Sonic R

"Feel the pace! Come on now, race!"

Introduction

When I first got this game, it was a complete blind buy, which I happened to come across on a certain website. While my overriding memory of this purchase will always be receiving an empty CD case and having to send it back, my overriding memories of this game are all good ones.

Gameplay - 7/10

It's generally very good. Pick one of the characters (initially Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy, but others soon become available) and race against the others. There are five stages in all, with one being unlockable.

Generally, the gameplay is fun - once you get the hang of it; all of the levels have multiple routes to take so it's very fun to explore them and use trial and error. There are also special gates that open if you have the right number of rings - usually opening shortcuts, or allowing access to items.

The characters are of varying abilities, with some harder to master than others. Amy drives a car, and you need to keep pressing the right button to accelerate, while Robotnik can fire missiles at opponents. The only disadvantage I can see is that there isn't a lot of variety in the final results. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, will nearly always occupy the top three positions.

In addition to this, you have to try and collect the seven chaos emeralds (which are scattered throughout the stages), and also collect the Sonic coins found on the stages and finish first in order to face off against a "boss", who then becomes playable. The chaos emeralds also unlock a certain character.

In addition to this, there is a VS mode for people to play against each other, and time trials, which include time challenges - running around the track forwards AND backwards, collecting five balloons and most enjoyable of all, a "Tag" mode. In the latter, you must chase the computer controlled characters around the track and "tag" them by touching them, which is actually very tricky, as they can be incredibly good at dodging you.

A few negative points. First of all, you don't get to choose who you race against even when the secret characters are unlocked. Choosing one of the unlockable characters will force to to play against the other unlockables, and it would have been nice to select your opponents. Secondly, this game is occasionally rather buggy, and the computer controlled characters sometimes screw up. I actually once caught Knuckles in the tag mode just because he was trying to run through a solid wall.

Graphics - 8/10

The character models look a little weird (most of the characters don't even seem to have mouths), but they're pretty good for the time at which they were created. The level designs are nice, though, and full of detail - such as the echidna statues on one level. Also, there is the fact that you can change the weather - so you can play through a level in the rain, at night or in the snow. You can either set the game to show a particular weather, or allow it to be set randomly.

Sound - 10/10

I love it. This is one of the first Sonic games to feature lyrics, and they're all fun to listen to. Here is just one example of the lyrics from this game:

Look at me,
The sun is shining on me,
It makes me feel so free,
So alive,
It makes me want to survive

These are all occompanied by very pleasing background music, and you can guarantee that you will want to play this game again and again just to hear the lyrics.

Play Time/Replay Value - 6/10

The only bad thing I found was that it doesn't take long to collect all of the secret items and unlock all the characters. However, the fact that the gameplay is so enjoyable rather makes up for this a lot.

Final Verdict

It really depends how much you like Sonic, or racing games, but I would recommend that you buy this. This game is worth playing for the music alone.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/20/05