I quite liked Sonic R in spite of all its jank, and would be up for a second go-around - provided they can meet even the level of quality the first game had (you'd think this wouldn't be a hard bar to hit, but it's hard to say these days).
Sonic R is bottled lightning, you can't possibly hope to capture it twice, unfortunately =( Has the modding community actually done anything with that game? I would have thought it would be prime for the picking, like new courses and characters? HD texture and model mode? lol
I've come on for one of those rare occasions where I actually voice my opinion here. (Gasp...yeah, right.) While I have tried and enjoyed the math out of games like Sonic and Sega all-stars racing, I think that Sonic R is the closest thing to what a Sonic racing title should be, not just running forward, but platforming. I see so many racing games ignore this concept all the time, leading to typical level design that really isn't any different from what Super Mario Kart introduced, Sonic R had platforming, it had exploration, and it had the Sonic the Hedgehog feeling I'm sure a lot of people loved dearly. I'd want Sonic R 2 to exemplify these concepts, make it its own game of racing that features everything that made Sonic so great, including classic gimmicks such as Green hill's loops, Chemical Plant's Pipes, or the simply gorgeous gimmicks of levels like Carnival Night and Marble Garden. That's just me, though.
After Sonic the Fighters came out last year, I think a port of the first would be more likely. Maybe with some online crammed in there somehow. Otherwise, I second what Skyler said.
Some characters seem like they would work fine on paper with better stats. There shouldn't really be 'good' and 'bad' characters, just ones of different stat variations. Some power ups would also be fine if they were more effective (eg. Eggman/Egg Robo's missles actually slowing players down). The only character I think needs a actually ability alteration is Egg Robo (since he can't jump he needs infinite float like Eggman). I wouldn't mind seeing an on foot form for Amy though. Alternatively they could keep the tiers but add in more super forms that can compete with Super Sonic.
I go one step further - the analog stick should only be used for analog acceleration and a hard handbreak when pressing left and right, and turning should be done entirely with the analog L and R triggers. Treating Sonic like a car with analog acceleration and turning massively improves the game. I am near certain this is how they intended the game to be played, because the curved paths of rings found in many courses have curve at the same radius as your turning radius when using the triggers. It's actually pretty easy to pick up long strings of rings this way. I also disagree with people who say Sonic R has a lack of content. Lack of courses, sure, but the 5 courses there are have much more to do than normal racing courses. Between collecting emeralds and unlocking boss races, there is quite a bit of content. I like Sonic R, but it's a deeply flawed game. If you can get used to the unorthodox controls, it's actually an enjoyable game. My strategy is to usually concentrate on unlocking Super Sonic first, then using him to take on all the mecha bosses. Can't stand the vocals, though.
I could definitely see a Sonic R2 working. In fact they pretty much have the requirements down: - Double the amount of playable characters. This is easy considering how many characters we have gotten over the years. You could even use a couple really old characters for a throwback kind of feel. - Double/Triple the amount of courses. Use classic Sonic tropes like R did, and add even more so. You could even use a couple of the old courses as "Retracks". - Allow for multiple steering options. The old way is kept intact for the purists, while a new more responsive control scheme can be used for new players. - Boss fights can definitely return. In fact use them to be the way to unlock some new courses. Spoiler Make Tails Doll the final boss. >: ) - As Aerosol stated, use a combination of modern Boost and Riders gameplay mechanics. Courses resemble Generations, with many alternate routes. Each type of character has their own ways of getting through the course. The paths are constructed so that all types end up at the starting line at roughly the same time, so no type is advantageous over the other, it is how you play them that matters. - More balanced characters. Yes, even if Super Sonic is to get in, the characters must balance out somehow so that any can win if played correctly. Maybe Super Sonic MUST keep his ring count up or he will turn back to normal Sonic, slowing him down immensely. That could be a suitable handicap for him. I wonder if someone could get a proof-of-concept working somehow. Maybe GDK?
I would be more than thrilled to play a Sonic R2, or even a Sonic R HD, whether it came from SEGA themselves or from a random dude from the retro community. The controls could even remain the same, or be imported from unleashed - I wouldn't care. All I'd care about is if the would-be game manages to capture that same 90's, 32-bit atmosphere. I would even go as far as proposing for the game to have high res textures, and a more "complex" (read: rounder corners and bumps on the ground) terrain, BUT to maintain low-poly character models, but rendered at a higher resolution and with more animations. Unlike many other games in the franchise, what defines Sonic R is atmosphere. The game didn't particularly excel in the gameplay department (the controls were unresponsive, and the cornering wasn't as fine tuned as it could have been), nor did it astonish anyone with it's durability. However, for many people, re-playing Sonic R nowadays continues to be an amazingly nostalgic experience, even considering that a normal playthrough for a seasoned player lasts no more than half an hour. Then why is the game experience provided by Sonic R so nostalgic, for those that played the game in the 90's? The answer might seem personal projection at its finest, but when I take into consideration the various personal statements and opinions coming from those that played the game originally as kids during the 90's, and replay it again nowadays, the answer becomes crystal clear: The game has something indiscernible that STILL MANAGES to immerse those who played the game more than 15 years ago - That something is it's light hearted semi-surreal atmosphere. It's hard to prove this point with people not cursed by rose-tinted nostalgia glasses. Generally speaking, the millennial "iphone" generation is too unfocused and impatient to give a chance to this game, and those of us which are a little bit older find it hard to appreciate a game with such bad controls. For the game to shine it would need to be remade/improved. Now, Rgamer2009 provided a list of hypothetical implementations to the, also hypothetical game. In my opinion, most of them are fine, if not obvious and obligatory (With the exception of the boost mechanic, which, in my humble opinion, may not work). For a remake/re-imagining/sequel to work, it would need to undoubtedly grasp the X-factor, that artistic "thing", those sublime visual and audio elements which transform small and simple games into unforgettable experiences. For instance, do you remember Sonic Fan Remix? Yeah, we all remember Sonic Fan Remix; in fact we all drooled to Sonic Fan Remix, although it was a only "demo" with just one level (divided into 3 acts). It was short. And man, did it deliver. Pelikan's Sonic Fan Remix transcended gameplay: It's experience was more than pushing a button and watching a corresponding action take place in the screen. It was a trip back into memory lane delivered by means of little details scatered throughout the acts; colorful high contrast visuals; sounds from nature here and there; pseudo surrealistic weather effects; lush and diversified foliage popping out from everywhere; a blue tint that seemed to cover the far horizon; etc, etc ad nauseum. My main point is that a hypothetical fan remake of Sonic R would have put it's priorities on getting the atmosphere right, and not waste much time, energy and resource pondering if Silver or Nack should be included. Coming from me, on such a project, if it were to take place, I'd like the following things to take place/exist/happen: -Gigantism: The original tracks were small. If you were good and knew what you were doing, you could finish a lap in Resort Island in about 20 sec. If a remake was to be made, the tracks should be doubled or even tripled in size, while keeping the characters at the same size. This change would permit an increase in speed for the existing characters without making the tracks appear too small, or making the each race experience too short. Some terrain areas would, of course, be a little altered in order to accommodate the increase in size, and that would be part of the re-imagining process. -Sense of speed: If I had to should between an increase in "real speed" or an added "sense of speed", I'd undoubtedly choose the latter. Sense of speed, provides the player with the feeling of FAST, but without compromising control. This can be done in a variety of ways, but one that would fit-in nicely with both a remake initiative, and my previous point (gigantism), would be to add lots of bumps, objects, and landmarks throughout the track. The player would have tons of visual cues transversing his running character at all times, and thus a greater sense of speed. This is not to say that the characters should stay at the same speed; in fact I am of the opinion that their speeds should be increased in +/-15%, which is, as you might have guessed, not in direct proportion to the increase in track size. This would make each race last about 3/4 minutes, as opposed to the current 1 min and half. More time to explore, more time enjoy the speed, more time for the nostalgia ride. Some SUBTLE image distortion effects effects could also be used for when the character reaches high speeds (blur effects, white stripes of wind going through the character, tunnel vision, etc). -Landmarks: In order to get these two ideas applied (gigantism and sense of speed), objects and landmarks of all kinds would need to be added or replaced throughout the tracks. Models should be either imported from 90's 3d games (which are few) or made from scratch based on 90's sonic artwork. Be surreal, be crazy, exaggerate. Always remember that this is a racing game, and if an object can be converted into a well-placed obstacle or a booster then it should. Look, into the level design of games such as Demon's Souls and Dark Souls: There are little details, objects, and unique landmarks everywhere. That was also the case with Sonic as it was released, as there were numerous unique objects, places and landmarks throughout the track that weren't repeated in anyway; and that idea should be hiperbolized. Big tracks, unique and different places everywhere. -Artstyle: I'd actually prefer for the game to maintain - and I'm taking the Saturn version as a reference - the same art direction as the original. 90's lighthearted surreal whackiness. Think 3d sonic cd. As a stylish trademark, and as I mentioned before, I'd also like for the characters to be low-poly 32 bit models, with new animations. Take the special stage sonic from sonic 3d for the Saturn - he has smoother animations there, but its basically the same model as the one present in Sonic R. This is basically the same premisse: Take the original 32-bit models and give them a new life by infusing them with more movement. Metal-sonic and Metal-knuckles would certainly benefit from less stiffness, and maybe from some lighting effects on their afterburners or some spinning animations for when their jump. TL;DR: The key is to keep the visual artstyle within the same 90's funky visuals, while modernizing everything else. I know jack squat about programming but if someone could indicate me some race-track builder, from a racing game, that allows to modulate the terrain, insert objects, customize skyboxes, etc, I would definitely have the patience to create a proof of concept racing track for you guys...Maybe this is too far-fetched, but I remember convincing a few friends of mine to develop with me an entire LOTR campaign back in 2004 with the Aurora toolset, by providing a few proof-of-concept dungeons made by me. Maybe If either me or someone else did this it would hype things up, and would gather enough interest for 2 or 3 guys to recreate a few tracks. After all it's not a whole new game we are talking about. I can only hope that sooner or later, someone takes some interest in this. It's not a life-or-death issue. But man would it be cool to get this game remade in HD.
Topic bump. I hold a lot of nostalgia on Sonic R, I really like the game in spite of the controls and small content (and oddly enough, the lack of music as I got the Sega PC version that came without it. I'm surprised I never found it weird the game lacked music -though still having sound effects- as a kid). That said, I think I would be much more interested in a spiritual successor than a direct sequel or remake. And I mean "spiritual successor" in the sense of a 3D platformer that followed it's level design (and game structure to a lesser extent). I don't know about the rest of you, but to me Sonic R was effectively what a 3D Sonic game in the classic/Saturn era would have looked like and how the levels would have been designed as (a lot closer to the mark than whatever X-treme was aiming for). The level design/map I felt was one of the few times a post-Genesis era Sonic game followed on the classic games' game design-there were not only shortcuts/multiple paths in the level design, but also a decent amount of playspace for players to move around in (though a fair amount of levels being surrounded by water doesn't help it's case) and even secret/hidden paths/areas for collectables/bonuses. I even think that if Sega decided to revamp the entire game into a proper 3D platforming game; I think it honestly could have worked as such (and served as a much-needed replacement for X-treme when it failed to show up on shelves).
I would LOVE a sequel to sonic R, I played that game so much with my brother, even solo it was a wonderful game. If they did make a sequel they should keep the music similar (Because it's one of the best parts of the game), I'm not sure what they'd do with the gameplay though, Would they try to modernize it too much and make it like sonic generations fast? or would they try to keep it how it is and just make everything prettier. (And more characters but also keeping the originals) All I know is, Amy in Car is a must.
I mean, with the modern gameplay, they were basically just asking to make a Sonic R 2. I mean just look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrSEajGzdYI&src_vid=PQfsvx4yz6Q&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_2893931893 Ya it's a Mario level but that could totally work.
That video disappointed me a bit. Half the thrill of that track in Mario Kart DS was the vomit cam and free side-to-side movement for me. Now it's just another basic scripted loop there. Back on topic, when I hear R 2, I think of Release-Candidate 2. "First version had some problems. Here's a new one for you to find more problems with.". :v: *bricked*
One of my favourite platform-defining Saturn titles ever. Sega will never do it though now we've got All-Stars Racing/Transformed. Would jump on a Sonic R sequel though.
There's part of me that would like to see a remake of the original more, if largely because it was one of those games you played and thought 'with a few tweaks this could have been awesome'. I guess the key problem there however is SEGA's limit to adding new things to old games. More tracks would boost the game's biggest problem but we already know they tend to put their foot down on adding new levels. Unless there were three or four tracks that for some reason didn't make the cut (and some unused demo tracks by TJ Davis to go with them) it's unlikely much could be done with it.
They could go for an 80's style "sequel" instead. You know, the ones where the sequel was just an improvement on the previous, like Afterburner. Sonic R 2- everything Sonic R had, plus more.
No, and there's a very simple reason why. Sonic is the fastest character in the series, by SEVERAL orders of magnitude. Tails and Knuckles may be able to spindash, but they're not canonically as fast as Sonic is by any means. This is why Sonic R has never really made sense to me. It may have worked in the brand's infancy, but it wouldn't now. That's why Sonic needed a car in All Stars Racing. If he was on foot, he'd win before anyone else finished the first lap. Yeah, yeah, you can nerf him for the sake of the game, like in Super Smash Bros. and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, but then what's the point? His whole thing is that he is the fastest thing alive. That's his entire marketing strategy in a nutshell. If he didn't, he'd just be called Hedgehog the Hedgehog.
Why yes, yes I would. But woe be tied if the music style is based on today's style of music. And for Christ's sake, could we get some more levels in? Five is simply not enough. (I'm aware the thread is basically a year old, and I forget whether or not I posted here... Probably not).
