About Sonic R

Sonic R was the second Sonic game I played, and I remember really hating it as a young 'un. I threw the Saturn controller across the room, giving the TV a middle finger. I replayed it a little while back, and while my anger has mellowed in age, it's got more than a few problems.

Unless you're the kind that reads instruction manuals (I'm not) this game has no plot or storyline. It's just Sonic and his comrades running around rather small racing areas while a surprisingly good singer sings extremely catchy dance-pop songs that far outshine the game itself. Honestly, I can imagine these songs being played on a Dance Hits radio station, they're just THAT good. I'm one of the (apparently) few people that likes Dreams Dreams from NiGHTS though, so I might be biased. Unfortunately, this is a video game, not a dance-pop album, so I must leave the songs and tackle the game.

The main problems with this game are 1) Small tracks and 2) Few levels. If this game had a decent amount of levels, like around 15 or so, then I could excuse the tiny running space. But it doesn't. The number of levels is five, people. FIVE! That's simply inexcusable. Some folks say they did that to cut down on the number of songs or something, but I'm firmly in the laziness department. The tracks themselves, while they have shortcuts and hidden passageways, are very small. Radical City, in particular, is an example of level that could bigger and better. Other minor problems include that it takes forever for you to turn your character around (why??), the lack of many different modes to race in, and the very creepy Tails Doll.

There are several things I liked, though. The songs are great of course, and Super Sonic was a nice touch. It's just simply not that good. Shame really, 'cause if it had more levels, and the size of them was larger, it could've had classic potential.