"After years of waiting for a proper Saturn Sonic game, Travellers Tales delivers Phase 2 of Project Sonic, Sonic R. But has it been worth the wait?"

After completing work on the masterpiece NiGHTS, Sonic Team set out on Project Sonic, which was supposed to replace the canned Sonic Extreme for the Saturn. The first phase was Sonic Jam, a compilation of the Mega Drive classics – Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles. Phase two is Sonic R, a racing game featuring Sonic and co, developed by Travellers Tales (who previously worked on Sonic 3D Blast for both the Mega Drive and Saturn, as well as the Clockwork Knight series), with some help from Sonic Team.

Unfortunately for those waiting for a 3D platformer, featuring the spiky blue-one, to rival the likes of Super Mario 64, are in for a bit of disappointment. Sonic R is actually a racing game, featuring Sonic and co, comparable to Mario Kart 64, but totally unique in it’s own right. The basic elements that make up a classic Sonic game are in there, such as the speed, and exploration, but it’s been tailored to suit a racing game instead.

This has been done by including alternative routes and shortcuts, and including items such as the Chaos Emeralds and gold coins, which must be located around the various courses to unlock secret characters and tracks, if you manage to collect enough of them that is. Unfortunately for those that like a challenge from their games, doing this is a perhaps a little too easy. Originally it is possible to complete the game properly, with all the secrets, within a matter of hours. Later attempts can probably see this come down to around half an hour. Sure, Sonic games never really had much depth to them, but this is way too short for even a Sonic game. Surely more of a challenge could have been offered by the game, perhaps in the form of a few more tracks and characters, or even a few more decent modes.

About the only challenge you will get from the game is the Artifical Intelligence of the computer-controlled racers on the track. On the Easy and Normal difficulties, they are pretty much your standard computer drones from every other racing game, although on Normal they can be a bit tricky from time to time by taking the odd shortcut, and can occasionally beat you by hundredths of a second. However, on the Hard difficulty setting, you really have to fight them for first position, since they learn the track layout fast and usually take more shortcuts than you are able to, which is just like human opponents, only nastier! So a big thumbs up to Travellers Tales for implementing really good A.I. into the game, because it is one of the game’s saving graces.

The courses range from a topical island (Resort Island), to a city based track (Radical Highway), to ancient ruins (Regal Ruins), to a factory by the ocean (Reactive Factory), and the bonus track, set in space (Radiant Emerald). Each is designed well, but they are all fairly simple, and once you’ve learnt the best route and shortcuts, you’re guaranteed to come first nine times out of ten! That’s not to say the track design is bad, in fact some of the courses are quite interesting, it’s just that they are very simple, and when you only have five simple courses, the challenge factor sort of diminishes quite rapidly. If there were more features in the game, this small number of tracks may have been forgivable, but as it is, it’s a bit of a let down.

More disappointment comes in the form of very few modes and options to configure the game. You basically have a Grand Prix mode, where you race against the other racers over a single track, a Time Attack mode, which allows for four types of play in which you race against the clock. Firstly you can race the track forwards, backwards, you can locate and collect five balloons in the quickest time possible, and finally you race the track, trying to tag the other racers as quickly as possible (which in itself can be quite challenging). Other than that is the Two-Player split-screen mode, which has the same choices as Time Attack mode. There is also supposed to be a Ghost option, but this didn’t work in the PAL version, so shame on the developers for not getting it right for the release version.

But what about a Championship mode where you race all the tracks in one go, or being able to change the number of laps in a race, like a 20 lap race in Grand Prix mode, or even a battle mode like in Mario Kart 64. I know the developers were pressed to get this out before Christmas 1997, but I’m sure most gamers would have preferred improved gameplay over getting the game early.

The only really impressive part of Sonic R is the graphics. Quite frankly Sonic R has some absolutely stunning high-res visuals, probably some of the best looking on the Saturn! And it runs at a solid 30 frames per second too! This level of detail, and smooth frame rate, can’t be matched by any racer on the Saturn, which is quite an achievement considering Sega Rally. There is pop-up, but it has been cleverly hidden by a misting effect, something that is commonly used in N64 racers. This effect can be worse, especially in Two-Player mode, because in parts all you can see is a thick wall of fog in front of you, which can lead to a lot of confusion, but this doesn’t really factor in to the single player game, only in the Two-Player mode really. This is to be expected though, since the Saturn has to draw in twice the amount of details in this mode. Other than that, the only real graphical problems, with the PAL version at least, is the small borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Seeing as this was done to speed the game up, it’s not that big an issue, but the developers probably could have solved this problem if they had had more time to put into the game.

The music in Sonic R has become quite controversial within the gaming community, because of it’s “happy” and “educational” lyrics and vocals. Thankfully, these can be turned off and you can just listen to the dance tunes with out the vocals. This way, the music suits the game much better. As for the sound effects, they are the usual sort of sounds you would expect to here in a standard Sonic game, which fit in nicely.

The characters have their own good and bad points too, like how cars in racing games have different abilities, in terms of acceleration, top speed, and grip. For example Tails has the best acceleration, Sonic is the fastest (but of course!), Knuckles is average in all departments, and so on. The characters also retain their own personal moves and trademarks from previous games, such as flying, double jumping, and gliding, respectively, which is a nice touch. The game starts off with five characters, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Robotnik, and has another four hidden away.

With all of this taken into consideration, Sonic R is really just an average game, not something you would expect from a game that Sonic Team had some involvement in. Sure the game looks very pretty, but gameplay is what counts, and it is a rather bland and short experience. This isn’t to say the gameplay is crap, it’s just that you can fully complete it within a couple of hours, and that is not something that gamers shouldn’t have to shell out their hard earned cash for. If you’re a huge Sonic fan, then no doubt you will love this game, at least until that sheen, that every Sonic game comes with, wears off. It is a decent game, but way to short to purchase if you are just after a new game.

Visuals: 9 / 10
The borders, and the fog may not be that visually friendly, but the constant 30 fps, and stunning visual detail more than make up for this. Some of the best graphics in a Saturn racer!

Audio: 7 / 10
The vocals and lyrics are quite annoying, but the music, once they have been turned off, suits the game well. All the standard Sonic sound effects are then there too.

Gameplay: 7 / 10
The actual gameplay is quite good, and Sonic fans will probably like it if they like racing games, but it becomes quite repetitive after a while. 7 / 10

Lastability: 2 / 10
There is very little to keep anyone interested once the main game has been completed, which can be done in only a few hours as it is. Small number of tracks and modes really let his game down. Not good at all.

Overall: 7 / 10
A pretty average game that would have been much better if the lastability issue had been addressed. It’s a good game, just not for everyone.

Recommended For:
Sonic fans will probably appreciate the game, and some racing fans may want to take a look at it, but try before you buy.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/01, Updated 10/13/01