"Sonic R falls just short of a nine because of it's lack of courses"

Genre: racing

Game Play: 9/10
Sonic R is a very unique racing game. The levels are very odd, and have many paths to take on your way to the finish line. Plus, many of the characters are on foot instead of in a vehicle. The racing doesn't feel like normal racing because of the odd handling your characters have, and because of the weird level layout. Plus the racing is high speed, not slow like you would expect from racers on foot (unless you know who Sonic is of course). When you start the game you have four characters to chose from, those characters are: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. After you fulfill certain requirements, such as, finishing in first place or finding a chaos emerald (more on those later) once a requirement is met you are allowed to race a new character. If you win the race you unlock the secret character. In each course there are "chaos emeralds" if you collect a chaos Emerald and finish the race in good standings you will get to keep the chaos emerald. After collecting six of the chaos emeralds you unlock the final stage, and have a chance to collect the seventh and final chaos emerald. Once you collect the final chaos emerald you unlock Super Sonic! Plus there is another, very fun, mode of play. This other mode is a simple game of tag (that's it, it's tag and nothing more). And since the levels have so many secret areas they added a "find the balloons" mode, in which you must find five hidden balloons. The way you unlock secret characters in Sonic R makes the game have a very high level of entertainment and replay value.

Entertainment: 8/10
Sonic R is the type of game you can play for hours and hours without looking away once. The great level layout makes the game feel like your not just racing, but also exploring the courses. Plus there are plenty of secret paths and characters to keep you coming back for more. Plus in time attack you can race your own "ghost" (it's like a replay of your best course record). Unfortunately there aren't too many levels, there are only five courses, that's after unlocking the final stage. But even though there aren't too many stages there are still so many secret paths that it feels like there are more stages than there are. Plus you can play the levels in reverse. Sonic R is a very entertaining game that you'll enjoy playing for hours.

Graphics: 7/10
Though Sonic R is an old game, it still has very good graphics. The areas are very clear, crisp, and have much detail to them. The characters are a bit blocky, but not too blocky. The game also has some neat features, there are random weather effects and times of day. You might play one stage a few time and it's a bright sunny day, and the next it's a stormy night. Sometimes it will even snow; when the weather is bad you will slide easily on the ground. Plus each character has there own special ability. Though some characters share the same ability, Sonic can double jump, dr. Robotnick (Egg Man) can shoot his enemies, and Super Sonic can run (or hover) on water. The game is fast paced and the controls are very responsive. Sonic R has excellent graphics for how old the game is, however it's not as realistic as most (or any) new games.

Sound: 6/10
Sonic R has average sound. Though at times it can seem somewhat fuzzy, it's normally clear and crisp. When its raining you can hear the rain hitting the ground and even you can even hear your feet splash in the water (of course that is expected). When Sonic jumps you hear his classical "boing". The announcers voice is well done and sounds extremely good. Some of the sound effects are a bit odd and sound fuzzy, like when you collect an item. The music is OK, it's nothing to brag about but its way better than the music from some other games.

Replay Value: 8/10
Sonic R's replay value depends a lot on how much you like the game. There are plenty of characters to unlock along with the chaos emeralds. Plus there are lots of different paths you can take. Plus there are the multiple modes play which let you chase down your opponents, and hidden balloons. If you REALLY like Sonic R you'll be playing for many months, if you don't the kicks will only last for a week or so.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/27/05