Why is there so much hate for Sonic R?

[JezMM]

Little did I realize after all the years of playing Sonic R that it's level design what I'd always wanted from a 3D Sonic game.

 

There is... literally no platforming.  And Soleanna was more of an "actual living world" than Sonic R's environments are and that is really saying something.

 

 

I mean sure you want multiple routes but plenty of 3D Sonic games have done that to the same level of competency as Sonic R.

[Sonicstitch]

 

 

Are you serious?  I really hope not because you're justifying a fear of fictional stories by using other fictional stories as an example.  You might want to get back in touch with reality just a little bit.

 

 

I was joking.

 

[andrewtuell1991]

There is... literally no platforming.  And Soleanna was more of an "actual living world" than Sonic R's environments are and that is really saying something.

 

 

I mean sure you want multiple routes but plenty of 3D Sonic games have done that to the same level of competency as Sonic R.

 

I was talking solely in terms of the level maps.  Obviously you'd have to throw platforming, badniks, etc into the mix.

 

And I really can't think any other 3D Sonic games that offers the same amount of multiple paths as Sonic R, aside from maybe the 1st Sonic Adventure.  Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and the Boost Trilogy's level designs were little more than a series of connected hallways, Shadow the Hedgehog's (game) multiples paths were tied down to tedious missions, Sonic 2006 is hard to tell since it's an unfinished beta, and I haven't played Sonic Lost World so I can't judge it.

 

To be more specific, my ideal 3D Sonic's maps would be Sonic R's track straighten out instead of looping, multiple Sonic 3K character specific routes that make use of all 3 axises of a three-dimensional plain, Zone specific obstacles and badniks THAT ARE ORIGINAL (classic badniks were awesome but let try something new Sega), little-to-no bottomless pits, and the ability to at least touch water without dying, which Sonic Lost World seemed to do from what I've heard.

[JCWithTheRojoTee]

I've never understood it either. I personally like it and have a lot of fun with it. I also really love the music, the soundtrack is definitely worth owning. On that note, I should upload pictures of my collection sometime.

[Jetronic]

Just to be sure, we're criticizing the questionable controls of Sonic R with the knowledge of the drift button right?

 

 

Yes. Even with the drift button, it still controls in a really annoying way.

 

Just checking (and yes they're still bad, yet I'll still play it when given the chance for whatever reason).

[Nepenthe]

Yes. Even with the drift button, it still controls in a really annoying way.

[UltDevilDoom]

I played Sonic R on the Saturn, and I could not believe how slippery and broken the game was! It was without a doubt the worst racing game I have ever played.

 

I also remember trying the PC version to see if it was any better. It was not.

[Eternal EX]

Back in the day, I loved this game. Played it on PC and saturn. But looking back at it, it's extremely dated. Graphics were crap, even for a Saturn game (compare it to Nights) and the controls were bad. Personally Knux is the best character in the game. Which isn't saying much since there weren't really any good characters. Plus the cast was smaller. And did I mention how unbalanced the game was? If you choose amy, you lose. That's it. Hell you even had trouble with Tails and Knux. And if you choose sonic, put the game on hard and go to the easiest stage, you still have a high chance of losing. Why in the name of Arceus is Knuckles faster than sonic? And if you choose a metal counter part and race against normal characters, you instantly win. Hell the only real questionable thing in the game is Metal sonic v Super sonic v Metal Knux. How are these 3 the fastest in the game? Metal sonic and normal sonic should be equal. Same for Metal Tails and Knux. 5 stages, that's crap when compared to other racing games in it's time. How many did Mario Kart have? Crash team racing? NFS? Yeah. 

 

I mean it did have some memorable moments. But that's it. Today's standards, it's a bad game. Back then, it was a good game. Nothing more, nothing less.

[E-122-Psi]

The game is horribly flawed, but it's charm seeps through.

 

There are only five stages (even a Reverse Grand Prix or VS would have been nice) but I remember being gripped by them as a kid and loving playing Sonic in a 3D world, even in racing mode. The only mode that has a lot of longevity however is Time Attack mode, with a fair few minigames and gameplay variations. There's a nice variety of characters, but as said, they're completely imbalanced and you pretty much designate yourself to win or lose by picking certain ones (this becomes more difficult in the PC/Gamecube versions' 4 player mode, are there that many characters with equal stats?). While the vocal songs are cheesy, they're so in fun sense, and at least they were savvy enough to know to give the option to play the instrumental versions for those who didn't take to them). 

 

Sonic R is actually a game I think has the potential for a remake, evening the character stats and adding a few more tracks could really show it's fuller potential.

[Adrian Shephard]

I personally never played Sonic R but honestly the entire game looks like it didn't even stepped up from it's alpha state.

[PC the Hedgehog]

My only big gripe with Sonic R was the length. Five courses? Seriously? Even with the extra modes and characters, the game just plain didn't last very long.

Glad I only paid ten bucks for it. Definitely not worth fifty bucks or however much Saturn games cost back in the late 90's, but I enjoyed it all the same.

[iDEATH]

as a kid i wanted a sega saturn and my dad got me a ps1 instead, at the time i was really annoyed specifically because I wanted to play Sonic R dodged a bullet there.

[lucidshine]

I personally love the game. I spent so many hours playing it when I was young!

.. But I won't deny that it's actually a very bad game. Mediocre graphics, horrible controls (though I was able to get used to them after a while), and music that just didn't fit for a Sonic game (even though I love the music). For me, it's the whole nostalgia thing. I accept that it's a bad game, but it was a part of my childhood, so that's what makes it good.

[TheRealVectorFan]

I do not like Sonic R much because the controls are not that good. If it had better control and more levels to race on it could work. 

[lucidshine]

I really wish they would try to make another Sonic racing game, console based. No cars, no hoverboards. That would be great.. maybe even give the characters level and stats, to make it more balanced and so Sonic doesn't overpower everyone. Like, have a story mode where you can level a character up or something, so their speed stat goes higher? I don't know. 

It would just be great to see a REAL Sonic racing game.

[Agie]

Your suggestion isn't bad, if you ask me. Unfortunately, another Sonic Riders game may be more likely, which is sad because the controls in the first one were bad enough to convince me to not touch the sequels.

[lucidshine]

I actually really like that song. I just remember being 10 years old and terrified of it after the whole Tails Doll thing started..

[ChibiForte]

To be honest, I feel like Sonic R is definitely kind of a disaster, but isn't that what makes it great? Sure, the controls make you feel like you're drunk and the graphics are just a little sad, but in a way that's part of its charm - its awkward, hilarious charm. You know those games you play with your friends simply because they're so terrible that you love them? To me, that's Sonic R.

 

And I actually love the music a lot. Diamond In The Sky along with Back In Time are my freaking jams.

[Mr Loopone]

Well... I wouldn't say Sonic R was a good game or indeed a terrible one, more like a game that had a sound concept as in trying to fit Sonic into 3D mixed with a racing game however the game could have been improved. While myself like the game due to the concept and due to the difficulty one that can go back to for a quick go, it is a flawed game. One of the main problems was the steering. Sonic and co felt stiff to control, even some cars are easier to control than them (I've know various racing games where the cars are very slippery and easy to spin out by comparison).

 

Even though it has already talked about but character balance is also a thing that would have made the game better. To complete the game fairly easier, just use Sonic and make the weather snowy skipping the water plus making a couple of the balloons easier to collect IIRC, then unlock Super Sonic who is the fastest character in the entire game like the Suzuki Escudo in Gran Turismo 2/3 or the Red Bull in Gran Turismo 5 (both ultimate cars that can easily win races if the race is not restricted). Due to this, it doesn't make an incentive to play as Amy, Robotnik or Egg Robo plus not as much incentive to play as Tails, Knuckles or the other unlockables. Maybe a reason why future Sonic racing games involve vehicles to make the characters more balanced? Having an on foot racing game with Sonic and co could be done however it would be hard to find the balance not making Sonic the easiest character in the game (he's fast and there's not many who are equal in speed, even though Robotnik is faster according to Sonic 2).

 

As for the lack of content before the days of Gran Turismo and Colin McRae Rally that changed in terms of the racing game genre, many racing games didn't have many courses usually 3, more if you're lucky. The ones that did get plenty of courses were mainly Formula 1 games and some of them in that category were pretty much simulators. F1 games were 16 to 17 tracks depending on the season it was chosen. Looking at racing games that are course based instead of into the screen (say like OutRun, Lotus Turbo Challenge, Top Gear or Cruis'n USA) of that era let's see: Daytona only has 3 courses while CCE has 5 (6 on the PC version that came roughly the same time as Sonic R). Ridge Racer only had a few until Ridge Racer Type 4 e.g. Rage Racer only had 4 courses but it was padded out by buying the cars and winning the leagues. Scud Race had 4 (5 in the Plus update), same thing for Sega Rally. Virtua Racing had 3, 5 in the 32X version. MRC on the N64 has 3 courses, Automobili Lamborghini that came out at the same time as Sonic R has 6, San Francisco Rush has 3 (4 for the Rock and 8 for the N64 version) and Peak Performance has 5.

 

Then again there were racing games that had more such as TOCA Touring Car Championship that had 8 (plus 2 variations), F-Zero has 15, Mario Kart 64 has 16, Super Mario Kart had 20 (+ battle courses), Diddy Kong Racing had 20+ that came out roughly the same time and apparently V-Rally has 42 (but I imagine some are variations and reverse) courses!

 

When compared to the Nintendo and the simulator racing games, it does seem like a lack of content however when compared to many racing games of the time, it was about the average amount of courses. If Sonic R came out any later especially when GT and the other longer racing games from 1998 onwards, then the reason for lack of stuff makes sense. It probably needed a couple of extra modes though or a bit of padding since there might have been a chance that the game was rushed or made at a short space of time due to the Saturn's performance.

 

There are some good things about the game technically, it ran at a steady frame-rate and the graphics are quite good of that time. Even quite like the soundtrack, it sounds from that era in terms of pop and I'm sure one of the songs sounded very M People like.

[SlickEvan]

I see alot of the same Sonic R was bad because controls and graphics. That's pretty much this whole topic besides some of the good comments.

Anyways, I think the whole foot race concept is thrown out the window because Sonic is Sonic. Ya know the fastest thing alive. It doesn't make sense to me. Of course it could be fun. Like those videos on YouTube when people put together 4 runs of a Generations level to make it look like multiplayer. It'd be fun if it's like that. But if its a straight racing game like Sonic R.... well.. In my opinion you need all the Sonic Objects, set pieces, rings, enemies and so on. Or else its. boring? I guess. In my opinion. Slapping the Generations engine on any old racing format game doesn't work because you... hrmmm I can't explain it. Its kinda bland. But like I said earlier Sonic R is okay to me, its just too, "empty". Sa2 you're racing through an Actual stage so its really exciting fighting enemies dodging things spindashing. That's awesome! But Sonic R is like we just put Sonic characters on a Need For Speed track. Just Road and Environment, and THAT'S my gripe with Sonic R.

I like the car racing (not sonic drift) games because thats what it is a CAR racing game and the control is tune to that. I like the Riders because it made sense and was fun, to me at least, and the control was tune to that.

And for practical reasons I also like those games better. When it comes down to it, it's a video game so who cares if Amy can catch up to and outrun Sonic on foot, but I also like how it can add to his character, like Sonic will limit himself to be fair because he's a kind guy but he also likes a challenge so it can make for a good Story also. Just my opinion though.

[StaticMania]

I really wish they would try to make another Sonic racing game, console based. No cars, no hoverboards. That would be great.. maybe even give the characters level and stats, to make it more balanced and so Sonic doesn't overpower everyone. Like, have a story mode where you can level a character up or something, so their speed stat goes higher? I don't know. 

It would just be great to see a REAL Sonic racing game.

 Sonic and Knuckles are the only two characters worth playing from the beginning roster, they are the only two who have a chance of actually winning the race from the 1st time playing the game.

 

For some reason Sonic always gets uber-far ahead when you play as Tails, Amy, or Eggman. Like there's no chance.

[Gligar13]

The bad controls, the unfitting music, the bad controls, and the fact the idea was stupid.

[Nepenthe]

In a series about getting to the end as fast as possible, a game where you get to the end as fast as possible is one of the last I'd call stupid.

[Vicki476]

I haven't played this game as much and would like to give it another chance, but I do agree that for a racing game it is almost impossible to control and can be frustrating. I am much more a fan of the Sonic and Sega All Star Racing series - that is a formula that works IMO. I wonder if anyone would remake - it making it a lot smoother to play...

[iDEATH]

The bad controls, the unfitting music, the bad controls, and the fact the idea was stupid.

 

How exactly is the idea of Sonic R stupid? A foot racing game starring Sonic makes perfect sense...

It was poorly executed, but the idea itself was solid.