'Best game' Sonic R review
Platform: Saturn
Genre: Racing
Developer: Sega/Traveller's Tales
Release: 1997

Sonic's back again, for his exclusive-to-Saturn packed with lovely flashy colours and chequered flags. He follows a lie of a plot, even for a Sonic game: apparently this time Robotnik will take over the world by… racing! Nevertheless the game remains an enjoyable departure from Sonic's platformer roots.

.For the record, Sonic R is not, and never will be, a Shakespeare play in the gaming world. More it is a guilty pleasure, like licking cookie dough off a spoon.


^ Resort Island – Shall I compare thee to a summer's day…

So why is it good? Well, for one thing, it's got Sonic in it, and he's running. Always a good start. And it's 3D. And, at last, you can play as all of the colourful background characters. This was possibly the beginning of the mass-produced, expendable Sonic sub-character phase that Sonic Team loves to exploit in modern Sonic games. Some unlockable characters are obviously there just to be the 'anti-Knuckles' or even the 'anti-Robotnik', for instance the infamous Tails doll, who, incidentally, hasn't appeared in a single subsequent Sonic game.

The gameplay is so simplistic that children will love it. It's perfect for the restless child that is bored by realistic Formula 1 cars but is comfortable with the familiarity of Sonic. Adults may fail to be challenged by straightforward courses and limited exploration. A clear map system and uncomplicated display make the game easy to pick up and play. On the map, grey areas mean short cuts and gold areas mean unlockable places. That's that.

The soundtrack is liable to drive some up the wall. The songs are packed with idealistic lyrics sugary enough to give you diabetes, and what's worse, jumpy, asinine choruses stay with you for hours afterwards. That's the mainstream appeal sorted. It's a shame though, since Sonic is supposed to be rebellious - what about the rock music that later on Sonic Adventure employed? That would have been a great way to exploit the Saturn's CD-quality audio.

The Sonic platforming zealot will find it hard to convert to the mildly freakish controls. Holding down forward, while sliding to left and right on the D pad makes keeping a constant pace all but impossible. This leaves the player no option other than holding down B. Is this Sonic or an F1 car you're controlling?


^ B to run forward? Alas poor Sonic, I knew him…

Turning corners is nigh-on impossible: you'll see that power-up from a mile away, begin the turning process about ten virtual metres before in preparation, then wonder why even after all that effort you missed it by a mile. It doesn't help that if you hit the power-up anywhere other than dead-on the centre, no goodies for you. Fortunately the turning system isn't entirely hopeless, you can attempt to retain some dignity by 'tilting' using the shoulder buttons of the control pad. Though the 'tilt' turn is so sudden and irreversible that you'll still find yourself cutting off corners and falling in the drink. So much for dynamics there. For that reason you'll probably tire of playing the waterlogged Resort Island very quickly.

Sonic R makes its attempt on dynamics – the grip alters, depending on whether characters hover or have their feet very much on the ground. Inexplicably, every level has a large amount of water in it, and whereas you can walk on it if enough speed is built up, once you fall beneath the surface everything goes to a snail's pace. Since there's no option to even jump out, unless you reach dry land, this could frustrate a lot of players. The dynamics also seem to discourage cheating, since if you shunt into your rivals, it slows you down as well as them.

Collecting the chaos emeralds, the ultimate goal of the game, is woven well into the  race courses, in that it's a way to encourage exploration and finding new ways around. And, get the five medals and you can try and race a new character. If you find the game horribly easy, try finding both the medals and the chaos emeralds at once.

The AI works in mysterious ways. It seems the better you get with one character, the better the AI for the character becomes, so for example if your usual weapon of choice was Knuckles, and you decided to use Sonic, who is by default the fastest; since you have less experience with Sonic, Knuckles will actually end up being faster. This is probably the game's way of encouraging you to try all the characters out equally, for a challenge.

The AI always seems to have the best of luck as well - somehow, the characters you're racing against will always have the fifty rings required for the speed-up power up. Which is a miracle when, with the difficulty steering, you yourself can barely follow a straight line of rings. Another instance is on the start line: you can be holding down the B 'run' button from the end of the load screen and you'll still always be the last one of the characters to take off.

Yet another irritating little rule is that if you break through a sectioned-off short cut, once the barrier's gone your rivals will follow you. Characters with human-enhanced AI suddenly become superhuman and even with the best tactics in the world, the character you choose will simply never be fast enough to beat them.

A nice, movie-like feature is being able to replay your awesome racing performance, as seen from various circling camera angles. Unfortunately they're introduced by an androgynous voiceover that says the same overly romantic things every time. And with the game being as easy as it is, you might tire of seeing the same tactics over and over.

It gets so easy that once you get good you can complete the whole thing start to finish in under two hours. All the characters, emeralds, everything. Once you finish first on the last level you have to sit through an unskippable credit sequence, and the torture of a song about how all we need is love. And it's no Beatles song.

Some abilities are less than impressive. Robotnik's missile-shooting ability looks amazing when you're not playing as him, but once he is unlocked, stunted missile firing doesn't nearly make up for his lack of speed. That, and all it seems to do is make rivals jump up in the air, only to resume their storming pace afterwards. And Sonic's double-jump? Come on, where is that going to be useful? Wouldn't you rather glide with Knuckles or even fly with Tails?


^ Screw the other characters, Tails can fly. Verily.

The level designs are colourful, cheerful and inventive. Though the names are all irritatingly alliterative (how clever, perhaps the game is Shakespearean after all), each has its own mood and appropriate soundtrack, and its own unique variation. Radical City has a constant change of altitude - the start of the level consists of a slope that will career you straight into full speed, and much of the course consists of jumping from epic ledges. Some are so high that, as Knuckles, the player could glide for ages. Whereas Regal Ruin consists of an ancient maze. Though on all levels there's at leas one loop-de-loop, which will be a doddle to all of the rival characters except the one you happen to choose.

The problem repeats itself on the single hidden track of the game. At one point in this track, the path tilts almost vertically as it curves into a doughnut-shaped part of the track. This you have to unavoidably circumnavigate, and somehow you can never stay in the middle, either defying gravity by swerving to the high-end, or left side, or getting stuck against the wall in the left, lower end. Who said the inside track was fastest?

It's a shame that, if you get tired of playing single player with only four levels, multiplayer won't help. The 'tag' mode can feel like it goes on forever, with the AI making the characters follow the same pattern every time. You run one way, they run another, it's like you're chasing each other around a table.


^ I defy you to tell me what this is. Robot? Doll? Puppet? The ghost of Hamlet's father?

There are probably more varied power-ups in Mario Kart, so if you're looking for a way to wipe the smile off Knuckles' face you'll be sadly disappointed, and any obstacles in the game, for instance the speed-up machines that demand a fifty-ring toll, are easily memorised.

The bottom line? You have to experience Sonic R just so you know what side of the Marmite effect you are on.


Word count: 1459





















Bibliography

Image 1: www.shinforce.com (Resort Island)

Image 2: www.theghz.com (Radical City)

Image 3: www.images.nintendolife.com (tails derriere)

Image 4: http://www.freewebs.com/sthandkte/ (Tails Doll)