The Ultimate Sonic Racing Game

[Darth InVaders]

My ultimate dream Sonic racing game would turn out like a version of a Sonic R 2

It would work sort of like Sonic R with the characters being on foot (most of them according to their gimmicks) and using their individual abilities with lots of shortcuts, but controls with the freedom and non-car feeling of Sonic Adventure's Sonic, Tails and Knuckles gameplay

Tracks and characters' stats and abilities would be designed mathematically so that all characters stand an equal chance. Tracks would be designed from Sonic history (Green Hill, Station Square, etc), and there should be a good number of tracks (not a small handful like in Sonic R). Badniks can sometimes serve as obstacles while characters not otherwise used in game (Fang, Ray, Mighty, the President, the GUN Commander, etc) and important places (like the Master Emerald Shrine and Tails's Workshop) get cameos in the levels.

Tracks would be designed with 2 points: a starting/finishing line and a half way point. A lap starts at the first line, goes around the second line, and then races along the same track going the opposite direction to return to the first line (which would be marked with the Sonic-style checkpoint gates) - this would allow racers to pass by each other more often and also take away any reason to employ rubber banding for challenge (the other characters would always pass by the player at some point to exchange attacks).

Characters would get a jump (which also serves as an attack), an attack, and a drift - additionally as Chaos Emeralds are collected, they get more abilities that cost Rings to use (CPU characters also use them) - all Emerald abilities that serve as attacks or stopping opponents would not effect a character who has invincibility (whether by item or Emerald ability). The new Emerald abilities are unlocked when the first, third, fifth and seventh Emerald is found and won. When an Emerald ability is used, a short cutaway similar to Sonic Adventure 2's Two player mode or Sonic Heroes' Team Blast is used.

When a character takes damage, they lose Rings, momentum and a few seconds of time; if they take damage with no Rings they lose even more time as the character takes longer to recover and pull themself off the ground

Items are scattered here and there and give basic Sonic series stuff (shields, Rings, speed ups, invincibility... etc) that also work as they normally do in the series

Characters would also be given different movement abilities that break down as:

Speed - their speed stats are through the roof, they don't get any other movement abilities but the other characters would stand no chance against speed characters without using their movement abilities to find shortcuts (it should not be that the other characters are that slow, it should be that the Speed characters are that fast)

Flight - fly up and over things before getting tired

Glide - glide over long distances that Flight characters would tire out before reaching but don't gain vertical height

Smash - smash obstacles with basic attack to reach new shortcuts, obstacles immediately reset so only the smashing character gets through

Swim - swim though water hazards with little to no slowing effect on character speed

Hover - hover over water and pit hazards with little to no effect on character

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The Characters:

Sonic

Skill: Speed

Attack: Spin Dash - Sonic pauses momentarily to rev up spin dash, he then blasts forward for a few moments before he starts slowing down, player has some control during this time but cannot stop the roll or prevent the slowdown, Sonic ends up where he'd be if he didn't use the attack

Chaos Emerald 1: Blue Tornado - need 5 Rings, Sonic whips up a tornado to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Sonic Wind - need 15 Rings, Sonic spins to create gusts of wind hitting every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Chaos Control, need 30 Rings, stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Super Sonic - need 50 Rings, transforms into Super Sonic and is invulnerable and faster, causing damage to anyone touched until run out of Rings

Tails

Skill: Flight, Swim

Attack: Tail Whip - like in Sonic Adventure but not as spammable as player must press button for each whip

Chaos Emerald 1: Spark Plug - need 5 Rings, Tails pulls out the plug he had in Sonic Riders and whips it around over his head to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Aerial Attack - need 15 Rings, Tails uses remote control to summon the Tornado 1 & Tornado 2 which dash in opposite directions shooting and damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Mecha Tails - need 30 Rings, Tails uses remote control to summon an army of Mecha Tails from Tails Adventure which grab on to and stop every opponent in level for several seconds (comical animations of opponents trying to get Mecha Tails off)

Chaos Emerald 7: Cyclone - need 50 Rings, Tails summons Tornado 3 which transforms into Cyclone to hop in and becomes invulnerable, faster, and can shoot unlimited missiles until run out of Rings (can also temporarily transform back into Tornado 3 to keep Tails flight abilities)

Knuckles

Skill: Glide, Smash

Attack: Punch - like his Sonic Adventure 2 punching without the 3rd killing his speed

Chaos Emerald 1: Rock Smash - need 5 Rings, pulls up a giant boulder from ground and smashes it above his head sending debris out to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Volcanic Explosion - need 15 Rings, Knuckles digs down into the ground, an explosion and rumbling build until a mini-volcano erupts under every opponent in level damaging them

Chaos Emerald 5: Hammer Punch - need 30 Rings, punches ground creating earthquake that knocks down every opponent in level for several seconds while the quake continues

Chaos Emerald 7: Master Emerald - need 50 Rings, turns off all other Chaos Emerald abilities for all other characters while becoming invulnerable and faster until run out of Rings (animation is like Super Knuckles from Sonic 3 and Knuckles)

Shadow

Skill: Speed

Attack: Spin Dash - like Sonic's Spin Dash

Chaos Emerald 1: Chaos Blast - need 5 Rings, Shadow creates Chaos Blast to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Chaos Spear, need 15 Rings, Shadow throws Chaos Spears hitting every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Chaos Control - need 30 Rings, stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Super Shadow - need 50 Rings, transforms into Super Shadow and is invulnerable and faster, causing damage to anyone touched until run out of Rings

Amy

Skill: Smash, ???

Attack: Pico-Pico Hammer - swings Hammer in front of herself

Chaos Emerald 1: Hammer Whirl - need 5 Rings, whirls around with Long Hammer from Sonic Adventure to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Roar - need 15 Rings, Amy gets angry and screams damaging every opponent in the level (comical animation of her scream breaks 4th wall's glass screen)

Chaos Emerald 5: Lovely Kiss - need 30 Rings, blows kisses that comically stops every opponent in level for several seconds (comical animations of opponents running in tight circle being chased by kiss)

Chaos Emerald 7: Tantrum - need 50 Rings, sparkling Rocket Skates pop out of the bottom of boots and constantly swings Hammer becoming invulnerable and faster damaging everyone touched until run out of Rings

Rouge

Skill: Flight, Glide (Rouge's Flight & Glide work differently than most others, when flying she gets a certain number of wing flaps which are done by tapping the jump button before she tires out and cannot flap anymore and must land to reset, she can glide at any time by simply holding the button which allows her to stay airborne after running out of flaps or to conserve flaps)

Attack: Kick - like her Sonic Adventure 2 kicking without the 3rd killing her speed

Chaos Emerald 1: Ring Bomb - need 5 Rings, throws out bombs disguised as Rings that damage opponents in close proximity and stick around for a few seconds to get a few more opponents

Chaos Emerald 3: GUN Backup - need 15 Rings, Rouge summons GUN Beetles who appear, shoot and damage every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Seduction - need 30 Rings, Rouge has pamphlets with her picture dropped on entire level, stops every opponent in level for several seconds as they stare at it while scratching their heads

Chaos Emerald 7: ??? - need 50 Rings, Rouge ??? and becomes invulnerable and faster until run out of Rings

Cream

Skill: Flight, Swim (gets floaties on arms)

Attack: Cheese - basically like it always is with Cheese dashing forward a short distance to smack anyone

Chaos Emerald 1: Flower Festival - need 5 Rings, Cream dances among an explosion of flowers which damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Chao Stampede - need 15 Rings, Cheese leads a charge of Chao that stampede through level damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Cry - need 30 Rings, Cream & Cheese both start crying which stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Chao Barrier - need 50 Rings, Chao begin circling Cream and she is invulnerable and faster, damaging any opponent touched until run out of Rings

Eggman in EggWalker (from Sonic Adventure 2)

Skill: Smash, Hover

Attack: Missile - Eggman fires a missile that moves straight ahead, it has a short pause between reloading but is very close to spammable

Chaos Emerald 1: Homing Shot - need 5 Rings, turret on EggWalker shoots homing missiles that damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Robot Rampage - need 15 Rings, classic Badniks rampage through level damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Mecha Egg - need 30 Rings, Eggman sends out a bunch of robotic eggs that smack opponents in face leaving egg on face stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Rocket - need 50 Rings, EggWalker's legs retract to make it a rocket and the red armor from SA2 slides out making it invulnerable and faster with instant smashing of any shortcut available to Smash characters by just running into it and damaging any opponent touched until run out of Rings

Metal Sonic

Skill: Speed

Attack: Maximum Overdrive - like Sonic's Spin Dash but without the spin and sparkier (like in previous games)

Chaos Emerald 1: Spark Field - need 5 Rings, creates a spark field that damages opponents in close proximity (looks like the electrical attack from Sonic Generations)

Chaos Emerald 3: Mega Metal - need 15 Rings, the big red Metal Sonic from Knuckles Chaotix appears and spins around in 360 degrees as it uses its big laser to damage every opponent in the level (no transformation shown, leave ambiguous as to whether it is the same robot)

Chaos Emerald 5: Chaos Control - need 30 Rings, stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Neo Metal - need 50 Rings, transforms into Neo Metal Sonic and is invulnerable and faster, damaging everyone touched until run out of Rings

Omega

Skill: Smash, Hover

Attack: Machine Gun - like Eggman's missiles but look like a spray of machine gun fire from hands

Chaos Emerald 1: Flamethrower - need 5 Rings, spins upper half of its body 360 degrees as it throws flames from hands damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Lock-on Missiles (with smiling shark faces painted on) - need 15 Rings, shoots missiles (that come from wrist parts like in Sonic06 cutscene) that home in on and damages every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Energy Net - need 30 Rings, hands retract and it shoots an expanding energy net upward that floats down and stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Full Power - need 50 Rings, the rocket exhausts on its back spew out massive amounts of fire making it invulnerable and faster until run out of Rings

Espio

Skill: Flight (uses flower helicopter thing from Sonic Heroes Frog Forest), Swim (actually walk on water with wood shoes called mizugumo)

Attack: Shuriken - like Eggman's missile but a shuriken

Chaos Emerald 1: Leaf Swirl - need 5 Rings, Espio spins around like he did in Knuckles Chaotix to create a swirl of razor sharp leaves to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Planted Bombs - need 15 Rings, Espio activates bombs "hidden" throughout the level to explode damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Smoke Pellets - need 30 Rings, Espio throws a huge amount of smoke pellets that fill the level with smoke which stops every opponent in level for several seconds with a blinded animation

Chaos Emerald 7: Chroma Camo - need 50 Rings, turns invisible and is invulnerable and faster until run out of Rings

Vector

Skill: Smash, Swim

Attack: Bite - does a short jump forward with a big bite

Chaos Emerald 1: Spicy Flames - need 5 Rings, Vector munches a hot pepper and spews flames in 360 degrees to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Recital - need 15 Rings, turns up his headphones, pulls out a microphone and "sings" into it damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Bubblegum - need 30 Rings, blows up a big bubble that pops and stops every opponent in level for several seconds by trapping in goo

Chaos Emerald 7: Roll - need 50 Rings, Vector rolls into a ball that is invulnerable and faster and damages any opponents touched until run out of Rings

Jet

Skill: Speed

Attack: Bashyo Fan - swings Bashyo Fan

Chaos Emerald 1: Bashyo Whirlwind - need 5 Rings, Jet uses Bashyo fans as he spins around creating a whirlwind that damages opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Jet Stream - need 15 Rings, Jet swings Bashyo Fans to create waves of wind going in every direction damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Sneeze - need 30 Rings, looks like he is about to do a Jet Stream but sneezes on top of it instead stops every opponent in level for several seconds with a bout of sneezing

Chaos Emerald 7: ??? - need 50 Rings, Jet's board transforms into his grinding board from Riders Zero Gravity (is there any difference from his normal board in that game?) and is invulnerable and faster until run out of Rings

Wave

Skill: Flight, Hover

Attack: Wrench - swings an oversized wrench

Chaos Emerald 1: Spanner - need 5 Rings, swings a spanner that damages opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Booby Trap - need 15 Rings, activates bombs she planted on all opponents damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Super Gravity - need 30 Rings, activates an Ark of the Cosmos and plants it into the ground creating super gravity that stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Air Ride - need 50 Rings, Wave's board transforms into her Air Ride from Riders Zero Gravity and is invulnerable and faster until run out of Rings

Storm

Skill: Smash, Swim (uses board like a boogie board)

Attack: Slap - swings his palm in slap

Chaos Emerald 1: Fart - need 5 Rings, Storm farts... and it damages opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Super Clap - need 15 Rings, Storm claps his hands sending out concussive blasts of air damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Ground Slam - need 30 Rings, Storm slaps both palms down on ground to create earthquake that stops every opponent in level for several seconds until quake ends

Chaos Emerald 7: Bike - need 50 Rings, Storm's board transforms into his Bike from Riders Zero Gravity and is invulnerable and faster until run out of Rings

Silver

Skill: Flight, Smash

Attack: Psychokinetic Throw - like Eggman's missile but animated as Silver uses psychokinesis to quickly pick up and throw a randomly generated object forward

Chaos Emerald 1: Psycho Smash - need 5 Rings, picks up a large amount of objects with psychokinesis and hurls them in all directions to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Psycho Grab - need 15 Rings, grabs and lifts up all characters with psychokinesis and slams them to the ground damaging every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Chaos Control - need 30 Rings, stops every opponent in level for several seconds

Chaos Emerald 7: Super Silver - need 50 Rings, transforms into Super Silver and is invulnerable and faster damaging any opponent until run out of Rings

Blaze

Skill: Glide, Smash

Attack: Fire Axel - Blaze does her flaming top spin

Chaos Emerald 1: Fire Tornado - need 5 Rings, Blaze's Fire Axel grows into a tornado to damage opponents in close proximity

Chaos Emerald 3: Erupting Flames - need 15 Rings, Blaze calls forth flames to erupt from under every opponent to damage every opponent in the level

Chaos Emerald 5: Corona's Heat - need 30 Rings, Blaze heats up the ground which stops every opponent in level for several seconds with melted shoes

Chaos Emerald 7: Burning Blaze - need 50 Rings, transforms into Burning Blaze and is invulnerable and faster damaging any opponent touched until run out of Rings

Gizoids

If the same character is chosen by more than one player, the first player to choose the character gets the original character, the other player(s) must choose a Gizoid (Emerl, Phi, or Gemerl) that will have all the same abilities and stats as the original character (but slightly different animations to substitute for character specific abilities)

Re-skinned alternate versions of some characters are available as unlockables (classic versions, Riders versions, etc)

If a character falls into a pit, a randomly selected character or group of characters will pull that character out (basically a rip off of Mario Kart's Lakitu): Tikal sitting on top of her flying orb and holding Chaos Zero who uses his stretchy arms; Charmy hilariously struggling to hold Big the Cat by his belt as Big casts down his fishing lure with Froggy on the end; Chip using his green energy ability; a bunch of flying classic Animal Friends like Flicky carrying Marine who points the way but is otherwise worthless as the animals do all the work

Omochao does all the officiating, but a neat trick is that a player can attack it as it waves its flag or whatever other officiating duty it does (like at the beginning of a race it waves a flag to denote the race start, a player can jump at it and knock it down)

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I know I was just wasting time making this but it was fun to daydream (although anyone who likes making fan games can use the ideas), I just wanted to know what everyone else thought of my ideas and what their ultimate dream Sonic racing game would be like

Edited March 8, 2012 by Darth InVaders

[Sean]

I think this is better off in the showcase forum, so... off it goes.

[Cola]

I think this is better off in the showcase forum, so... off it goes.

[Emerald Lance]

Likewise. I'd play it. I've always wondered why ST never thought to make a Sonic racing game that felt more like a Sonic game than a kart racer. Maybe they know something we don't?