Bad Games: Sonic R

Welcome to Bad Games, where I like to show off some of the worst games I've ever played or seen. Of course, by bad, I mean the game isn't fun. The graphics may be great, the sound effects could redeem it for others, but if you actually play it, it doesn't hold up.

Sonic R for the Sega Saturn

  Now since I will be starting slow with some of these "okay games" I decided to kick it off with two poorly made things, The Sega Saturn and Sonic R. Both had great ideas and then those thoughts were carried on to future games, but neither sold well or saw a lot of investment for development of the system and game. I like this game, but a lot of people don't see the decency within the title. Now, I have played it for only short times, but the controls are "meh" and the graphics aren't bad. Being the first true 3D Sonic racing game had to be tough on development, having to code and rebuild a new engine with a system that needs a lot of unnecessary coding. Mario Kart 64, the first true 3D racing game featuring Mario and his friends from Nintendo, was well done and is a great game for the Nintendo 64, a console that had much more power than a Saturn and sold fairly well in the United States. The music isn't good though, it has a lot of soundtracks that sound a lot like Sega ran out of ideas and had to use the CD-quality sound that is possible with the Saturn. So they decided that "Can you feel the Sunshine?" would be the best song to go with. Many fans of the series didn't enjoy the choice and some cannot stand it. Here is a small bit from the lyrics;

Can you feel the Sunshine?

Can you feel the sunshine?
Does it brighten up your day?
Don't you feel that sometimes
You just need to run away?

You play as your character without any vehicle, and ramming in to walls is very common. I don't understand exactly how to use items or move around, but I can get through the game without any problems, albeit in last place. In conclusion, I wouldn't pay for the game, but if some old man offers it for free, I'd take it. You can waste about 30 minutes on it and complete it, so if you were to spend around $40 when it was available in 1997, then you could feel a little bit scammed. Of course, you probably felt that when you bought the Saturn in the first place.

Final Score: 6.5/10