Why is there so much hate for Sonic R?

[Tori Himemiya]

Sonic R wasn't that good of a game.

It had awfully clunky controls and characters would control like a drunk person driving a bobsled in the middle of summer. There's only 5 tracks with one track being unlockable meaning there's not a whole lot to do. Balance is non-existent as usually Sonic, Knuckles, Metal Sonic, and Super Sonic are generally the best characters, especially the latter. Its just a bad game in general.

There's some upsides to it though. It does have a good character roster, I mean we got Tails Doll and Metal Knuckles from this game. The music is infamous in the Sonic fanbase to the point everyone knows what your talking about. And it has a good concept going for itself but it just fails flat on its face.

Normally I'd say Sonic R had potential to be great, but anything can have potential. We shouldn't look into what if and take it for granted I suppose.

[Jason Berry]

Sonic R has poor turning controls and the game is a bit too short, but honestly? I don't care. 

 

If I had to say why I liked the game in one word, it would be "relaxing" That music by Richard Jaques just puts me in a tranquil mood. If I mess up a turn, I don't get pissed. I just restart the race and learn from my mistakes and learn to master the controls and the course. The music in this game is like "Hey, relax man. Just take it easy and try again. Aint no big thang. Just listen to this and mellow out bro." I also gotta disagree with Hogfather on the graphics. They were pretty good for Saturn era.

 

Is Sonic R a great game? No. But I think it's far from a bad one either.

[Jin.]

It's just a bad game, objectively.

The only redeeming point is its catchy music.

The graphics eeeeh... I'm meh about it.

 

People who find it good usually played it in the past, not only giving them a nostalgic feeling, but it makes them used to the controls.

[DocAzure]

Forgettable, but...I did enjoy what I played. 

 

It lasts to a point, something that was a major flaw. You can finish the whole game in an hour or two. It's not a BAD game though, just short and very mediocre.

 

That soundtrack though. Oh the soundtrack is fantastic eurodance goodness, TJ Davis and Richard Jacques are great.

[Chaos Incarnate]

I've never played the game, and they had the right idea in making it an on foot racer, but from what I've seen, the game looks to be cheaply and lazily made. Seriously, there's only 5 stages in the whole entire game? I've also heard the character differences are horribly unbalanced, and Super Sonic can easily break the game.

 

However, I will say I love the soundtrack to pieces, although I kind of get the hate for it. Most of the songs have no place being in a racing game and center around the theme of love, but they're still well composed and TJ Davis' singing voice always wins me over. Super Sonic Racing is also one of my favorite theme songs to any Sonic game, period. It does a really good job getting you pumped up for a race.

[Jix Hedgehog]

X

Edited August 14, 2015 by Jix Hedgehog

[MegasonicZX]

It's just a bad game, objectively.

The only redeeming point is its catchy music.

The graphics eeeeh... I'm meh about it.

 

People who find it good usually played it in the past, not only giving them a nostalgic feeling, but it makes them used to the controls.

I can tell you right now that its definitely not nostalgia, seriously the game is just good fun to me and the controls are pretty easy to get used to, but I will admit its not a good game by some standards.

 

Edit: thinking about it, it might be because I have this game on gems collection but I can imagine playing on saturn being torture.

[Tara]

That goes without saying, but none of Sonic CDs stages had a full song in them

If you mean full song in the context of verses and choruses, then yes, but I still think they could still serve as a decent enough comparison.

[JAiRO]

I got Super Sonic. Not a bad game, not a great game.

[JezMM]

I never had any problem with the turning controls as soon as I realised you can't play it like a platformer.  You have to pretend the characters are cars.  They have weight to them and you have to utilise the drifting mechanic to get around turns properly.

 

 

I can't argue with only 5 tracks, imbalanced characters and the dated visuals though (having said that, the backgrounds and ability to play at different times of day is super nice - Radical City at Sunrise was one of my faves).

 

 

 

It's a cute little game though, I kinda LIKE how small it is - there's something neat about the experience of playing through a game being to unlock everything - but that can be done in a single sitting of an hour or two.  Had something of this size been released as like a £2-5 downloadable game, I'd have no complaints.  And for what it's worth I first played it well out of it's era, via the Xplosive PC re-releases.  During the Gamecube era but long before Gems Collection.  So no nostalgia goggles from me.

[Tara]

I never had any problem with the turning controls as soon as I realised you can't play it like a platformer.  You have to pretend the characters are cars.  They have weight to them and you have to utilise the drifting mechanic to get around turns properly.

Which, to me, is a terrible mechanic in and of itself, and is the very reason I dislike the Wii/PS2 versions of Unleashed.  But if one is able to look past this and find enjoyment in it, then all the more power to them in that regard. XP

[JezMM]

That's the thing though, I do feel people criticise Sonic R for not being a platformer just because it looks like one.

 

Granted, this is the sort of issue that should have been foreseen by the dev team though, and could have easily been quelled from the off with a little tutorial to explain how the characters handle.

[Tara]

Well, I mean, the problem with that is-

 

1) There are platforming elements within the game, such as the multiple pathways, coin collecting, springs, etc.  So I think it's more than okay to denounce it as a platformer/racing game when it sort of feels like that was the intent they were going for.

 

2) The visual feedback you get from a game is equally important. At least, to me it is.  Yeah, I can see where you're getting at when you say that you're supposed to think of it as a cart racing game or something, but for people like me, it's too hard to separate what it looks like I should be to do from what I can't do.  Having such a huge disconnect between the visual and physical gameplay is just too jarring for me.

 

3) Even if you think of the characters as cars, the levels clearly weren't designed with cars in mind, as the turns are so incredibly sharp at some point that it's just impossible to get a feel for them.

[Sonicstitch]

I never played Sonic R.  
But I looked at footage of it on you tube.
I am both interested and disinterested in this game.
If I could play it for free I mite but I do not want to buy another consul just for Sonic R.
My mane interest  in it is the Tails Doll.
Of cores that makes me some what afraid to play it.
No I do not believe in all that stuff, but in how many movies do people say they  do not believe in something and then get killed by it?
PS
Can you feel the sunshine?

[Sonictrainer]

Did anyone one else have problems saving their game data on Sonic R?

[Splash the Otter]

I liked Sonic R's level design, and having Sonic and Co use their own skills in a race (because let's face it, anyone can drive a vehicle) is always welcome in my book. If the game was remade with better controls, more tracks, and a balanced character roster it would likely receive less hate.

[Agie]

I played a PC version way back when. Don't know where it disappeared to, though. I enjoyed it, but where was the music?!

 

Some time later, I would play the Sonic Gems Collection version. From my experience, it was faster and actually had music. What I think of it now is that it's not bad, but it's not great. On one hand, it had amusing music, and the controls weren't too bad. The tracks were also fun to play.

 

On the other hand, there was a few flaws, most baffling to me the fact that you can unlock everything on Easy Mode, in which afterward there's no motivation to play the harder difficulties other than for some quick amusement. Also, as some others noted, there was only five tracks. There were racing games released earlier (and even not much later) that had more tracks than that. So all in all, not a bad game, but not exactly great, either.

 

Feel free to disagree with me on that. Just stating my thoughts, is all.

[The Pit of Mystic Cave]

The music was perfectly fine.

 

The game controlled like an ice cube on roller skates

[wolf4537]

You know, I just fired up Sonic R on my Sega Saturn last night after reading this topic. I have to say, I forgot how horrible the controls are on the Saturn version, since steering your character feels unbelievably wobbly. 

 

However, one thing I can say is that I have always loved this game, and it felt VERY nostalgic playing it last night. I was listening to the soundtrack on my way to work today, that's how much I still like the music.

[JezMM]

Well, I mean, the problem with that is-

 

1) There are platforming elements within the game, such as the multiple pathways, coin collecting, springs, etc.  So I think it's more than okay to denounce it as a platformer/racing game when it sort of feels like that was the intent they were going for.

 

2) The visual feedback you get from a game is equally important. At least, to me it is.  Yeah, I can see where you're getting at when you say that you're supposed to think of it as a cart racing game or something, but for people like me, it's too hard to separate what it looks like I should be to do from what I can't do.  Having such a huge disconnect between the visual and physical gameplay is just too jarring for me.

 

3) Even if you think of the characters as cars, the levels clearly weren't designed with cars in mind, as the turns are so incredibly sharp at some point that it's just impossible to get a feel for them.

 

Amy, Eggman and Egg Robot can't jump though.  Once I realised this it became very apparent that platforming was in no way necessary to play.  In fact, the only necessary platforming comes from the fact that, unlike the vehicles and Egg Robo, the other characters cannot run on water for an extended period of time.

 

My mane interest  in it is the Tails Doll.

Of cores that makes me some what afraid to play it.

No I do not believe in all that stuff, but in how many movies do people say they  do not believe in something and then get killed by it?

 

Are you serious?  I really hope not because you're justifying a fear of fictional stories by using other fictional stories as an example.  You might want to get back in touch with reality just a little bit.

 

Did anyone one else have problems saving their game data on Sonic R?

 

The game doesn't save automatically.  You have to go the Options Menu and save your game there to keep your progress.  I did lose a few bits of progress due to forgetting this in the past I admit.

[Tara]

Amy, Eggman and Egg Robot can't jump though.  Once I realised this it became very apparent that platforming was in no way necessary to play.  In fact, the only necessary platforming comes from the fact that, unlike the vehicles and Egg Robo, the other characters cannot run on water for an extended period of time.

The characters having different abilities doesn't make it any less platformy.  Perhaps I'm just playing it wrong, but even if that's not the case, the most preferable routes almost always require you to jump and perform platforming feats anyway.

[Vertekins]

Don't characters use springs to get onto platforms? It's been so long since I fired-up my copy of Gems Collection and played Sonic R. I remember getting all of the Sonic coin things, Emeralds and unlockables but that was the Sonic completionist in me speaking rather than any real attachment to the game. I still remember being frustrated by blasting the rings away on those accelerator things instead of on the doors that lead to emeralds XD.

 

I know Tails Doll sucks and no one who wants to win would play as it but it does come off as blatantly unfair when Super Sonic, Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles and Eggman/Egg Robo are pitted against you if they are unlocked if you select it to play as.

[JezMM]

Afraid there's literally no portion of any map you can't get to unless you jump.  There are some spots you can get to FASTER by jumping, but that of course is the advantage jumping characters get while Amy gets boost and Eggman/Egg Robo get rockets.  Any character can take any route though, and jumping characters can't jump over track walls/barriers no matter how small they are.  On the flipside, even areas with steps (such as the small holes emeralds are hidden in on Regal Ruin), Amy and Eggman can get out of just by driving into the wall.  Likewise, no springs require you to jump onto them, you can just run/drive straight into em and you get pushed up to the next area.

[Meta77]

I loved sonic r. But I also enjoyed Sonic 06. Each to each their own. Many fans these days have to have a perfect cup of gold sonic tea. But play what you like. If you find a copy try it out for yourself. You love it or dont.

[andrewtuell1991]

I liked Sonic R's level design

 

As did I.  As I've said before, I truly believe Sonic R has the best level design of all the 3D Sonic games.

 

Yeah, the gameplay is shit, the controls are slippery and the only thing memorable that came out of Sonic R was a forced meme, but have you ever stopped to notice the level design, I mean really stop and notice.

 

After reading this page of Sonic Jam's Sonic Science, I blow off the dust on my GameCube, put in Sonic Gems, and decided to just explore the levels with various characters in Get 5 Balloons mode.  After that, I saw Sonic R in a whole new light.  Little did I realize after all the years of playing Sonic R that it's level design what I'd always wanted from a 3D Sonic game.

 

The levels have a main path for the player to follow if they just want to get through the level, but they also have quite a few alternate and secret paths for players who like to explore.  Straying from the main path didn't drop you into a bottomless pit but instead gave you an actual, living world to explore.  Falling in the water didn't insta-kill you, but instead offered a shortcut for characters who could walk on top of the water.

 

The Sonic Tokens, which can be seen as a precursor to the Red Rings, offered a strong motive for exploration as collecting them all unlocked a new playable character. 

 

My personal ideal Sonic 3D level design would be a mix between Sonic R's, Sonic Adventure's, and Sonic 3 and Knuckles's level designs.