Platform: Sega Saturn

Developer: Sonic Team / Traveller’s Tales

Publisher: Sega

Release Date (NA): October 31^st, 1997

Genre: Racing

Nerd Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Reviewed by NerdBerry

Sonic R was the first exclusive Sonic title released on the Sega Saturn. Released almost a full year after Sonic 3D Blast made its way from the Genesis to the Saturn, Sonic R was considered a major disappointment, much in the vein of Sonic Spinball. Fans of the Sonic series and owners of the ill-fated Sega Saturn were clamoring for a Sega Saturn release of a Sonic game! And what were the fans left with? A cancelled and unreleased game called Sonic X-Treme, a Sega Genesis port of a Sonic game called Sonic 3D Blast, and a racing game called Sonic R. Granted, Sega Saturn owners were lucky as shit to get a Sonic Team game called NiGHTS into Dreams which is truly a masterpiece in itself. But Sega Saturn owners were completely estranged from the Sega Corporation! I always found it funny that Sonic Team had the time to make Nights into Dreams but couldn’t create a 3D Sonic platformer for the Sega Saturn?? No wonder Sega fanboys felt betrayed and infuriated! Hell, I would have been angry too if my parents weren’t buying me a badass Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64 around this time.

Let it be known that Sonic R does not fall in line with any of the previous Sonic installations. Sonic R is entirely separate, although still partially created (well, at least visually created) by the Sonic Team. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was such a masterful game (and a high seller, at that) so the hype to follow up with a strong title was very much at its peak.

Sonic R, with the R standing for Racing, is a racing game set in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe featuring characters (racers) from the same universe. It is my belief that Sonic R is Sega’s attempt at staying competitive with Mario Kart 64 which was released only 9 months prior in February, “coincidentally” during the same month Sega began development of this game. Not a bad move on Sega’s part, but too little too late as Nintendo and Sony were red hot while the Sega Saturn was flopping completely. Anybody who played a lot of video games in the mid to late ‘90s will tell you that racing games were all the buzz thanks to Mario Kart 64. South Park even released their own racing game called South Park Rally! So why not the 2^nd most popular video game icon ever?

Sonic R features 10 total characters with which you can race. While only 4 characters are initially available, 6 of them are unlockable when certain objectives are met (such as winning first place, beating track times, etc). These 4 initial characters are Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose (who made her first appearance in the classic and incomparable Sonic CD). The 6 unlockable characters are Dr. Robotnik, EggRobo (Dr. Robotnik’s assistant), Metal Sonic (from Sonic CD), Metal Knuckles, Tails Doll, and Super Sonic. While Metal Sonic and Dr. Robotnik are unique additional characters, the other 4 unlockables seem somewhat boring and bland. They are just different versions of the other racers. But hey, I guess Nintendo did the same thing with Mario Kart Double Dash!! with all their mini-versions of the main characters.

While many might consider Sonic R a bastard abomination, it does play VERY well and it does make great use of the Saturn’s graphical capabilities with fully rendered 3D animation. The race tracks are very colorful, detailed, and entirely Sonic-esque! In fact, I’ll go as far as to say these graphics are considerably better than Mario Kart 64, but the gameplay is not. In Grand Prix mode you can choose between the 4 racers mentioned earlier and race on one of 4 tracks (with 1 unlockable track). One of the more unique features of Sonic R that sets it apart from most of the racing games of the time is the ability to change the weather! You can have clear weather, rainy weather, or snowy weather and there is also an option that generates random weather throughout the game. I haven’t noticed any difference in having different weather options, but I think it adds a nice look and adds some variety.

While Sonic R might be visually stunning and run exceptionally smooth for a Sega Saturn game, there is very little else to gain from playing this game. I can tell that Traveller’s Tales and Sonic Team put in some great effort but I feel like they dropped the ball big time. One misstep after another is really the definition of Sega from 1993 to 1998. This whole era was just a disaster for them. I cannot endorse Sonic R to anyone. I finished this game in under an hour, with most of the time going towards figuring out how to control my shitty characters. When I beat the game, I didn’t really know what to do anymore… but I knew I didn’t really want to keep playing!

The controls are extremely difficult to master as every character feels like you’re controlling a bag of shit with feet. None of the racers has a very sharp turn and the camera angles make it harder to even know where the hell you’re going. There are many arrow signs which show you where to go, but since your character turns like a 1956 Chrysler Imperial it’s nearly impossible to ACTUALLY hit the turn! Most of your time will go towards smashing your Saturn controller into pieces cursing the day you told yourself “Hey, it’s 2013! Wouldn’t it be cool if I went out and bought a Sega Saturn for only $40?!”

Sonic R features a pretty unique soundtrack entirely composed of CD quality audio. The music is this sort of weird, upbeat electronic pop music with a woman singing. It sounds more like something from the first Dance Dance Revolution on Playstation. There is a woman (British musician TJ Davis) singing over it about God knows what, but she can sing and the music is composed very well. I just find the song selection to be odd. Rumor has it that Sonic creator Yuji Naka wanted TJ Davis to sing only one song that would be used for Sega’s E3 reveal of Sonic R. He liked the results so much, that the game’s ENTIRE SOUNDTRACK is composed and performed by the same group of people. Again, keeping the game from showing any variances whatsoever. Sonic R is the name and mediocrity and monotony is the game.

All-in-all, Sonic R is abysmal. The graphics are beyond incredible for 1997, but there isn’t a scrap of anything left that’s worth playing. But even with great graphics, some of the levels don’t even look complete! It looks as if I’m walking on thin air when it’s obviously the ground. There are seriously only 5 stages! Mario Kart 64 has triple that plus one! With racers that steer like real cars, with tracks that are labyrinthine, confusing, and overall poorly designed, and with little to nothing to do after beating the game, Sonic R steers itself right off a cliff and into a flaming pile of dog poo (HE CALLED THE SHIT POO) and is destroyed in the most horrific of all explosions. If only, right?

Somebody let this game die please. Unfortunately Sonic R is going for around $30 these days (December 2013) and it can only be as a collector’s item. Hell, you can get this game on Sonic Gems Collection for around $15 and included in that is Sonic CD y’all… SONIC CD! Arguably the best Sonic platforming game ever made, but that’s a different discussion. With a replay value percentage of zero, I will not endorse Sonic R in any fashion. If your friend owns it, you should steal it from him and throw it at a moving train. What a waste of time Sonic R is. The only redeeming qualities are the graphics. Steer your ass away from your terrible Saturn Sonic collection and go eat a burger or something. 2 thumbs down for Sonic R.

But oddly enough… as a HUGE Sonic the Hedgehog fan… I sort of want to own this game. A complete copy. Along with Sonic Jam (yes, it’s just a compilation of the games I already own… but it’s Sonic!).

Nerd Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Nerdberry