Retro Game Walkthroughs for Sonic R (PC Games)
Submitted By: El Viking
This walkthrough is copyright Matt Brand (Der Nazi) 2004.
This walkthrough should detail all that you need to know about Sonic R. If you have any queries/threats/insults/praises please email them to me at [email protected].
The main race mode in Sonic R is the ‘Grand Prix’ mode. In this, you have to race against 4 rivals with the aim of beating them to the finish, and also to the various bonuses. In each level, there are five coins and some chaos emeralds. Gaining 5 coins in a level will give you extra characters (Which you have to beat in a race if you want to use them in general play), and the reward for finding all of the chaos emeralds is usage of Super Sonic, who is by far the fastest and most able character you can play as. There are four levels to start with, which are Resort Island, Regal Ruin, Radioactive Factory and Radical City: Winning all of these races will enable you to race at the Radiant Emerald track and play as Doctor Robotnik. Coins and emeralds are strewn all over the maps, so it is a good idea to use various routes in each race so that you can find them.
Whilst racing, there are several ways to gain an advantage. One of these is the special braking system. You can use left and right hand brakes to help you brake and take a corner at the same time. This is a great help, and it allows you to take a corner about 30% faster than normal. You can also use powerup platforms to increase your speed. These are activated when you walk over them. Depending on how many rings you have collected, you can go various distances at various speeds. 50 rings is what it takes to go the full distance at high speed, 25 rings gives you half distance at the same speed and under 25 rings carries you for a very short distance, albeit at high speed. My advice here is to collect as many rings as possible, because they can open gates, which lead to coins, shortcuts and emeralds. The maps are very large, though, so you have to be fast, otherwise you’ll end up losing positions: You have to win to keep emeralds and coins that have been gained during a race.
There is another mode in the game, however: Time Attack. In this, you have to find and burst all of the balloons that are spread over the level within the time limit. This mode is relatively easy, and all you need to do is try to look in as many places as possible in a very quick time. It’s best only to try time attack after you know maps well from Grand Prix mode, otherwise you have a higher risk of getting lost or running out of time due to inexperience.
A factor that can affect a race is the weather. When you start the game it is set to random, but you can set it to various conditions. It it’s raining, you will need to slow down on corners because you’ll skid if you stay fast. Dry weather hardly affects anything, but the one that causes the most problems is when it’s set to snow, because this not only as the same effects as rain, but it also creates slippery conditions on straight sections: One false move and you’re doing Tony Hawk style flips and spins. However, it does have a positive effect: You can now run over water jumps and flooded sections. This especially helps on Paradise Island, where you can skip a whole section by running over the frozen lake.
LEVEL-BY-LEVEL:
RESORT ISLAND
This is a relatively easy level. All you have to do is take the quick way round, and try and keep to the main track. In icy conditions, you can skip across the lake, therefore trimming a good second or so off of your lap time. There are very few rings on this track, so it’s best to try and get as many as possible, because at the end of the lap there is a powerup platform that hauls you over the finish line.
REGAL RUIN
Regal Ruin is quite a hard track to master, because of the clashing scenery and multiple jumps. To get through this level you need to take all jumps and grab a lot of rings, because the powerup platform at the end goes a long way- not taking advantage of this can often lose you a race.
RADIOACTIVE FACTORY
Quite a hard level, due to the fact that are several ways around. The best way to complete it is to go around the back and take a long jump at the end to go right around. There are several water hazards as well, so you must keep your eyes peeled, otherwise you’ll turn this into a swimming competition.
RADICAL CITY
Radical city is an incredibly fast track, full of jumps and sweeping corners. As ever, coin collection is a must, not only for powerup platforms, but also for opening gates: There are several shortcuts to be found in this level. If you want to gain a larger advantage at the start, jump over the first very long jump so that you can avoid other racers.
RADIANT EMERALD
Activated by winning all other races, Radiant Emerald is a great track to race at, for is full of powerup platforms and shortcuts, and has amazing colour-changing scenery. Try to get as many rings as possible her, because there are shortcuts which lead to quicker ways around and powerup platforms.
CHARACTER GUIDE
Sonic: One of the fastest characters in the game, he has the ability to take ‘double jumps’, which can make water jumps and overtaking over racers much easier. Mecha Sonic can be unlocked by collecting all the coins on Resort Island and them beating him in a race, and gaining all chaos emeralds will unlock Super Sonic, who can be accessed be pressing the down key when Sonic is highlighted in the character selection menu.
Tails: Quite a fast character. He can move incredibly fast, due to the fact that he flies by spinning his tail. However, his small size isn’t much of a positive attribute when it comes to fighting for position. Puppet Tails can be unlocked in the same way as Mecha Sonic, but through coins from Radical City. Puppet Tails is not a very good character, however, due to a slow speed.
Robotnik: Available for use once you have won Radiant Emerald. Generally useless due to his low speed, but he does have one advantage over the other characters, however; he can use guided missiles to throw them off course. You have to take care with this, however, because it costs rings to fire them. Mecha Robotnik can be unlocked in the same way as Mecha Sonic, but he isn’t that good: Despite his improved missiles, speed is still very low.
Amy- Amy races around in a car that has a turbo boost. However, it takes time for this boost to develop, and this has adverse effects on handling. Amy is incredibly slow though, and is only good for use when you feel like challenging yourself.
Knuckles- Knuckles is a pretty damn good racer, due to his speed and ability to glide after a jump (Which can be activated by pressing space or whatever you have set up for ‘jump’). Mecha Knuckles is activated in the same way as all other Mecha racers, this time with coins from Radioactive Factory. Mecha Knuckles is arguably the best Mecha racer because of his improved speed and jumping ability.
Well, that’s it. If you require any further help, please contact me by the email address at the top. Remember: The ‘R’ stands for race, and not retire!
This walkthrough should detail all that you need to know about Sonic R. If you have any queries/threats/insults/praises please email them to me at [email protected].
The main race mode in Sonic R is the ‘Grand Prix’ mode. In this, you have to race against 4 rivals with the aim of beating them to the finish, and also to the various bonuses. In each level, there are five coins and some chaos emeralds. Gaining 5 coins in a level will give you extra characters (Which you have to beat in a race if you want to use them in general play), and the reward for finding all of the chaos emeralds is usage of Super Sonic, who is by far the fastest and most able character you can play as. There are four levels to start with, which are Resort Island, Regal Ruin, Radioactive Factory and Radical City: Winning all of these races will enable you to race at the Radiant Emerald track and play as Doctor Robotnik. Coins and emeralds are strewn all over the maps, so it is a good idea to use various routes in each race so that you can find them.
Whilst racing, there are several ways to gain an advantage. One of these is the special braking system. You can use left and right hand brakes to help you brake and take a corner at the same time. This is a great help, and it allows you to take a corner about 30% faster than normal. You can also use powerup platforms to increase your speed. These are activated when you walk over them. Depending on how many rings you have collected, you can go various distances at various speeds. 50 rings is what it takes to go the full distance at high speed, 25 rings gives you half distance at the same speed and under 25 rings carries you for a very short distance, albeit at high speed. My advice here is to collect as many rings as possible, because they can open gates, which lead to coins, shortcuts and emeralds. The maps are very large, though, so you have to be fast, otherwise you’ll end up losing positions: You have to win to keep emeralds and coins that have been gained during a race.
There is another mode in the game, however: Time Attack. In this, you have to find and burst all of the balloons that are spread over the level within the time limit. This mode is relatively easy, and all you need to do is try to look in as many places as possible in a very quick time. It’s best only to try time attack after you know maps well from Grand Prix mode, otherwise you have a higher risk of getting lost or running out of time due to inexperience.
A factor that can affect a race is the weather. When you start the game it is set to random, but you can set it to various conditions. It it’s raining, you will need to slow down on corners because you’ll skid if you stay fast. Dry weather hardly affects anything, but the one that causes the most problems is when it’s set to snow, because this not only as the same effects as rain, but it also creates slippery conditions on straight sections: One false move and you’re doing Tony Hawk style flips and spins. However, it does have a positive effect: You can now run over water jumps and flooded sections. This especially helps on Paradise Island, where you can skip a whole section by running over the frozen lake.
LEVEL-BY-LEVEL:
RESORT ISLAND
This is a relatively easy level. All you have to do is take the quick way round, and try and keep to the main track. In icy conditions, you can skip across the lake, therefore trimming a good second or so off of your lap time. There are very few rings on this track, so it’s best to try and get as many as possible, because at the end of the lap there is a powerup platform that hauls you over the finish line.
REGAL RUIN
Regal Ruin is quite a hard track to master, because of the clashing scenery and multiple jumps. To get through this level you need to take all jumps and grab a lot of rings, because the powerup platform at the end goes a long way- not taking advantage of this can often lose you a race.
RADIOACTIVE FACTORY
Quite a hard level, due to the fact that are several ways around. The best way to complete it is to go around the back and take a long jump at the end to go right around. There are several water hazards as well, so you must keep your eyes peeled, otherwise you’ll turn this into a swimming competition.
RADICAL CITY
Radical city is an incredibly fast track, full of jumps and sweeping corners. As ever, coin collection is a must, not only for powerup platforms, but also for opening gates: There are several shortcuts to be found in this level. If you want to gain a larger advantage at the start, jump over the first very long jump so that you can avoid other racers.
RADIANT EMERALD
Activated by winning all other races, Radiant Emerald is a great track to race at, for is full of powerup platforms and shortcuts, and has amazing colour-changing scenery. Try to get as many rings as possible her, because there are shortcuts which lead to quicker ways around and powerup platforms.
CHARACTER GUIDE
Sonic: One of the fastest characters in the game, he has the ability to take ‘double jumps’, which can make water jumps and overtaking over racers much easier. Mecha Sonic can be unlocked by collecting all the coins on Resort Island and them beating him in a race, and gaining all chaos emeralds will unlock Super Sonic, who can be accessed be pressing the down key when Sonic is highlighted in the character selection menu.
Tails: Quite a fast character. He can move incredibly fast, due to the fact that he flies by spinning his tail. However, his small size isn’t much of a positive attribute when it comes to fighting for position. Puppet Tails can be unlocked in the same way as Mecha Sonic, but through coins from Radical City. Puppet Tails is not a very good character, however, due to a slow speed.
Robotnik: Available for use once you have won Radiant Emerald. Generally useless due to his low speed, but he does have one advantage over the other characters, however; he can use guided missiles to throw them off course. You have to take care with this, however, because it costs rings to fire them. Mecha Robotnik can be unlocked in the same way as Mecha Sonic, but he isn’t that good: Despite his improved missiles, speed is still very low.
Amy- Amy races around in a car that has a turbo boost. However, it takes time for this boost to develop, and this has adverse effects on handling. Amy is incredibly slow though, and is only good for use when you feel like challenging yourself.
Knuckles- Knuckles is a pretty damn good racer, due to his speed and ability to glide after a jump (Which can be activated by pressing space or whatever you have set up for ‘jump’). Mecha Knuckles is activated in the same way as all other Mecha racers, this time with coins from Radioactive Factory. Mecha Knuckles is arguably the best Mecha racer because of his improved speed and jumping ability.
Well, that’s it. If you require any further help, please contact me by the email address at the top. Remember: The ‘R’ stands for race, and not retire!