shortcuts when you’ve gathered enough) and chaos emeralds (more on that later) there are no other pick-ups. This means the main aspect of kart racing, offensive items, has been omitted. That’s probably the biggest difference between this and Nintendo’s main racer.
While this does take away some of the frenetic action the genre is known for I don’t consider it a huge loss? Why? The character abilities make up for it. At least that’s the case for me. While each character differs in terms of speed, acceleration, and traction they each have a unique skill. These can be used endlessly. There’s no need to collect a power-up or wait for a meter to charge. Sonic can perform a mid-air double jump which allows him to leap higher, Tails can fly for short periods of time as per his trademark skill in all of the games, Knuckles can glide endlessly, Amy gets turbo boosts for her car, and Robotnik can shoot missiles which consumes rings. In my opinion this aspect of the game is amazing.
While something like a double jump sounds a little lame it’s actually super helpful. This holds especially true when you’re trying to avoid water hazards or other similar elements in the environment. Knuckles and Tails are significantly more interesting though. Being able to fly essentially allows you to completely avoid hazards below. The glide is even better because you can do it over long distances, and even skip dips on the track. Unfortunately Amy’s boost isn’t particularly interesting. She’s the slowest character, and even the boost doesn’t help enough. Robotnik’s missiles however are pretty useful. It’s nice that at least one (technically two) characters have an offensive ability.
Unfortunately the hidden characters are basically copycats of the main cast. Metal Sonic has most of the same attributes as the blue blur, but he cannot jump and is a bit faster. Doll Tails is pretty similar but hovers above the ground as he moves so will never get caught in water. Egg Robo is a blatant clone of Robotnik, Metail Knuckles as, well, you know. Super Sonic is by far the best character in the game, but he’s just a souped up version of Sega’s mascot. There just isn’t enough diversity in the cast because of all the clones.
That’s not the only thing that’s limited here. There are only five different courses. The original Mario Kart on the SNES had almost four times that. Maybe developer Traveler’s Tales makes up for it by making them all long or full of content? Nope. Fortunately they have a variety of diverse terrain and are chock full of secrets. There are lots of hills, dips, streams, lakes, structures, etc. Of the bunch my favorite is Radical City. Here you’re running along actual roads in a city at night. There’s even a section designed like a pinball table where you’re bouncing off of bumpers, and this was a great throwback to the Casino Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
The other stages are pretty interesting too. Resort Island has a light tropical theme with lots of water, a forest and even a waterfall. Reactive Factory is more industrial but still bright and colorful. Regal Ruin is my least favorite of the bunch because it seems like it just borrows elements from the aforementioned tracks. There’s one that’s hidden called Radiant Emerald. This stage takes place in outer space with a glowing track and several loop-de-loops. The tracks are absolutely amazing and very well designed. I just wish there were more of them. I was left hungry for more which is a compliment to how fun each of them are.
Now what really sets Sonic R apart from the other kart racers is that exploration is just as important as the racing. I already mentioned that you can find shortcuts, but that occurs mostly by accident while searching for the chaos emeralds. Yes, you must collect these, and doing so unlocks the secret characters as well as the Radiant Emerald course. I did love how interesting it is to explore the stages. It’s fun to figure out where you can and cannot go. Unless you’re using a guide Sonic R becomes a game of experimentation. You’ll lose a lot of races trying to find these gems because they’re cleverly hidden for the most part.
When you do finally figure out where they’re at you have to not only find the emerald, but also come in first place in the race. Sometimes that’s easier said than done. In several instances you have to go way off course and find a way to basically platform yourself back into the main track. Even though it can be frustrating and difficult I really liked this approach. It adds layers of strategy not seen in any other kart racer (yes, I’m still considering Sonic R to be one) up to this point.
The game has a few different modes but nothing crazy. The grand prix is going to be your main means of play. It is here that you race against four CPU controlled characters while collecting the chaos emeralds to unlock content. Additionally you have a time trial mode which helps you get to know the courses and their shortcuts. It’s pretty basic, but decent enough. There’s also a multiplayer split screen mode where you can compete against one other player. It’s okay, but I appreciate the inclusion.
Sonic R is one of the best looking 3D Sega Saturn games. The platform wasn’t well known for it’s polygonal prowess, but this is impressive even when compared to the other platforms at the time. The character models are a bit blocky but that was par for the course with 32-bit platforms. The tracks also feature a lot of pop-in. It’s never a huge problem but is definitely noticeable. The framerate, while decent, isn’t quite good. It seems to hover between twenty and twenty five frames per second. That’s not great, but back then it didn’t matter. Honestly Sonic R is just barely acceptable as far as frame rate is concerned.
The best part of Sonic R however is it’s soundtrack. This release came at a time before Sonic got really faux punk-rock, and it’s pure pop bliss. Every one of the course tracks are streamed via redbook audio, and each features vocals. I realize that this may sound unimpressive in this day and age in the 32-bit era it was a big deal. While the lyrics are nonsensical Sonic R has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. It’s just pure whimsical bliss and the compositions are seriously on point. It’s so good that I didn’t mind the graphical shortcomings, because the music is per hype.
