Sonic R (the R stands for racing) is a racing game developed by Traveller's Tales and Sonic Team for the Sega Saturn and PC, the latter version being ported to the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in Sonic Gems Collection. It features characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game is characterized by the same sense of environmental openness in the Sonic platformers. It contains colorful 3D graphics combined with a strong soundtrack by Richard Jacques (including songs performed by British singer T. J. Davis). The Saturn version has a severe case of graphical pop-up while the PC version is generally much cleaner (although it sometimes has issues installing/running on Windows XP and later).
| Sonic R | |
|---|---|
| box cover | |
| Developer(s) | Traveller's Tales |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Platform(s) | PC, Saturn |
| Release | 1997, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Gameplay
There are several collectable rings across each of the five racetracks. Each ring regenerates after a short period of time. These rings can serve one of three purposes.
- Stepping on a speed boost will consume all of a player's rings, to a maximum of 50, and boost the player ahead along a preset path. The boost is at a speed approximately three times the normal maximum speed of a character and lasts for a duration proportional to the number of rings deducted.
- Special doors on the tracks can open if a player reaches them with twenty or fifty rings (depending on the door). Twenty-ring doors frequently hide tokens, shortcuts, or both. Fifty-ring doors frequently hide Chaos Emeralds, shortcuts, or both. After being opened, the doors remain open for all players for the duration of the game.
- Some characters can perform an attack for 10 rings (see below).
There are also inexhaustible emblem bonuses. Touching an emblem gives the racer one of multiple possible rewards, including a random number of rings and the bubble and lightning shields that appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The bubble shield allows the racer to walk on water once, after which it disappears. The lightning shield attracts rings to itself, but is eliminated upon touching water (or after having it for a long enough time).
There are five racers in each race. The four racers selected depend on what character the player chooses. If the player chooses a secret character, he'll face the other secret characters that have been unlocked. If the player chooses a starting character, he races against the other starting characters. For the purposes of selecting the racers, Dr. Robotnik is treated as a starting character.
Racers can run on water for a limited period of time, and can "swim" in it indefinetely, at greatly reduced speed. In addition, each of the ten playable characters has a different speed and a unique set of abilities. Unlike most racing games, these abilities are designed such that certain characters, even among characters that are initially playable, have a clear edge over others.
Main characters
The following are the characters that are initially playable:
- Sonic is the fastest of the characters that are initially playable. He can double jump.
- Tails can fly at a fixed level for an unlimited period of time.
- Knuckles can glide for an unlimited period of time, gradually losing height. However, he cannot latch onto or climb walls as in all other games in which he has appeared.
- Amy Rose drives a car and can hover over water. She also has the ability to use a speed boost, although she can't turn very well while doing so. She is extremely slow.
Secret characters
The secret characters, with the exception of Super Sonic, can be unlocked by collecting all five coins on a racetrack and finish first, second, or third. Upon doing so, the player will be challenged by one of the following characters, depending on the racetrack:
- Dr. Robotnik (Dr. Eggman in the Japanese version), who races in his personal hi-tech aircraft, can do a short-range heat-seeking attack at a cost of 10 rings. The attack will eliminate the target's shield if it has one and slow it down if it does not. He is particularly slow.
- Metal Sonic is an improved version of its counterpart. It has a very high single jump and doesn't fall into water if it constantly jumps.
- Tails Doll can hover on water. Additionally, it can hover indefinetely a certain distance above the ground or water.
- Metal Knuckles is an improved version of its counterpart. It has a much better glide than Knuckles. It is notably fast. Also, it is one of the more difficult secret characters to obtain.
- Eggrobo is a humanoid robot whose head and body are shaped like an egg. Its abilities are similar to those of Robotnik, but it is slow compared to the other secret characters.
Super Sonic
Super Sonic is the fastest racer, and also the hardest to unlock. He can double jump and can run on the surface of water, provided that he does not slow down. To unlock him, the player must collect all seven Chaos Emeralds scoured throughout the five racetracks. When a player collects one, he must finish in first place to keep it.
When playing as Super Sonic in the Radiant Emerald stage, the music is different; it plays the Sonic R theme song (Super Sonic Racing) instead of Diamond in the Sky.
Other modes
Aside from the main game, there are three special gameplay modes accessible from Time Attack mode: reverse, in which racing occurs facing the opposite direction, break five balloons, and tag four players.
Versions
For the PC version the graphics were somewhat modified. For example races occur in random weather conditions, either normal, rainy, or snowy, unless the default settings are altered. Snowy weather freezes the water so that racers can run across it without sinking.
The version of the game in Sonic Gems Collection is similar to the PC version. Minor differences include that there is no Network option on the main menu and that the Options menu is slightly different.