Context: I was like 7 years old when the sega Saturn arrived in the household. That’s twenty years ago so 2002 when it’s been past dead. Seeing games like virtua cop, virtua fighter 2, sonic 3-D blast I was in awe. There was one specific game that got me hooked for a while due to being a fan of it greatly. I had fond memories of it even today when I’m able to play it on the GameCube. This disc I’m talking about it is a mixed bag of a racing game. I present to you… Daytona U- kidding Sonic R! An under appreciated game with a weird premise and weirder music. (I am sorry Daytona but I never played you that much when I owned you)

Graphics: 10
Jk- 7
The graphics were laughable. Tails the doll? Sonic looking so jagged? Amy what?!?!? Again tails the doll.. bruh why? Sega Saturn made it into a nightmare fuel of torment. The areas were so uninspired, weird and just… so obscure. The transparency was nonexistent in sega Saturn so they had to do what they can to give off a sense of transparency to the shields and such and boy on modern tv’s are ugly. Knuckles… in all every character looks so jagged and pixelated. The balloons don’t even look like balloons. The draw distance is atrocious and the scenery is all funky with fences being 2D pretending to be 3D and other objects and obstacles giving us that fake 3D look and it’s so awesome. The only good thing are the emeralds that actually look like gems, and the letter R when you start the game, like that’s something the Sega Saturn shouldn’t be able to do but they pulled it off… I love every bit of it. Bravo nightmare fuel bravo


Addictive: 10
Actually: 7
This game is so addicting that it got me hooked and went to rehab to fix my issue. In all seriousness this is a game for the die hards and people who like the obscure. This might put people off for the wackiness this game is and how it’s not part of the main sonic series.



Sound: 10
Actually: 8
The music is funky, weird and so out of place for a sonic game. It’s so great and awesome. Like “can’t you feel the sunshine” or “Living in the City” are favorites of mine and honestly I don’t think there’s any other Saturn game that can be compared to the gem these music are. Super Sonic Racing, Work it Out, Menu Music? Count me in!
Sound effects and bgm are average, sometimes overlapping one another and other times feeling kinda muffled (cannonball in the submarine) but honestly this is what gives Sonic R its charms. The sheer weirdness and a “what in the world?” feeling, this makes the game a must have. Other than mixed reviews from people saying it’s either great or bad.

Story: 5
Actually: 5
It’s the same sonic trope with some differences. Collecting Chaos emeralds and making sure Dr. Eggman doesn’t grab them. Beating his henchmen and foiling his evil plans, this time in a Grand Prix-esque format!

Depth: 10
Actually: 7
You have a choice of characters from Sonic, Tails, knuckles, Amy and Eggman. Secret characters involves, Metal Sonic, Tails Doll, Mecha Knuckles, Eggbot, and Super Sonic.

sonic : fastest of the bunch but with his turns hard to pull off. He can double jump to higher elevations

Tails: he’s able to accelerate faster than most characters and be able to fly. Not a player to sleep on and is pretty good on certain stages

Knuckles : corners so well but lacks speed and acceleration. Clearly Sonic’s rival and his specialty is gliding. He’s basically a Jack of all trades character

Amy: last unlockable character, she drives a car and is the worst character in the game. Her only resource is she can drive over water

Eggman: the genius himself. He’s slightly faster than most characters and he can turn pretty well, though he can’t accelerate well. He can shoot a cannon and can hover over water

Metal sonic: has the best jump and is almost as fast as sonic. His acceleration and turning sucks

Doll tails: almost as fast as metal sonic and can’t jump for shiz but can hover through water and be able to turn well

Mecha knuckles: one of the best characters in the game. Even with poor turning he has great speed and acceleration and be able to glide through the levels.

Robo Eggman: almost as bad as Amy and one of the worst characters in the game. He is bad at everything except shooting a bullet to enemies.

Super sonic: the best of the best. He has perfect stats among the rest and be able to compete everything with ease. A cheat code to say the least

With game modes there are Grand Prix, multiplayer and time attack.
With Grand Prix you race to get the chaos emeralds and collect “sonic coins” to race against Eggman’s henchmen. Winning them gets you the opportunity to play as the robots and winning the chaos emeralds while first place grants you one step closer to the final stage. The stages consist of

Resort island: a tropical track with water surrounding the track with a few shortcuts to help side with your victory

Radical City: a city-esque track with a maze like bottom floor and body of water that will slow you down if you fall into it! Many secret areas and shortcuts that’ll help you if in a pickle. The fun part are the bumpers and pinball looking area.

Regal Ruin: a ancient Egyptian looking track with a few loops and secrets that won’t help that much but be able to grab what you need. The setting is quite decent to say the least

Reactive Factory: WORK IT OUT WORK IT OUT! A sea port track with a submarine and many secrets that’ll help or hinder your victory.

Radiant Emerald: a “transparent” track that is in space that is made out of crystals and all. Actually an astonishing achievement to make the track look so transparent with the Saturn’s lack of hardware for that. Collect all seven emeralds and something special will happen to the stage.

There’s also some side modes for you to enjoy whether alone or multiplayer.

Balloon: pop balloons and get the shortest time.
Time attack: run through laps of the tracks to get the record score and improve with your skills.
Tag: a basic game of tag between you and the AI or players and you must touch them all in order to win.

Difficulty: 1
Actually: 7
Game is difficult to begin with not knowing how to handle each character but after a while you get used to it. Each character gives a difference in difficulty and stages can either be your friend or enemy. It’s a game that you must adapt to play well, especially on the Saturn


Overall: even with the mediocre scores this game has charm. This game has tude, this game has everything that yells “Sega” in the 90s. One of the most obscure games Sega has made, it’s a surprise it led to a legacy of racing games from sonic riders and Sega all star racing. This was just the beginning of Sonic racing and without it who knows? Though if I tell you the truth this game is a gem just for the soundtrack. So wacky and so absurd, this doesn’t even belong in a racing game yet there it is… and it’s awesome.

Overall: 6.833333333
My rating: 10
Actually: 8