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

Oh lord, Carnival Night is horrendous.

Edit - in fact, make that all of Egg Cup.

 

Yeah, it certainly doesn't get better. Carnival Night and Death Egg feel like they are designed to be anti-fun. Lost Colony would probably be fine if they did away with the elevator thing.

 

Ehh slight spoiler territory but there is one particular companion that had an additional purpose even pre-patch. That companion is + - the Mystic Melody from Sonic Adventure 2   and quite a few unlockable characters have an unlock condition where you use the 'look behind' feature with this companion enabled to unlock them.

A small video showing how to unlock the companion is here, and a list showing what characters you can unlock with the companion is here. Spoilers obviously! The second link also contains some spoilers for some unlockable tracks as well that aren't tied to this companion.

I will say I absolutely love the unlockable system and it gets better the more I play. It's very much akin to Kirby Air Ride but Ring Racer's Purple Boxes (Chao Keys) are much more plentiful and not locked behind any particular challenges, which is a huge upgrade. It means a player no longer has to do a challenge they may or may not struggle with to get a chance to 'skip' another challenge for an unlockable. The infinite quantity also means you won't run into a scenario where you run into a nasty challenge you wanna skip but can't since you used up your chances already. It's not exactly a free pass either since you have to play the game to earn more Chao Keys. It's really smart design overall and a step up from it's inspiration! At least, I assume that was the inspiration here.

A lot of the challenges also encourage track exploration which kinda brings me back to how Diddy Kong Racing had the hidden Keys in Adventure Mode or Mario Kart 64's recreation of Peach's Castle. I enjoy when racing games decorate tracks with stuff like that. Provided it never really gets in the way of confusing the player during a regular run, they provide some additional incentive to revisit tracks again under a new context. A lot of race tracks also look super pretty and it's nice to have an excuse to admire them, especially in this game's case.

Really the only track I've felt is 'eh' so far is Rumble Ridge. The shortcut bounceback makes that one shortcut near the start smack dab in the middle of the track kinda nasty and I'm not a fan of the spikes that smack you shortly after that unless you stop and ride the conveyor belt up. The 'heat wave' effect also feels a bit too intense in my opinion, but I assume there's an option to disable that. Green Hills' 'high ramp' shortcut near the starting line also has me a bit confused, but the rest of that course has grown on me.

I'm up to the Barrier Cup now at this point, but the 2.2 patch is making this a lot more fun to play really and I'll probably see all the tracks out at this point. I really appreciate the work that's gone into this.

 

Man, what the fuck is up with the slipstream mechanics. It feels so unintuitive to release your drift to activate it and I have no idea how to make it extend past first activation. Wouldn't it be better if it worked like drifting in Twinkle Kart/SA2's racing levels?

 

I played a little more in intense and I can not stress enough that giving the AI frantic items is bullshit. The patch notes say "there's a big difference between losing some lap bonus and the whole race" and then the 2nd or 3rd place AI activates invincibility as soon as it taps you at the end of the 3rd lap and smacks you into the stratosphere.

Unrelated, but despite GL Legacy supposedly being broken it's the better option because the game kind of runs like ass in software renderer. I can hit over my Monitor's Refresh rate in GL Legacy mode while the FPS just dies from things like instawhip in software. Probably because with Open GL it actually uses my GPU. To get it to even approach 165 fps in software I have to Vaseline that shit up with a low resolution while I can use the highest with GL. It must murder the CPU pretty bad in Software because I have a Ryzen 5900X.

 

I swapped to the GL Legacy renderer as well and the performance is so much better.

So after playing through all the available cups (I assume there is something after getting all the Super Emeralds) I can safely say the worst piece of track design is the 14th special stage. It's just so bad. The special stage concept has some merit (albeit flawed execution in places) but that last one is just shite.

 

New patch is out and it definitely controls better, but I still don't get the dev team's obsession with the fucking top item when it's pretty situational (the flame shield IS legit good and kinda busted due to how easy it is to use, so I do get not giving those out as often). And the changes to the AI seem like a lie? Like they say the AI no longer holds the bubble shield to specifically use against the player but I still see that behavior, down to AI racers letting other AI pass without a bounce and then seemingly SLOWING DOWN to hit me with it. I kind of figured out the AI though. It isn't trying to win despite what the notes say, it's out there to make you lose. Specifically to try and snowball you into having to use a continue so your chances of getting to a Sealed Star drop (as well as having more chances at said sealed star). I'm starting to have an interest in finally play online but I'm a little concerned about getting clapped by the not insignificant portion of people who say the game is perfectly designed.

Edit: YouTube algorithm suggested me this video and it actually is pretty close to the way I feel on the game and, god, do I miss F-Zero.

 

I finally started giving this a play recently, and I love it! I can't stop playing it, actually.

 

It's a sad shame it's honeymoon phase is over and people are moving on from this.

 

I did grow to come around on this game but yeah it was a real flash in the pan

its still fun tho if you can get a group of friends on it :v

 

I finally tried this game after grabbing when it first came out. I liked SRBK2 and want to like this so much. The art style is gorgeous IMO, this is some incredibly good pixel art. The music is good, and I actually like the actual feel of the kart racing. I know people are divided on it, but I actually think the attempt to port the "sonic physics" to a racing game is pretty neat, and having rings there as a sort of boost gauge is cool.

But man, what the fuck at so many decisions in the game. The tutorial honestly made me more confused than if I had just jumped straight into the game. So many times what they'd try to tell me would get buried under the cutsie banter, and I also didn't like how I'd have to basically stop and listen to them after every task. The stuff they also chose to show me was the most tiny, inconsequential things. That made me expect to run into these mechanics more, when they never happen. Like, I don't ever recall hitting switches with that insta-shield attack thing.

Speaking of which.... I don't get this at all. The charge up thing... I'll just call it the instashield because I forget the in-game name. It's not an outright replacement for the mechanic it's meant to be a fall back for. Like, the reason they present in the tutorial is that it's there in case you completely run out of rings, they didn't want you to get stuck, and the game (annoyingly) makes you dash into so many things to interact with them. Fair enough. Except it doesn't behave the same way, and has all these other weird properties and ways to use it compared to the normal instashield. So it confuses you.... are you supposed to actually let yourself run out of rings at times? Why have these mechanics buried into a fall back state?

I feel like a lot of things in this game were worked backwards, like they came up with solutions then invented problems for them later on. That's why it feels so weird, it doesn't follow a natural progression of thought. It's hard to connect the dots, because they're hooked up arbitrarily, nobody was ever organically lead to these decisions.

Very weird game, shame it doesn't make a better first impression because they obviously spent a ton of effort working on this. This is "brevity is the soul of wit" in game form.

 

Since it's been a year, I'll come out and say that Ring Racers was the main reason why I left the SRB2 community. The hoppy quality control, atrocious tutorial, and the obviously leashed way of community had me so appalled that any interest I had towards more Kart or even 2.3 quickly evaporated. My friends tried playing the game and I could tell they were forcing themselves to like it. Realistically, the only way I can see myself coming back to SRB2 and Kart is if something changed or for a retrospective. When you said that they invented problems, you hit that nail right on the head. They never gave demos for the damn thing until it came out.

 

From what I have heard (being an outsider looking in), the team didn't take too well to the criticism of the game from fans. Granted, sometimes those doing the criticizing can be overly demanding, so the push/pull of one side can easily feed the opposite reaction of equal magnitude on the other. Regardless if that's the case or not, it really does sound like the game has some very fundamental problems that come from over-engineering. I think it shows how much pride they have in what they've created, because over-engineering largely comes from pride in the work you're doing.

Just my random thoughts. It looks neat at a minimum. But maybe the team, if they still care, should consider listening to some of this criticism and doing adjustments, because the problems I'm seeing described are pretty bad.

Similarly, SRB2 has that training level. I hate it, and I haven't run into a person who disagreed. Time to learn from past mistakes!

 

I honestly don't feel like it's necessarily a bad thing when game developers don't listen to fans, but it kind of depends on the aim of the game itself. There are times when a game is made for other people, and a time when it's made for the developer themselves and if other people happen to like it then that's a happy coincidence. I honestly believe a lot of the stone-cold classics from the past were the former, they weren't necessarily trying to please players. Rather the developers themselves were the target audience, and it just so happened their tastes were shared by many others.

That's not to stifle fan commentary, that stuff is useful. But just because people don't like something very loudly doesn't necessarily mean anything to me. I'd love it if the developers took another stab at this and did things differently, though.

 

I don't disagree. But if the point is to have a community formed around the game you're making, I feel it's self-defeating to that end to ignore criticism.

But sometimes people criticizing really shouldn't be listened to. Just because someone is the loudest voice in the room, doesn't make them right. I think it's a balance thing -- try to keep an open mind, but do what you know makes the most sense at times too. And also, be willing to do some things because you like them, not because they're necessarily the most popular things. Ultimately, you have to enjoy the game you're making, or else there really is no point in making it.

 

If there's one thing I've learned from listening to a ton of Valve commentary, you should not underestimate the value of watching how people play your game, without directing them. Still listen to what they're saying, but how they actually play the game is important. Now granted this is a fan project made in peoples' spare time, so I don't think an extensive playtest with the devs was in the cards, but at least these days they could watch some let's plays and join some servers and see how people are interacting with the game. Valve are also willing to cut mechanics and cancel games that aren't working, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.

I enjoyed Ring Racers, but it definitely felt like a high skill floor, high skill ceiling kind of game. I was confused at first, got okay at the mechanics, and that was about it. I was after something more casual, which is what SRB2 Kart felt like (emphasis on more here), at least to me.

 

With it being the one year anniversary of this release, I've gotta say; anyone who felt cold about Ring Racers at first glance should try jumping in again. The learning curve is steep but when it clicks, it clicks. The mechanics are maximalist by design, which is understandably daunting, but the systems in place all mesh together into a ridiculously engaging kart experience.

Beyond the mechanics, this is one of the best realized visions of Sonic's Genesis outings in 3D. Simply cruising around the densely detailed environments is worth your time.

There are still a decent number of people playing online in public servers along with what seems to be a limitless amount of custom characters.

It's an extremely high effort project that feels like it drifted in from an alternate timeline.

 

I will admit i have grown much more fond of it with time, but thats mostly because i do think they did a good job at patching out somne of the more annoying things. Spindashing(?) is faster, slopes are less aggressive in slowing you down, it feels a lot more polished than it was.

But I agree! Ive been playing it lots more with a friend group. I do feel like the skill ceiling is terrifyingly high, i think im decentish at ring racers but all my friends who play it are leaps and miles better than me which is sometimes deflating

Still, very good time now overall. Singleplayer is still booty tho

 

Despite how frustrated I was by the end of my playing with it, I think the game made is a polished and extremely original and fun take on a "kart racer". It's a game that I'm immensely thankful it exists and that I think everyone involved with it should feel righteously proud of, there's no other game like it, and the mechanics pull from Sonic games in really strange, niche and big-brained ways that make this game feel so unique in a good way. I never liked driving in Sonic Robo Kart 2 but I really enjoyed racing in Ring Racers a lot. The problems I have with is are mostly just the huge unlock system and how finishing cups (and Special Stages!) were often really frustrating, especially on the extra cups. By far the Special Stages are my most hated part of the game and the source of so much of my unhappiness with my time with it. Just, having to re-do these long Grand Prix tourneys over and over again just for another chance at these really difficult and mean Special Stages... I also wish it was a little more mechanically simpler and forgiving, the game sometimes feels like it demands a level of precision (especially for shortcuts and secrets) that I don't know how to get to.