In the “Grand Prix” mode, these areas will contain Chaos Emeralds and occasionally Sonic Tokens. Yes, there are plenty of rings to collect, but instead of counting towards your health, they’re used to either give you a quick speed boost on booster pads or open up gates to access shortcuts and secret areas. While most characters have extra maneuverability, Amy and Robotnik can drive over water without sinking and can boost or fire a missile respectively to even the odds.ĭotted around the level are item panels, which can give you a temporary speed boost, a water shield to run across water, or a lightning shield to attract rings. These help the characters navigate the tracks, since each one has numerous routes and shortcuts that can be taken depending on who you’re playing as. This can first be seen in how the majority of the racers aren’t in vehicles, but instead run around on foot and can jump – usually with an extra boost like double jumping or gliding. While somewhat clunky and very short, it’s also a technically impressive, unique racer quite unlike anything else in the genre. The third game was Sonic R, an original racing game conceived by Sonic Team and developed by Traveller’s Tales in much the same way as 3D Blast. Only three games were released, and two of those were ports of his 16-bit adventures ( Sonic 3D Blast and the Sonic Jam compilation).
Despite being at the center of the Genesis’ success and popular to the point of ubiquity, Sonic the Hedgehog was comparatively quiet during the Saturn’s short life.