Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers (Sequel to Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart) officially released!!

Still in the middle of downloading it, though I did see the trailer on YouTube.

Out of curiosity, do the 3D models for SRB2Kart work for this game? I really prefer using those over the 2D sprites when I can. Racing games it's simply a preference, and mainline SRB2 is because I have issues with depth perception otherwise.

 

Are SRB2Kart mods compatible with this?

 

I've only played up until near the final Ring Cup, and...I really want to like it, and to some degree, I still do. But there's so many things I'm not a fan of. It really feels like the game tries really hard to stand out from other Kart racers, and the results feel incredibly bloated.

- The tutorial level is way too long (like 20+ minutes), and there's no way to skip it. Considering how many mechanics are introduced in this game, you don't want to skip it, which makes it worse. Some of these mechanics aren't even used that much if at all at the beginning of the cup. Also, minor nitpick, but the whole Eggman and Tails being all buddy buddy is just...why?

- Really don't like how item boxes will change into ring roulette boxes after respawning (and vice versa). Can kind of make getting items a pain.

- Some of the item changes (Ballhog, Grow/Shrink, etc.) are weird and the game doesn't exactly explain how some of them, especially the newer ones work.

- Having the shortcuts gated off unless you boost through it is bad enough, but smacking into the wire without the boost will send you backwards. Why?

- The tumbling after getting hit gets really annoying and can sometimes take too long, especially if you end up getting smacked by another racer during or shortly afterwards. Also the whole getting hit with -20 rings to only tumble around and then explode is too much and takes too long.

- Multiplayer & modding are unlockables. I get why they did it, but it doesn't make it right.

- How the tricks system is implemented, and at least what I've experienced in the tutorial level doesn't feel that fun.

- The physics in general are just feel odd.

There's probably more, but that's the gist of it. I do love that there's now computer players. Also the levels look fantastic. But as said, it feels like there's too much and it just feels bloated. Also locking multiplayer is rather egregious. One of the perks of SRB2 Kart is that you can pick up and play with others no problem. Sure, it may take some time to get better and I won't deny that there's some people who are overly negative when they struggle, but for the most part, the community is very supportive of new players and will help when asked. That combined with having a mandatory 20+ minute tutorial level is just gonna turn off people, especially newcomers.

I do think it's potential, but so far, not really a fan. I'll play it more later. Maybe my opinion will change as I keep playing.

 

Chiming in on what Jay T. has written, my experience with Ring Racers has been......not great. On top of the tutorial being long and tedious, if you choose to skip it, you're thrown into a race against hard AI and you'll be forced to do the tutorial over again if you lose. And even if you do get to play the game proper, it's just too overwhelming with its mechanics and how the items are not explained at all. Locking the online multiplayer, time trials and even modding behind progress is a straight-up stupid decision as those are what made SRB2Kart so fun and accessible in the first place. I get they wanted to make the game a whole lot more different from SRB2Kart, but different ≠ good or fun.

At this point, I don't feel like I want to port the characters I've made for SRB2Kart to Ring Racers even when official modding tools become available, at least not while the game is in the current state it's in. As it stands right now, the game is cack and I can't recommend it over SRB2Kart for quick multiplayer fun.

No, the devs confirmed they're not compatible.

 

Copying what I already posted on Reddit:

 

If your tutorial level is over 5-10 minutes AND is unskippable on a first playthrough then it's just going to leave a very bad impression in most people's mouths. Multiplayer being an unlockable gamemode is especially very offputting.

 

One word review

Dreadful

 

So I did play it a bit more, and while I do like it a little more, there's still some things I'm not too big on. I still stand by the whole tutorial thing I mentioned earlier. I think at least they should've probably made the tutorial its own optional section and have each parts (The basics, tricks, items, etc.) as its own separate section rather than trying to shoehorn some kind of story into it. Maybe have certain gimmick tutorials come up (optional of course) when you're entering a cup that uses said mechanics. Even if the game itself is good, forcing that much information right from the get-go is too much and will just turn people away before giving it a chance.

I did find out that turning off Lite Steering does help a bit with turning.

I really don't get the starting position thing. I get that it's like Sonic Riders, but it still seems pointless, especially when you start so flipping far away that you have to drive to the starting line. Not only that, but if you accidentally hit the wire at the start or fall into a hazard (like the pool in Emerald Coast), you're heavily penalized and forced to start in last place. Also, imho, but having a penalty for overcharging your Spin Dash seems unnecessary.

Still stand by that whole Ring Roulette thing. I did see that they'll eventually change back into Item boxes, but what's the point if there's rings scattered all over the place?

I feel like those Shrink lasers shouldn't effect you while your Invincible, but that's just me.

Maybe it's just me, but at least on Normal mode, does the AI feel like there's some rubberbanding going on, at least with the rival?

The bumper item is super annoying. I'd be fine if they set you back a short distance, but hitting those things while at high speeds results you in getting sent back far, and considering how the AI is (least in normal mode), especially the rival's, you don't want that to happen. Getting behind someone only for them to use the bumper right there is the worst. Plus you get can get knocked back and end up facing a different direction. I do think the knockback in general can get crazy sometimes, even crazier than SRB2 Kart, and that's saying something. I get that if you have no rings, you can get stunned, but it can get really annoying when multiple racers decide to smack into you.

Maybe it's just me, but some of the tracks seem too narrow? Compare SRB2K's Sonic Speedway with RRR's to see what I mean.

I still think the game looks great, the music is nice, I'm kind of liking the whole Air Ride/Smash Bros unlock screen thing to some degree, but there's a lot holding this game back. I'll still play it, but when it comes to multiplayer, I'm probably gonna stick with Kart.

 

I think they want you to get your "driver's license" before letting you loose lol. I guess I get that sentiment but it does seem needlessly restrictive based on how the existing community functions.
Generally it feels like a severe misread on what they thought people would want at best, and good old Nintendo style "we know what's best for you" dev hubris at worst. Hopefully they can find a happy medium because this does look really polished and quality and it seems a shame to give such a bad first impression after all the hard work. Personally, a meaty single-player mode excites me because I could never pin down anyone to play SRB2Kart with.

 

As it stands in the game's Discord, the developers have posted all the "passwords" that people need to skip the tutorial, go online, and unlock add-ons. (They're waiting to post the "unlock all content" password for some reason.)

I'll post those codes here for y'all's convenience. I don't like needing to be in a Discord for every game, either.

Spoiler

• gaster - skip tutorial (must be used during the password prompt that first appears in the tutorial's intro)
  
• Wi-Fi Warrior - unlock online play
• McDonalds - Unlock add-ons
• chaos zero 64 - Unlocks all characters, skins, and tracks (per-session only)

It's a shame that this game has been in development for so long, and there is a good video game worth playing in here. But the collective launch-day impressions surrounding the game, between Twitter and Discord, was stuck in the mire of all these unthinkable anti-player design choices. (I can't even imagine wasting so much precious free time on coding + bugfixing hundreds of un-lockable content checks, myself.)

I do hope the developers rectify this quickly; I haven't seen this much ill-will around a good Sonic fan game release.

EDIT: Added another password that unlocks everything (Which is per-session only; it doesn't save, sadly.)

 

The tutorial and unlockables, while awful, aren't even my major problem with this game. There's just too much bloat junk introduce that adds absolutely nothing to the racing experience, and some that are so baffling that it removes. Stuff like the hit stops and thumble is just straight up anti-fun. Worse yet, you spend 30+ minute in the tutorial and it doesn't even teach you everything, and what it does teach you isn't even presented in a way that you would actually make use of it in a race. What were the 30 minutes for then?

It's hard to call this game good. Others have already chimed in their mechanical complaints but most of the noise out there is just around the absurd tutorial so I don't even know if most people are even going to get down to the nuances. Hell, I read some people just straight up gave up before they finished the tutorial so maybe they'll never even get to the finer details.

They put a lot of effort into the game, but that's not going to make up the fact that the game stinks.

 

The game is mechanically dense and there is a ton of nuance to it.
While the first cup doesn't mandate half of what you learn in the tutorial, upon a 2nd playthrough I was easily able to incorporate the more advanced tactics into the early stages with middling success (because I'm still learning lol)

The tutorial isn't bad...if you like the implied lore and the dialog between Tails and Robotnik, but if you care not for it (which I'm assuming is 99% of you all) then yeah it's a painful tutorial that doesn't do its purpose properly.

The mechanics and physics changes make sense when looked at as a total package but if you pick out individual stuff to hone in on, it makes less sense in my opinion.

Gating multiplayer and add-ons was an utterly insane decision though, no way around that lol.

Otherwise, I do enjoy what this game can become, but I'm also a sweaty gamer who loves mechanically deep games with nuance, complexity, and many reasons for my brain matter to light up like a starry night sky.

 

I don't think it's wrong to have a game with a higher skill ceiling, personally, as long as the skill floor is reasonable; no one will care to reach that ceiling if they can't get off the floor. One of the best things about the Sonic classics is how easy they are to pick up and play, yet difficult to master.

Regardless, if you enjoy reaching for those stars, nobody should judge that.

This was also my problem with the tutorial as a whole. I thought the dialog between Eggman and Tails, while an obvious fan indulgence, was cute. But, the tutorial is all tricks and not the fundamentals of racing, which makes its purpose all the more questionable.

Even while it teaches you advanced drifting techniques, it's not teaching you how to drift normally. I drifted into so many walls on my first few races, not helped by the curves being more narrow in the tracks than in the tutorial.

So, I'm struggling to get down to the nuance you're describing. One of my friends has, however, already described how this game suffers from the same problems they ran into with the Sonic Riders games. Even as somebody who loved Sonic Riders, that's not a good sign!

 

Maybe it's just me, but the rival really has no trouble catching up no matter how well you do. I get that they're meant to be tougher, but it's weird how they can be way behind (especially behind other racers) and suddenly manage to zip past everyone and catch up to you in no time, especially on the last lap.

Maybe it's a skill issue for me or something. I do think I'm racing fairly well.

Also, in order to access the Special Stage, do you need to get 1st in all the races and have 100 rings, or you just need the 100 rings at the end of the cup?

EDIT: I'm playing on Normal, and using Fang. My rival is Knuckles. Maybe I just need to switch to someone else.
EDIT 2: I hope I'm wrong, but going by the credits screen, it seems like Wonder Boy (my main in Kart) isn't in the game. At least not yet...I hope.
Scratch that, he is in the game. Not sure how to unlock him though.

EDIT 3: Got 100 rings and all 1st in one cup, still no Special Stage. Guess it's tied to your rank since I got a C in one of the challenges.

 

There are some musings going around that the Rival is 1 level harder than the rest of the CPUs, which would help explain how well they keep up.

I think it's that AND rubberbanding.

 

Oh it's most assuredly rubberbanding. Any racer that has a rival system uses it to an extent (Mario Kart and F-Zero for instance)

 

Speaking of rubberbanding...



That's actually insane. Who actually wants this??