Reviewer: Greg Sewart
Traveller's Tales Sega Now CD-Rom

ne of the major problems that plagued the Saturn early was the fact that there was no Sonic game available. It was strange considering Sonic was the prime reason the Genesis was so successful. Although Traveller's Tales released Sonic 3D Blast, it was met with a lukewarm reception. Saturn owners have been teased with a small taste of a fully 3D Sonic in both 3D Blast and Sonic Jam, but never treated to a full game. Enter Sonic R, the latest offering from Traveller's Tales.

Sonic R can best be described as the Saturn's answer to such games as Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing. Choose to play as Sonic, Knuckles, Tails or Amy and take part in a footrace (although Robotnic and Amy are in vehicles) across four different track set in the Sonic Universe. Each race is three laps long, and some of the most innovative play mechanics I've ever seen in a racer are in place.

For starters, if you finish in first place on each track in GP mode, you gain access to a special track. Win on this track and you're allowed to compete as Dr. Robotnic. Also, scattered throughout each track are five Sonic tokens, which, when collected during a winning race, will open up a challenge stage with one of the four secret characters in the game. Beat these characters, like Mecha-Sonic, and you get to race as them as well. There are also a few Chaos emeralds on each track, though I'm not entirely sure what you accomplish by collecting them.

The fifth and final track is very reminiscent of Mario Kart 64's Rainbow course.

There are also item boxes, rings and zippers on each track. The item boxes give you such things as extra rings and speed boosts, where zippers depend on how many rings are in your possession. For instance, if you hit a zipper with ten rings, you won't go very far; however, hit with thirty rings and you can sit back and watch your racer leave everyone behind.

There are also a few different time trial modes. You can race the tracks normally or in reverse. Balloon mode challenges you to gather five blue balloons hidden throughout each track as fast as you can. The coolest one is Tag mode, where four other characters scatter at the beginning of the race, and your mission is to touch each of them in the least amount of time. Two players can also race simultaneously and play the balloon game, too.

To throw yet another monkey wrench into the works, each character is capable of different moves. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails can jump. If you press jump again while in the air, Sonic performs a double jump, Knuckles glides and Tails flies for a limited amount of time. Since Sarah and Robotnic are in vehicles, they each have special abilities that 'cost' rings. Sarah can use a slight speed boost, while Robotnic has a homing missile. Learning each character is half the fun of the game, as each one also handles quite differently.

It's hard to tell from this shot, but the reflections on the water are some of the coolest Saturn effects to date.

The graphics engine is a first for the Saturn. While it's basically the same engine as the Sonic 3D Blast bonus stages, including light sourcing for each character, the most innovative aspect is the fact that the pop-up isn't covered by fog, but rather by the terrain slowly drawing in at about twelve levels of transparency. This facilitates a good draw in distance without dropping the framerate a whit. Reflections on the water have to be the most noticeable graphic touch, as it is probably the most impressive effect I've ever seen on the Saturn.

In Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing the BGM is somewhat drowned out by the characters' voices. Since Sonic and his friends have always been somewhat silent, this could have presented a bit of a problem. Not with Traveller's Tales, though. Each track is accompanied by an actual song that sounds like it came directly from Sonic Team themselves. I'm sure a lot of people will find these 'fruity', or even a little irritating, but I, for one, love them. I haven't been able to get these songs out of my head all day, and I'm sure I'll be humming them for weeks. Very catchy.

Sonic R has given me a great deal of respect for Traveller's Tales. Not only does it have great music, innovative graphics and a cool premise, but the learning curve is perfect and the multiple characters and options will keep you coming back for more. It takes moments to learn, but weeks to master. Yet another title in what has to be Sega's strongest Christmas lineup in history. Don't hesitate, buy this today.

-- Greg Sewart