Let me just open up the final code of this 20+ year old Sonic racing game on my windows computer here... Seriously, it’s so cool having a professional game designer open up so much about their process and lifetime of stories on UA-cam.
He’s like one of those developers who retired and realize what people like Beta things It’s a good thing he actually says everything that was unexplain and not a Developer who does not give out anything
Yeah. It's a shame that he worked for travellers tales though. The only thing that company ever released were spin off cash grab games like this crappy effort to shoe horn sonic into a f1 game. The exception to that is rascal BUUUUT they didn't even have the guts to tell their publisher that the publishers dumb idea to use shoulder controls for a 3d performer was fucking dumb. So basicly they worked for months on something and then screwed it up last minute... sound familiar...? Remember toy story? He spent ages writing self generated code to render pseudo 3d... erm ok. Cool. Do you think you could tell the graphics guy that flailing arms and legs for the main character is a really bad idea in a collision based platform game. No. Ok... I can do this for every single game they made. Loads and loads of work only for them to fck it up at the last hurdle. Definitely not a company you would wanna work for.
I honestly don't get the whole Tails doll commotion in the Sonic community. I remember liking it as a kid. Well, fans created Sonic.exe so I shouldn't be surprised.
*@Mario Jan Marino Bermejo* For me, it was more of a thing that terrified me yeeeears ago. I just remember hearing those poorly written creepypastas and animations when I was 11 and being too scared to leave my room at night. Obviously now it's not really "scary," but when I was little, that felt REALLY out of place. (...yeah, why DOES the sonic fandom have a weird obsession with bad horror games like sonic.exe?)
*You still got the final code? that's great!!!* *It would be a dream come true for you to make a DX version of Sonic R!* *Playing it with Adventure style controls would be incredible! cheers and thanks for the astonishing video, Jon!*
honestly, this kinda curious as to how he'd distribute it or patch the result, but I'd adore being able to pop a shiny, new updated Sonic R into my Saturn with slicker controls and extra modes
I'd love him to add the flame shield, maybe re-introduce a better online mode, buff eggman's missiles (having them make you loose some rings or a shield if you have one), make it so that the settings save too when you exit the game, make it so that super sonic or any of the unlockable characters didn't become enemy racers too as you unlock them, a few other things
Meh, major flaw of the game apart from the wonky controls was the lack of tracks and he obviously can't fix that. I mean collecting things, finding all the shortcuts and memorizing the layouts is cool but replaying the same few levels endlessly gets old after a while.
A Blob. I don't think he could actually give "Sonic R" "Sonic Generations" controls. The engine the game uses was meant for a F1 racing game. In a way, you could say that you "drive sonic" in Sonic R (so what I'm trying to say is that it's very unlikely that he could change the game that much). It might be possible for him to add a drifting mechanic though but then the level layouts would probably have to be changed substantialy to account for the drifting mechanic and even then things might not work out when you consider a number of the characters don't actually make contact with the ground but rather float.
Sonic R has always been the literal translation from 2D to 3D Sonic for me. The forward momentum is kept making turning without using the L and R triggers a challenge at high speeds. It's not used as much as it could have, but using this momentum to reach higher places is awesome to see in 3D. It was my favorite game for the longest time even though most of my friends went along with the media and panned it. I subscribed awhile ago but love each video about the game and other projects. Keep it coming!
When I was a child I got that game for PC, I loved with my life, I remember drawing almost every day the cover, and other artworks of Sonic R...fantastic video, it brings good memories
This is still one of the coolest channels out there. Who cares about the thumbnail when we have more info on games and their design than we've ever had before.
And Jon is quick to fix anything the people point out in the comments. It's so disappointing to see people just comment on merely just the icon when the video had so much in it.
Man Ive been looking FOREVER for some more sonic x-treme facts, thanks for that little insight! And this is a great community man thank you for doing this Jon!
honestly I have to question this as it's been pretty much established that Sonic 3D was ported to the Saturn as a backup plan in case Xtreme got cancelled, combine that with the fact that Sonic R came out in late 1997 while Xtreme was cancelled almost an entire year prior, unless Sonic R started development around the same time as the Saturn port of 3D Blast/Flickies' Island I'm having a hard time figuring out where Sonic R fits into everything, could you clarify this GaneHut/Jon?
What im thinking is that since x-treme didnt quite work out, they must have been asking some of their devs on the console if they had projects going, or would make something. Thats just my guess, but it doesnt sound quite like what sega would do. Their must have been some sort of deal or idea that tt pitched to sega.
i'm so happy that you've been a constant source of information about some of my favorite games. Sonic R and Sonic 3D were big parts of my childhood and to hear all these facts coming from the person who made them makes me smile. Keep up the great work Jon!
Firstly Jon, thank you so much for sharing the different builds to this game 20+ years later. I have since 1997 had a habit of making two save files for Sonic R. One with vocals turned on and the other with the off option ( thus giving me lyrics on the replay). This has been a standing practice from my Saturn to the GameCube versions of this game. I find where you get the song lyrics to be a definitively different experience!
Love these videos "The Sonic R Soundtrack, with lyrics, is amazing" 😂 I can definitely feel the sunshine from that comment, and it brightened up my day.
you are the freshmaster sir. rarely do you get a game developer that remembers such details so long after. even in official interviews. but you remember why you switched the skybox, because the name of the song was about sunshine... just excellent. this is the type of random info i want to know
You got that right, the Sonic R soundtrack is amazing. One of a kind stuff that made a lot of Saturn titles really stand out. Right up there with the Panzer Dragoon trilogy, the Cotton games, Thunder Force V, and so-on.
It’s a shame the light dash wasn’t a thing back then. When someone’s got a lightning shield and being followed by rings, that’d have been your ‘blue shell’ moment right there :D
1:53 OMG! It's Cristiano Gualda presenting a show called "Stargame" for the Multishow (a Brazilian cable channel). I used to watch this after the school in the 90s. I have a bunch of VHS tapes with my recordings.
Asking for instrumental tracks was a really good call, honestly. Her voice is great, but those lyrics they gave her must've made her cringe on the early takes.
And for the insights on Sonic R, its pretty cool that you as a developer come out to show some of the secrets and facts that many would have just left alone. Just imagine if someone like Zyrinx or Lemon did this!
Would you consider ever doing a "Sonic R Director's Cut" in the future, like what you did with 3D Blast? I'd honestly love to see that, as it gives potential for many issues to be tweaked (character turning, balancing etc.) Or maybe Sonic R's code could be rebuilt in a modern-day engine to overcome things like load times, resolution and draw distance? (Some new characters and levels could also be added! :D )
Love the thumbnail Jon bless ya - bit late for that meme but it made me chuckle. I remember seeing that preview for Sonic R in Sega Saturn Magazine. I don't recall relay mode but I recall there was musing of a weather system or changing weather at that time (also all the shots from that preview seem to be of the E3 demo as it has the more basic looking HUD. To be honest much as I love the different technical effects on the PC version that's become the usual released version, the snow + Ice effect really breaks the main game. I always thought the instrumental R tracks were more in keeping with the fact that Sonic 3D Blast also had "Your My Hero" in both versions and also because Saturn did apparently have Karaoke capabilities. I have many a memory of singing along with the instrumentals via Saturn's Spaceship audio player. Also I always wondered about that bit of art, it always seemed a little odd that this nice bit of classic art got shoved away at the tail end of the credits. I still like the CGI art however, I think it's more representative of the game and a nice look at how a properly rendered classic Sonic cast at that time might of looked like.
Going to have to agree, I like the original boxart much better! Looks similar to the art style used on Sonic Jam's cover, which would have lent the Saturn era some nice aesthetic consistency. I'm interested in the revelation that day / night changes were never intended for the Saturn version, and all of that was speculation based on prerelease screens. Was changing the time of day always intended for the PC ver, or was that added in response to the speculation?
About number 8 - I've found it's actually quite common for games shown at E3, or other gaming events, to use newer / later builds of the game than the images and footage of the game shown during the event / in videos of the event. For example, footage of Spaceworld 97 was often spliced in with footage of an earlier build of Pokemon Gold and Silver than the build that was actually playable during the event. Similarly official screenshots of Spyro 3 released during E3 2000 are thought to be a bit earlier than the build that was playable at E3.
Thank you SO much for the instrumental tracks! I love the lyrical versions as well, but being able to listen to the instrumentals helped me learn about music and what types of music I truly love.
Jon, would you consider doing a video about how the Sega Saturn hardware works, and how different it is from its contemporaries, and modern 3d gaming hardware? From one of your previous videos, I got the idea that the Saturn hardware was still somewhat sprite-based (or sprite-oriented), and I'd love to see a more in-depth analysis/explanation. (analysplanation? ;) Do you still do coding, or do you feel that there isn't much of a challenge left. I definitely feel like computers are far too easy, and far too powerful for programming to be as interesting as it used to be. I loved the old days where there was a real need for optimization and proper planning. I'm not a coder myself, but I've played with it. ;)
IIRC, CGI boxart had a massive "cool" factor in the 32-bit era, and replaced illustrated boxart in a big way, artistic merit be damned. So as for why the (excellent) Sonic R illustration wasn't used with Metal Sonic airbrushed out, perhaps this trend was a factor.
Very much so. But, and this makes me cringe a bit to say it, I find the CGI box art of the time kind of appealing. It really places it in time both for my own experience (nostalgia) and that period of gaming history.
I love what you are doing! This brings so much light to some of my favorite games as a child. I do have a couple of questions: 1. Do other developers have channels like these? 2. Have there been talks about making a fan Sonic R HD game?
Naysayers be damned, I LOVED Sonic R, and it was easily my most-played Saturn game. I upgraded to the big-box PC version when I was able to find it, and I still have the Sonic Gems Collection on the GameCube, mainly for Sonic R.
Thank you so much! I really liked this episode, lots of cool little things. I particularly liked the look at E3 and how you ended up changing the water speed.
I wouldn’t know how to explain to my 12year old self that in 2018 I would learn more about this game I played to death. I got so good at Sonic R, that I would do two laps in reverse and move forward both as super sonic and sonic. This game so much nostalgia. And the music. Sigh! The memories!
Thanks for all the work you put in Jon! Always click your videos as soon as they appear! One of my favorite games growing up was Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the rescue, I absolutely adore to see some content on that! :) All the best! Love from Australia
WAIT, ARE YOU JON BURTON? thanks for making my childhood. So you’re saying, nobody remembers creating tails doll? That just adds mire mystery to the table
so the short of it is; a lot of the extra planned content were omitted due to the extremely tight schedule to get this released for the holiday season... a shame, since the game was fun for the era, but felt pretty short even with just a handful of unlockable characters it'd be far from the last time Sega would rush a Sonic game to arrive on time for the holiday season... as we very well know most notably back in 2006.
If you're looking for other video topics for the future, I'd like to know more about the level design in Sonic R! I knew it was done by Sonic Team (Yasuhara specifically, I think) but anything regarding that side of creation would be cool, not just the building, but how you implemented their maps, or if there were any interesting changes that were made, or just your thoughts on the level design in general. In terms of stage design I think Sonic R might actually be my favorite 3D Sonic game, even though it's a racing game. They're just a lot of fun to explore and run around in.
Have you ever considered doing a Sonic R Director's Cut? Maybe of the PC version (since it has the day/night cycles). One of my biggest problems with Playing Sonic R is that turning is super stiff. I have a really hard time playing once I get some decent momentum going. The characters all control like race cars, which, knowing the game;s origins, makes a lot of sense. Would you consider making a version where they can turn faster, so they behave more like characters, as well as maybe adding in some features? Like maybe being able to turn off Super Sonic once he is unlocked so regular Sonic isnt overwritten? I would also have loved an "Explorer Mode" when I first played the game. This was the first time Sonic was in true 3D, and I has so much fun just looking around the tracks, but hated the pressure of having to be in the race. Anyways, those changes would basically be my definitive version of Sonic R.
Well done! I loved this game on my Saturn and I am so glad I can still play it today on my Nintendo Wii via the Sonic Gems Collection for the Gamecube.
People would love to see a Sonic R Director’s Cut. Maybe you could include a few of the modes that didn’t make it. However do what you want to do and have fun!
I think relay mode could have been doable if players were given a choice of which 3 characters they would want on their team as opposed to what was originally planned.
Such a shame this game was not successful. So much effort was put into this game. I recently bought the pc version for my old windows xp computer, and I love it so much that I'd rather play this instead of Mario kart 64.
Very very interesting video! Sonic R means a lot to my childhood so it's always fascinating to know more facts about it as an adult. And yes: Sonic R soundtrack is flat out AMAZING. (Also, I saw the thumbnail before it was changed. Why was everyone so concerned about it? The video content more than compensates for the old video icon.)
If you ever do a director's cut for Sonic R it would be nice to see the fire shield return! It seems after Sonic R the trend of leaving the fire shield out and only having lightning and water shields stuck around for many future games... It didn't come back until Generations and Mania! If you want to make it different from the other shields, you could have it hurt/knock away any other racers you touch (but get used up in the process) Would love to see the original title screen art too... (without metal sonic) looks so much nicer
For the fire shield you should of made it so it protected you and could be used a boost once before losing (sort of like Super Mushroom in Mario Kart) Since in Sonic 3 where these 3 shields came from, it allowed Sonic to boost. also was there any prototypes that had Knuckles with his climbing skill? cause in the English manual for the game it explains how to climb up and down walls but this never happens in game.
Hey, I think the artists who drew the faces used in the thumbnail would appreciate to be credited EDIT: Just updating this to inform you that the thumbnail has since been changed, if anyone is interested in who the artists were, check Martin de Vries' reply below. Have a nice rest of your day
Tell that to the hundreds of massive UA-camrs who used it on their Ugandan Knuckles thumbnails. I bet they just don't care at this point after being discredited so much.
Ok then... Are you not gonna mention who did it? You went through the trouble of bringing this up, yet didn't even bother saying who the artist is... Also, we already know who did the 'Knuckles meme' face, not that I 'd look him up even if he was listed, because why the hell would I? You're just as bad as the rest of these damn comments, not mentioning anything interesting in the video itself. EDIT: There ya go.
The artist who drew the original Knuckles image is sick and tired of Ugandan Knuckles anyway (as are we all) and only tolerates it because he's profiting from it. Only the normiest of normies find that shit funny at this point.
Well instead of dropping the Fire Shield because it was identical to the Lighting Shield you guys could had at least make it to allow the player to boost for a little while and give it some cooldown so you cant be using it all the time, because the fire shield in 2D games and in Gens actually has the ability to give you some sort of air dash, so you could use the shield as a boost or maybe you could use it but if you use it it vanishes so the explosion it makes pushes you fowards. If i knew how to do this i could make it someting like that, but aside from this the game its very neat and knowing this hidden facts (i was wondering why in the hell it was named Sonic TT) its always good since it makes a good game into a more interesting one.
This game is genuinely nice, I wonder how it would have turned out with more development time, it seems like there's a lot that was planned. I still believe this game plays better than some later 3D Sonic games, it just feels easier to control. And I love the level design too, at least it tries more than just doing a straight-line where you run on.
Gee, if only there was a way to play Sonic R with some of the cut content added to it, the seasons from the PC & Gems Collection Ports, & the lighting engine from the Sega Saturn.
The bell icon is used to activate notifications for future releases from subscribed UA-cam channels. Many people refer to this as "joining the notification squad."
Manx superbike TT, huh? It all makes sense! :) Was bicycling today and thought - wait a moment, the way that old Sonic R game racer's movement was controlled, is exactly how one would operate a bike! Wierd to think that they really decided to leave that mechanic in - I really loved it and actually hate when some youtube gamer's start crying about not being able to turn and bump into every corner, but then again - it's not intuitive to imagine Sonic being a bike and having two ways to change course. :D
The old box art definitely looks better, but I expect Sega wanted the new art because it emphasized the Saturn's 3D capabilities, which was definitely a shortcoming of that system compared to its competition at the time.
"I would have preferred the name stay at TT for obvious reasons". What are the reasons? They don't seem obvious to me. Did you like they were Travelers Tales initials or because TT is more well known motor sport acronym (I've never heard it before)? etc.
Let me just open up the final code of this 20+ year old Sonic racing game on my windows computer here...
Seriously, it’s so cool having a professional game designer open up so much about their process and lifetime of stories on UA-cam.
And he codes in Notepad
The monster under your bed How do you loose the source code for such a mainstream series? Jeez..
He’s like one of those developers who retired and realize what people like
Beta things
It’s a good thing he actually says everything that was unexplain and not a
Developer who does not give out anything
Yeah. It's a shame that he worked for travellers tales though.
The only thing that company ever released were spin off cash grab games like this crappy effort to shoe horn sonic into a f1 game.
The exception to that is rascal BUUUUT they didn't even have the guts to tell their publisher that the publishers dumb idea to use shoulder controls for a 3d performer was fucking dumb. So basicly they worked for months on something and then screwed it up last minute... sound familiar...?
Remember toy story? He spent ages writing self generated code to render pseudo 3d... erm ok. Cool.
Do you think you could tell the graphics guy that flailing arms and legs for the main character is a really bad idea in a collision based platform game. No. Ok...
I can do this for every single game they made. Loads and loads of work only for them to fck it up at the last hurdle.
Definitely not a company you would wanna work for.
@@sammymcfone8281 he IS travellers tales. thats why he can show us this stuff cause its literally his company
But... where on earth did the inspiration for Tails Doll come from? Especially as he's never appeared in any other game!
Larry Bundy Jr He did return in Sonic Adventure
I honestly don't get the whole Tails doll commotion in the Sonic community. I remember liking it as a kid. Well, fans created Sonic.exe so I shouldn't be surprised.
LARRY
But, hello you!
*@Mario Jan Marino Bermejo* For me, it was more of a thing that terrified me yeeeears ago. I just remember hearing those poorly written creepypastas and animations when I was 11 and being too scared to leave my room at night.
Obviously now it's not really "scary," but when I was little, that felt REALLY out of place. (...yeah, why DOES the sonic fandom have a weird obsession with bad horror games like sonic.exe?)
*You still got the final code? that's great!!!*
*It would be a dream come true for you to make a DX version of Sonic R!*
*Playing it with Adventure style controls would be incredible! cheers and thanks for the astonishing video, Jon!*
honestly, this
kinda curious as to how he'd distribute it or patch the result, but I'd adore being able to pop a shiny, new updated Sonic R into my Saturn with slicker controls and extra modes
I'd be fine with Generations-esque controls too (e.g. Generations' drifting would work well with the courses).
I'd love him to add the flame shield, maybe re-introduce a better online mode, buff eggman's missiles (having them make you loose some rings or a shield if you have one), make it so that the settings save too when you exit the game, make it so that super sonic or any of the unlockable characters didn't become enemy racers too as you unlock them, a few other things
Meh, major flaw of the game apart from the wonky controls was the lack of tracks and he obviously can't fix that. I mean collecting things, finding all the shortcuts and memorizing the layouts is cool but replaying the same few levels endlessly gets old after a while.
A Blob. I don't think he could actually give "Sonic R" "Sonic Generations" controls. The engine the game uses was meant for a F1 racing game. In a way, you could say that you "drive sonic" in Sonic R (so what I'm trying to say is that it's very unlikely that he could change the game that much). It might be possible for him to add a drifting mechanic though but then the level layouts would probably have to be changed substantialy to account for the drifting mechanic and even then things might not work out when you consider a number of the characters don't actually make contact with the ground but rather float.
Sonic R has always been the literal translation from 2D to 3D Sonic for me. The forward momentum is kept making turning without using the L and R triggers a challenge at high speeds. It's not used as much as it could have, but using this momentum to reach higher places is awesome to see in 3D. It was my favorite game for the longest time even though most of my friends went along with the media and panned it. I subscribed awhile ago but love each video about the game and other projects. Keep it coming!
When I was a child I got that game for PC, I loved with my life, I remember drawing almost every day the cover, and other artworks of Sonic R...fantastic video, it brings good memories
This is still one of the coolest channels out there. Who cares about the thumbnail when we have more info on games and their design than we've ever had before.
spyronos At least someone appreciates the work that Jon gives us.
And Jon is quick to fix anything the people point out in the comments. It's so disappointing to see people just comment on merely just the icon when the video had so much in it.
Man Ive been looking FOREVER for some more sonic x-treme facts, thanks for that little insight! And this is a great community man thank you for doing this Jon!
Wow never expected that, thank you!
Mister Ross Sonic X Treme facts where? What part of the video? Time stamp please?
I forget how to do them, but heres the link at a certain time, ua-cam.com/video/y4Wgqqi5uj8/v-deo.html
honestly I have to question this as it's been pretty much established that Sonic 3D was ported to the Saturn as a backup plan in case Xtreme got cancelled, combine that with the fact that Sonic R came out in late 1997 while Xtreme was cancelled almost an entire year prior, unless Sonic R started development around the same time as the Saturn port of 3D Blast/Flickies' Island I'm having a hard time figuring out where Sonic R fits into everything, could you clarify this GaneHut/Jon?
What im thinking is that since x-treme didnt quite work out, they must have been asking some of their devs on the console if they had projects going, or would make something. Thats just my guess, but it doesnt sound quite like what sega would do. Their must have been some sort of deal or idea that tt pitched to sega.
I love all your behind the scenes and coding videos! And you have a great memory for all these mid 90's sonic game development details.
i'm so happy that you've been a constant source of information about some of my favorite games. Sonic R and Sonic 3D were big parts of my childhood and to hear all these facts coming from the person who made them makes me smile. Keep up the great work Jon!
Firstly Jon, thank you so much for sharing the different builds to this game 20+ years later. I have since 1997 had a habit of making two save files for Sonic R. One with vocals turned on and the other with the off option ( thus giving me lyrics on the replay). This has been a standing practice from my Saturn to the GameCube versions of this game. I find where you get the song lyrics to be a definitively different experience!
That kinda thumbnail is the last thing I expected from this channel. lol
F L A M E S H I E L D ?
@@yaboisanic2922 The thumbnail used to be a Uganda Knuckles meme
Yassinius Even memes have standards lmao
Love these videos
"The Sonic R Soundtrack, with lyrics, is amazing" 😂
I can definitely feel the sunshine from that comment, and it brightened up my day.
you are the freshmaster sir.
rarely do you get a game developer that remembers such details so long after.
even in official interviews. but you remember why you switched the skybox, because the name of the song was about sunshine...
just excellent. this is the type of random info i want to know
You got that right, the Sonic R soundtrack is amazing. One of a kind stuff that made a lot of Saturn titles really stand out. Right up there with the Panzer Dragoon trilogy, the Cotton games, Thunder Force V, and so-on.
GameHut, are you still a game dev? If so, what projects have you been working on recently? If not, why did you leave the industry?
Lego games
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller%27s_Tales
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Burton
It’s a shame the light dash wasn’t a thing back then. When someone’s got a lightning shield and being followed by rings, that’d have been your ‘blue shell’ moment right there :D
It's amazing that you got to keep the source code to these games
1:53 OMG! It's Cristiano Gualda presenting a show called "Stargame" for the Multishow (a Brazilian cable channel). I used to watch this after the school in the 90s. I have a bunch of VHS tapes with my recordings.
Asking for instrumental tracks was a really good call, honestly. Her voice is great, but those lyrics they gave her must've made her cringe on the early takes.
Wait what?!... There are official instrumentals?! What about Acapella?! Her voice alone!!
I COULD MAKE SOME SICK ASS REMIXES WITH THAT
@@imdone8243 Dude it right there in the options
Why they're fine?
@@drifter402 Can you hear the forced rhymes?
Do they make light of your game?
Don't you think that sometimes
The word flow is kind of lame?
And for the insights on Sonic R, its pretty cool that you as a developer come out to show some of the secrets and facts that many would have just left alone. Just imagine if someone like Zyrinx or Lemon did this!
Would you consider ever doing a "Sonic R Director's Cut" in the future, like what you did with 3D Blast? I'd honestly love to see that, as it gives potential for many issues to be tweaked (character turning, balancing etc.) Or maybe Sonic R's code could be rebuilt in a modern-day engine to overcome things like load times, resolution and draw distance? (Some new characters and levels could also be added! :D )
Its allways great to know a bit more of Sonic R. I love this game so much :D
Sonic R Director's cut maybe?
Yes and with Formula cars as extra racers.
With Sonic Adventure controls and manual loops!
Maybe
Awesome!
Maybe you should do a 10 facts on Lego Star Wars video, and tell us about what happened to the unused characters and Anakin’s flight.
Love the thumbnail Jon bless ya - bit late for that meme but it made me chuckle.
I remember seeing that preview for Sonic R in Sega Saturn Magazine. I don't recall relay mode but I recall there was musing of a weather system or changing weather at that time (also all the shots from that preview seem to be of the E3 demo as it has the more basic looking HUD. To be honest much as I love the different technical effects on the PC version that's become the usual released version, the snow + Ice effect really breaks the main game.
I always thought the instrumental R tracks were more in keeping with the fact that Sonic 3D Blast also had "Your My Hero" in both versions and also because Saturn did apparently have Karaoke capabilities. I have many a memory of singing along with the instrumentals via Saturn's Spaceship audio player.
Also I always wondered about that bit of art, it always seemed a little odd that this nice bit of classic art got shoved away at the tail end of the credits. I still like the CGI art however, I think it's more representative of the game and a nice look at how a properly rendered classic Sonic cast at that time might of looked like.
I really, really wish we had a dev from Sonic Adventure that was this open about the development of that game. These videos are so fascinating.
Going to have to agree, I like the original boxart much better! Looks similar to the art style used on Sonic Jam's cover, which would have lent the Saturn era some nice aesthetic consistency.
I'm interested in the revelation that day / night changes were never intended for the Saturn version, and all of that was speculation based on prerelease screens. Was changing the time of day always intended for the PC ver, or was that added in response to the speculation?
I’d love to hear more about Traveller’s Tales butting heads with Bizarre Creations. Any old war stories you can share with us?
About number 8 - I've found it's actually quite common for games shown at E3, or other gaming events, to use newer / later builds of the game than the images and footage of the game shown during the event / in videos of the event. For example, footage of Spaceworld 97 was often spliced in with footage of an earlier build of Pokemon Gold and Silver than the build that was actually playable during the event. Similarly official screenshots of Spyro 3 released during E3 2000 are thought to be a bit earlier than the build that was playable at E3.
That Sonic R soundtrack changed my life. I've been fascinated by Sega history lately, and am so glad you are making these videos!
I think it's interesting to see people being more invested in these games than before, and it's all because of you being so open about it, it's cool
Thank you SO much for the instrumental tracks! I love the lyrical versions as well, but being able to listen to the instrumentals helped me learn about music and what types of music I truly love.
This was really fun to hear! Sonic R was a big part of my childhood, and I still adore the soundtrack to this day.
6:36 😆
“And… I guess there is that bell icon-thing too now (whatever that does).”
Jon, would you consider doing a video about how the Sega Saturn hardware works, and how different it is from its contemporaries, and modern 3d gaming hardware? From one of your previous videos, I got the idea that the Saturn hardware was still somewhat sprite-based (or sprite-oriented), and I'd love to see a more in-depth analysis/explanation. (analysplanation? ;)
Do you still do coding, or do you feel that there isn't much of a challenge left. I definitely feel like computers are far too easy, and far too powerful for programming to be as interesting as it used to be. I loved the old days where there was a real need for optimization and proper planning. I'm not a coder myself, but I've played with it. ;)
IIRC, CGI boxart had a massive "cool" factor in the 32-bit era, and replaced illustrated boxart in a big way, artistic merit be damned. So as for why the (excellent) Sonic R illustration wasn't used with Metal Sonic airbrushed out, perhaps this trend was a factor.
Very much so. But, and this makes me cringe a bit to say it, I find the CGI box art of the time kind of appealing. It really places it in time both for my own experience (nostalgia) and that period of gaming history.
The Sonic R soundtrack is amazing! :P
Huh, it's very cool of you that you actually listened to people and changed thumbnail/title.
That's why I love this channel, respect to the viewer.
Was it clickbait before or something?
I love what you are doing! This brings so much light to some of my favorite games as a child. I do have a couple of questions: 1. Do other developers have channels like these? 2. Have there been talks about making a fan Sonic R HD game?
Naysayers be damned, I LOVED Sonic R, and it was easily my most-played Saturn game. I upgraded to the big-box PC version when I was able to find it, and I still have the Sonic Gems Collection on the GameCube, mainly for Sonic R.
"Traveller's Tales arch rivals Bizarre Creations"
BOIII
Thank you so much! I really liked this episode, lots of cool little things. I particularly liked the look at E3 and how you ended up changing the water speed.
I wouldn’t know how to explain to my 12year old self that in 2018 I would learn more about this game I played to death. I got so good at Sonic R, that I would do two laps in reverse and move forward both as super sonic and sonic. This game so much nostalgia. And the music. Sigh! The memories!
Thanks for all the work you put in Jon! Always click your videos as soon as they appear! One of my favorite games growing up was Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the rescue, I absolutely adore to see some content on that! :)
All the best!
Love from Australia
I think the older boxart is an unlockable artwork in the museum for Sonic Gems collection, which also has a port of the PC version of the game.
I think I still have that Sega Saturn magazine featuring Sonic R in my parents attic. Totally forgot about that fire shield screenshot.
WAIT, ARE YOU JON BURTON?
thanks for making my childhood.
So you’re saying, nobody remembers creating tails doll? That just adds mire mystery to the table
I love your channel, but I want you to reconsider your EQ settings for your voice.
Cut the low-end a bit, it will make your voice sound clearer
That was epic! Sonic R is one of my favorite games, so I'm really glad you did this!
so the short of it is; a lot of the extra planned content were omitted due to the extremely tight schedule to get this released for the holiday season... a shame, since the game was fun for the era, but felt pretty short even with just a handful of unlockable characters
it'd be far from the last time Sega would rush a Sonic game to arrive on time for the holiday season... as we very well know most notably back in 2006.
I enjoy having longplays of this game open in the background!
oh my god the thumbnail
why
It's gone now.
pff
speciallilcookie It's just googly eyes, what's so weird about it?
Super Mario Hack it only exists now in our memory...and our notification feeds
XrosM it used to be ugandan knuckles
I hope u get more subscribers quick so u can make longer videos, great stuff
If you're looking for other video topics for the future, I'd like to know more about the level design in Sonic R! I knew it was done by Sonic Team (Yasuhara specifically, I think) but anything regarding that side of creation would be cool, not just the building, but how you implemented their maps, or if there were any interesting changes that were made, or just your thoughts on the level design in general. In terms of stage design I think Sonic R might actually be my favorite 3D Sonic game, even though it's a racing game. They're just a lot of fun to explore and run around in.
The first Formula 1 for PS1 was an awesome game!
Have you ever considered doing a Sonic R Director's Cut? Maybe of the PC version (since it has the day/night cycles). One of my biggest problems with Playing Sonic R is that turning is super stiff. I have a really hard time playing once I get some decent momentum going. The characters all control like race cars, which, knowing the game;s origins, makes a lot of sense.
Would you consider making a version where they can turn faster, so they behave more like characters, as well as maybe adding in some features? Like maybe being able to turn off Super Sonic once he is unlocked so regular Sonic isnt overwritten? I would also have loved an "Explorer Mode" when I first played the game. This was the first time Sonic was in true 3D, and I has so much fun just looking around the tracks, but hated the pressure of having to be in the race.
Anyways, those changes would basically be my definitive version of Sonic R.
How to get memers to watch a vid: put Ugandan Knuckles and the source of a meme song in the thumbnail
no true memer accepts Ugandan Knuckles anymore
Purnya speaks the truth
No true memer accepted Ugandan Knuckles in the first place
actually, Jay, true memers welcome new memes, but accept it when they die.
Neo EclipsE Normie trash
Please make a DX version. I remember playing Sonic R on my GameCube when I was little and it was a huuuge part of my childhood!
Well done! I loved this game on my Saturn and I am so glad I can still play it today on my Nintendo Wii via the Sonic Gems Collection for the Gamecube.
Man, that fire shield sprite looks amazing!
People would love to see a Sonic R Director’s Cut. Maybe you could include a few of the modes that didn’t make it. However do what you want to do and have fun!
Very interesting to know the tracks are actually made by Sonic Team themselves.
I think relay mode could have been doable if players were given a choice of which 3 characters they would want on their team as opposed to what was originally planned.
yeah
*I really liked the old thumbnail!*
Fantastic. We wouldn't have known these otherwise, and I appreciate the new info.
That bell...
You should program it to send us spicy memes each day.
Thanks for sharing this little piece of gaming history!
Such a shame this game was not successful. So much effort was put into this game. I recently bought the pc version for my old windows xp computer, and I love it so much that I'd rather play this instead of Mario kart 64.
Very very interesting video! Sonic R means a lot to my childhood so it's always fascinating to know more facts about it as an adult. And yes: Sonic R soundtrack is flat out AMAZING.
(Also, I saw the thumbnail before it was changed. Why was everyone so concerned about it? The video content more than compensates for the old video icon.)
The final box art is classic. I wouldn't have it any other way personally. Though the original box art is cool too.
I don't know... there's something I find insanely charming about the final box art.
If you ever do a director's cut for Sonic R it would be nice to see the fire shield return! It seems after Sonic R the trend of leaving the fire shield out and only having lightning and water shields stuck around for many future games... It didn't come back until Generations and Mania!
If you want to make it different from the other shields, you could have it hurt/knock away any other racers you touch (but get used up in the process)
Would love to see the original title screen art too... (without metal sonic) looks so much nicer
Yes but I like the CGI Title Screen it's nostalgic and fits in with the rotating R better.
This is extremely interesting! Thanks fir sharing your development experiences!
It would be great to hear the first version of super sonic racing but alas it has been lost.
*Insert comment about thumbnail*
*g o o g l y e y e s*
The thumbnail *was*
u g a n d a. k n u c k l e s.
Great video. Have they surprised you in their popularity?
For the fire shield you should of made it so it protected you and could be used a boost once before losing (sort of like Super Mushroom in Mario Kart) Since in Sonic 3 where these 3 shields came from, it allowed Sonic to boost. also was there any prototypes that had Knuckles with his climbing skill? cause in the English manual for the game it explains how to climb up and down walls but this never happens in game.
didn't the water shield make you go faster and you've got the speed pads so..
Hey, I think the artists who drew the faces used in the thumbnail would appreciate to be credited
EDIT: Just updating this to inform you that the thumbnail has since been changed, if anyone is interested in who the artists were, check Martin de Vries' reply below. Have a nice rest of your day
Tell that to the hundreds of massive UA-camrs who used it on their Ugandan Knuckles thumbnails. I bet they just don't care at this point after being discredited so much.
Ok then... Are you not gonna mention who did it? You went through the trouble of bringing this up, yet didn't even bother saying who the artist is...
Also, we already know who did the 'Knuckles meme' face, not that I 'd look him up even if he was listed, because why the hell would I?
You're just as bad as the rest of these damn comments, not mentioning anything interesting in the video itself.
EDIT: There ya go.
If I drew that I’d be hiding in shame.
The artist who drew the original Knuckles image is sick and tired of Ugandan Knuckles anyway (as are we all) and only tolerates it because he's profiting from it. Only the normiest of normies find that shit funny at this point.
@lethauntic Hi, I simply don't know who the artists are, if I did I'd most certainly tell you
Ever since Sega gave us that lousy F1 Challenge we never got a decent F1 title on the Saturn.
Man, the original final code! What kind of source control did you guys use back then?
Sonic R soundtrack is indeed amazing (your videos are amazing too!)
Well instead of dropping the Fire Shield because it was identical to the Lighting Shield you guys could had at least make it to allow the player to boost for a little while and give it some cooldown so you cant be using it all the time, because the fire shield in 2D games and in Gens actually has the ability to give you some sort of air dash, so you could use the shield as a boost or maybe you could use it but if you use it it vanishes so the explosion it makes pushes you fowards.
If i knew how to do this i could make it someting like that, but aside from this the game its very neat and knowing this hidden facts (i was wondering why in the hell it was named Sonic TT) its always good since it makes a good game into a more interesting one.
This game is genuinely nice, I wonder how it would have turned out with more development time, it seems like there's a lot that was planned. I still believe this game plays better than some later 3D Sonic games, it just feels easier to control.
And I love the level design too, at least it tries more than just doing a straight-line where you run on.
Well I don't know anything about Sonic R but I always enjoy dev insights, cheers
Hi buddy, great video! Did you own travellers tales?
Gee, if only there was a way to play Sonic R with some of the cut content added to it, the seasons from the PC & Gems Collection Ports, & the lighting engine from the Sega Saturn.
Good job on changing the thumbnail. :) Good video too.
At least it was a *Fun* Game for the Sega Saturn, PC and Even on Sonic Gems Collection!
I'll bet Sonic wishes he had that flame shield now.
Sonic TT, now THAT would definitely be at the bottom of many many jokes x)
I loved this video. It was great learning some new information about one of my favourite games. Bravo!
The bell icon is used to activate notifications for future releases from subscribed UA-cam channels. Many people refer to this as "joining the notification squad."
Manx superbike TT, huh? It all makes sense! :)
Was bicycling today and thought - wait a moment, the way that old Sonic R game racer's movement was controlled, is exactly how one would operate a bike!
Wierd to think that they really decided to leave that mechanic in - I really loved it and actually hate when some youtube gamer's start crying about not being able to turn and bump into every corner, but then again - it's not intuitive to imagine Sonic being a bike and having two ways to change course. :D
Thanks for the Development tips, as always. Really interested in this stuff. ^^
That was cool. Thanks for sharing. I still love Sonic R, its an underrated gem!
The old box art definitely looks better, but I expect Sega wanted the new art because it emphasized the Saturn's 3D capabilities, which was definitely a shortcoming of that system compared to its competition at the time.
"I would have preferred the name stay at TT for obvious reasons". What are the reasons? They don't seem obvious to me. Did you like they were Travelers Tales initials or because TT is more well known motor sport acronym (I've never heard it before)? etc.
I wonder how likely it is that we'll see a "Sonic R Director's Cut" mod for the 2004 PC version
I think it would be cool if you made a director's cut of Sonic R and add back the features that were cut. Would be really awesome if you did
This is an awesome video because now we know even more about the developtment 😄👍
Wow dude, thanks for literally coding my whole childhood!