Why is there so much hate for Sonic R?

[Maishul]

I just, I don't understand basically. I've played the game many times and the game isn't that bad, and the music is far from God awful. I usually just chalk it up to Internet Stupidity, but what are your thoughts?

[Badnik Mechanic]

Because it's bad? 

 

The graphics are horrible, even for Saturn Era. The controls are awful and it's far too easy to get lost on the course due to either a glitch or the fact that the courses look so horrendous you can just fly off the track and not have a clue how to get back. 

[Indigo Rush]

It's objectively bad. I have lots of nostalgic love for this game as well, please don't misunderstand me, but you give the game a hard critical look, you have to overcome the terrible steering, lack of content (only 5 tracks to race on), very subjective and bizarre music choices and dated graphics. It's just not a good game.

 

But that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to like it! I quite enjoy it despite its glaring flaws. I spent a lot of my preteen days racing and trying to unlock all characters and Super Sonic. And, if anything else, the main theme is one of the most popular songs in the series.

[Irish David]

Because it's bad? 

 

The graphics are horrible, even for Saturn Era. The controls are awful and it's far too easy to get lost on the course due to either a glitch or the fact that the courses look so horrendous you can just fly off the track and not have a clue how to get back. 

I agree but IMO it has a great soundtrack

[-Mark-]

Because it's bad? 

 

The graphics are horrible, even for Saturn Era. 

 

Just want to point out here, quite a lot of reviews at the time actually praised Sonic R for its graphics. D:

[spinny]

Sonic R is, in my opinion, logically a bad game. A very bad game. And this is coming from someone who adores the soundtrack.

 

Why?

 

The controls are nearly INTOLERABLE. 

 

My thumb was aching after about 10 minutes of that shit. Getting characters to turn is as difficult as juggling knives whilst drinking a bottle of vodka. And in a racing game, that's a very, VERY negative factor.

[Nepenthe]

Because it really is an underwhelming game from a design standpoint. 

 

Turning and drifting in the game is a bigger task than it needs to be, especially when tracks can be fraught with sharp or even 90-degree corners. Character balance is broken. If you use Sonic, you are guaranteed to win; there's little incentive to use anyone else, especially Amy and Eggman. As a result, there's no real difficulty curve to this game at all, even if you are bad at turning and even if you're going for the Emeralds (which unlock a more powerful version of Unequivocally Best Character and further undermine the nonexistent balance). It's short as hell with only five tracks to race on, cutting into whatever replayability this game would have had. The graphical fidelity even during its time of release is pretty bad, and the music is strictly "Your Mileage May Vary."

 

Everyone should just look up Mad Dash Racing instead. That was a pretty fun game in the same "foot racing" genre.

[Maishul]

I also wanna point out an argument for "Flawed glitchy gameplay" Pokemon Red Blue and Yellow are incredibly dated games that have so many glitches that they are literally unstable, yet people love them.

[spinny]

I also wanna point out an argument for "Flawed glitchy gameplay" Pokemon Red Blue and Yellow are incredibly dated games that have so many glitches that they are literally unstable, yet people love them.

 

That's because they actually paved way for the later Pokémon games and actually deserve respect through their legacy. Sonic R has done nothing legacy-wise besides a couple of remixes.

[Badnik Mechanic]

they are literally unstable,

 

Erm... since when?

 

I had pokemon yellow growing up, it's the only pokemon game I've ever owned, but in the years I played it (yes years) I don't think I ever encountered a single glitch or stability issue. 

 

Also a game can be glitchy yet still fun, sometimes glitches are even used as gameplay features, though this doesn't apply to pokemon since I really have no idea where pokemon is glitchy comes from.

[Marcello]

Pokemon RBY are really good games, that's why they're loved. This is the first I've heard of them being "unstable", though.

[Nepenthe]

We're not talking about glitches here. In fact, I can't think of a single glitch I ran into accidentally in Pokemon. We're talking strictly about game design, which is why the older Pokemon games are more fondly remembered. As an RPG, its fundamental design- from the battle system to the breeding system to the flow of the game from beginning to end- are more solid than Sonic R's attempt at a racing game with its awful controls and underwhelming level design. Pokemon is better at what it does than Sonic R essentially.

[Uraraka]

 

 Character balance is broken. If you use Sonic, you are guaranteed to win; there's little incentive to use anyone else, especially Amy and Eggman. e.

 

   actually, I for one have beaten many people using knuckles. because I can skip half of the courses by gliding.

 I like the game, I have the Gamecube edition, so It may be better than the original. I do agree, However, the controls fro turning are dreadful; If you run into a wall, you lose nearly 30 seconds just trying to turn away from it.

   I enjoy the sound track, I think the characters look cute in that game, and I enjoy the change of weather that occurs in the game, a neat thing to add. 

  I especially like the find the balloons, since I have them all memorized and can find them in a very short time. It annoys everyone I play with. but perhaps that is part of why people give it a low rating.

[SlickEvan]

Wait Whaaaaa! Since when was Sonic R hated? I've always been impartial at most. I actually think that the game is okay....

 

Well okay it is by overall Game industry, Big time stuff, a bad game. But I never really looked at it in such a big scope. Just.. a game, really. I think that the lack of tracks and the character imbalance may be a part of it. But it came out so long ago that back then it was good. Maybe it's just that when I had it for PC I didn't experience any problems, I unlocked every one and that was the fun part. 

 

Now that I think about it. I'd never go back and play it. But when it really counted it was good. Not on the best technical standpoint, but as the game it was trying to be, it was good for me. It's pretty boring now because of all the new and better playing and better looking games there are now. So this is purely opinion over truly flawed like say (snicker) Sonic-- blast. Yep thats right Sonic Blast.. not 3D blast. just blast. (bad joke)

[Captain Fun]

I just, I don't understand basically. I've played the game many times and the game isn't that bad, and the music is far from God awful. I usually just chalk it up to Internet Stupidity, but what are your thoughts?

Seems like a good thing to do when people have different opinions.

 

Honestly, I think it's because the controls are kinda junk and even characters with supposedly good cornering turn like they're boats on land. Really, controlling your character is the game's one and only challenge. But that's just me...

 

I also wanna point out an argument for "Flawed glitchy gameplay" Pokemon Red Blue and Yellow are incredibly dated games that have so many glitches that they are literally unstable, yet people love them.

Never really thought of them as unstable, and I never ran into a glitch that caused me to have to stop playing/lose my data. But the reason people like Pokemon is because at their core, the gameboy Pokemon games are solidly designed. 

[StaticMania]

Sonic R is hated because, as a racing game it is not a good game. The controls are mediocre, the balance between characters is terrible, and there are only 5 tracks to choose from.
 
The Control: Turning is terrible because without them its too wide and making it too much work for a small task. Unless you know to use the L and R buttons, its pretty much impossible for later tracks.
 
The character Balance: From the starting roster; Choose anyone besides Sonic and Knuckles you'll never get more than 2nd or 3rd place. SuperSonic is broken, and Choosing any unlockables makes you race Super Sonic making it losing situation doing so.
 
The basic 5 tracks aren't designed well and going through anyone besides the 1st two is almost maze like if you make ONE wrong turn.

[Tara]

The glitches in Pokémon hardly hinder your ability to play the game undeterred.  Missingno. and the Mew Gltich, for example, are all things you do voluntarily.  In any case, Pokémon and Sonic R are two completely different genres, and as such they can not be compared from this angle.  That being said, we're not even talking about glitches or exploits, we're talking about core gameplay.

 

The controls in Sonic R are a broken-down mess that making getting from Point A. to Point B. a chore as opposed to a natural feeling or a conscious effort.  Combine that with lackluster track design, a forgettable (but otherwise not bad) soundtrack and general atmosphere, and just plain not being very fun to play, and you have a pretty negatively received game.  Pokémon has none of those problems.  Getting from Point A to Point B is as simple as walking there, the soundtrack is very well delivered and very contributive to the overall atmosphere, and depending on your preference is a very good game with complex, but easy-to-grasp mechanics.

 

Overall, to me, Sonic R is a completely forgettable experience that, while a pain to get through, is pretty short-lived.  There's fun factor be had with friends, I guess, but even that is more so poking fun at its weaknesses than legitimately enjoying it.

[Vertekins]

Honest question - Do Eggman's and Egg Robo's missiles have any real functionality in this game?

 

But yeah, Sonic R. A poor, badly-designed racing game that is so utterly underwhelming that it seems to be more famous for the most obnoxious meme Sonicdom has ever known than it is for any other "quality". It has the most unbalanced character roster of any game I've played period and the music and gameplay is only remotely tolerable when the singing is switched off and a broken character (Sonic, Knuckles, Metal Knuckles, Super Sonic) is being played as considering how lame every other character plays like. It isn't very long-lasting or replayable either.

[iDEATH]

Sonic R is pretty piss poor. The controls are terrible, Sonic is the size of a toddler but has the turn circle of a fucking space station, if you play as Knuckles you win because you can just fly over half the course, that's if you can find your way through the courses, i get lost in that dessert stage every time.

The only good thing about it are the graphics (I like the models, I think they're cute) and the music.

 

Don't get me wrong, I can play it and have....some sort of fun...but it's pretty awful.

 

Edit: Also, I had pokemon blue and can't remember encountering a single glitch the entire time I played it (apart from misingno, but I'm not sure it counts if you're actively searching for the glitch) since when was it "literally unstable"?

[TheOcelot]

The controls aren't the best. They feel quite sluggish when turning, and if you run into a wall trying to turn is a nightmare. The game feels too short having only five tracks. That aside, I quite like it. The race courses have tons of alternative routes which is a big win, and you get to race as Eggman and Amy which is neat.

 

Overall I think Sonic R is more fun in multi-player than in single player.

[MegasonicZX]

Because it really is an underwhelming game from a design standpoint. 

 

Turning and drifting in the game is a bigger task than it needs to be, especially when tracks can be fraught with sharp or even 90-degree corners. Character balance is broken. If you use Sonic, you are guaranteed to win; there's little incentive to use anyone else, especially Amy and Eggman. As a result, there's no real difficulty curve to this game at all, even if you are bad at turning and even if you're going for the Emeralds (which unlock a more powerful version of Unequivocally Best Character and further undermine the nonexistent balance). It's short as hell with only five tracks to race on, cutting into whatever replayability this game would have had. The graphical fidelity even during its time of release is pretty bad, and the music is strictly "Your Mileage May Vary."

 

Everyone should just look up Mad Dash Racing instead. That was a pretty fun game in the same "foot racing" genre.

Off topic I know but your like the only other person here besides me who has actually acknowledged mad dash. Most times I just felt like absolutely no one here knew about it.

 

But on topic, as stated above the game has some pretty glaring issues (though the controls aren't really that bad, not perfect but still useable) and even though I do enjoy the game it does have some of the worst decisions a racing game can have going from the unbalanced character roster to the short selection of tracks which doesn't really help for replayability.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Ive never heard of this game. Is this where "Super Sonic Racing" from Sonic Generations comes from?

[spinny]

Ive never heard of this game. Is this where "Super Sonic Racing" from Sonic Generations comes from?

 

Yup. Main theme of Sonic R.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kxc4gAv2QE

[Jix Hedgehog]

X

Edited August 14, 2015 by Jix Hedgehog

[Tara]

I enjoyed it.. I considered it ground breaking when it came out.. how many Sonic games at that time had vocals in the music?

Sonic CD was released four years earlier and had better vocal music and gameplay to go along with it. XP - I'd really argue that even for the time it was pretty bad, but really, I'd be lying if I said that I minded the issues as much at the time than I do now.  Probably because I was younger but still.