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The Sonic R Topic


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Honestly, a bit surprised we didn't have this one already. I kind of had to check to see if R was considered a Genesis or Dreamcast game. It's...kind of both.

For those who don't know, Sonic R was the single original Sonic title for the Sega Saturn, alongside a port of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island as compensation for Sonic Xtreme being cancelled. It was developed by Traveller's Tales and released in 1997, only a single year before Sonic Adventure hit the Dreamcast. This makes Sonic R the very last Genesis-era Sonic game ever produced, unless you categorise Sonic Mania to be a return to that era in some fashion. It's a simple racing game and...it's a bit TOO simple. Five tracks, ten racers, a couple secrets here and there and a very...interesting soundtrack, but honestly not much to write home about.

It's one of those Sonic games that people like to use as a scapegoat when mocking the Sonic franchise for its shortcomings, alongside Sonic 06, Shadow, Rise of Lyric and Unleashed. Honestly, considering its development and what it is versus what it's on (the Saturn was notoriously difficult to develop for), I feel it's not worthy of that sort of scorn. I played it when it got ported to the PS2 with Sonic the Fighters and Vectorman in Sonic Gems Collection, and I had a decent time with it. It's nothing special, but it's not anything wretched either. Though it DID being the Tails Doll into the world and introduce it to the Sonic fandom, who turned it into an obnoxious creepypasta...so there's that, I guess. :/ It wasn't the first Sonic racing game (Sonic Drift), nor the last (Sonic Riders, Sonic All-Stars Racing), but it was the...oddest.

I bring this up because someone has managed to find the first ever prototype and put it online. It, much like the final game, is nothing to write home about. But it's still a very interesting look into how this game started life. Have a look.

I must be honest, I am kind of glad that TT would go on to develop LEGO Dimensions and have another crack at making a Sonic game within it. All things considered, they atoned for the sins of the past. So, what did you think of Sonic R?

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I actually like Sonic R, now that's not to say it's a good game but it's not that bad either...as long as you don't play it on the Sega Saturn. I've seen the game play of the Saturn Original and it's a lot more sluggish with very poor draw distance. In fact it was a lot smoother and improved when it was ported to PC in the late 90's for their Sega PC line up along with Sonic CD, Sonic & Knuckles Collection, and Sonic 3D Blast/Flickies' Island. Those who played both Sonic CD and R on the Gems Collection are playing the PC Ports actually, I owned the PC original a long time ago myself of all these games at one point.

What really drags the game down is length and balance, not to mention just how short the development time was about less than a year I believe. While the game doesn't look that great for it's time it looks decent enough and the soundtrack I'd say is really good. I just think that the game could have been a lot better than what we were given. But for what we have it's pretty fun, It just wasn't worth full price when it was released for the Saturn.

For what the Classic Series had at the time there's not a lot of characters they could use, at least not a lot that would feel different cause Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all covered the basics, I think Fang the Sniper would have been a good edition to the game but otherwise not much pickings unless we get to the enemies like a Motobug as playable.

Regarding gameplay (and this is going to sound crazy) I think Sonic Drift 1 and 2 despite being on the Game Gear were better traditional racing games, it's only problem being the limitation of the console it was designed for, but that's just me.

 

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I kind of like and respect sonic R. it wasnt god awful, nor was it fantastic, but it was the first 3D sonic game I ever played and I find it kind of charming. though the tails doll is quite humorous in that it was just an easter egg to sonic adventure by its relationships to gamma's first level and tails version of radical highway.

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