When Sonic and Tails come across a billboard advertising this World Grand Prix, the fox boy thinks they should enter. Sonic's not so quick, however, as participating in races isn't really his thing. But trashing Robotnik is, and when he spots the Eggman's name on the roster, he's on the case.

   Knuckles decided to enter after getting wind of Sonic's participation. Amy signed up after secretly overhearing Robotnik's plan.

   The idea, obviously, is to win the race. First, second, or third will do for all general purposes. And that, essentially, is all you need to know to beat the game. But by playing it straight, you'll be missing out on the best Sonic R has to offer...

   Hidden around each track, you'll find five Sonic Tokens and one or two Chaos Emeralds. They aren't right smack out in the track, however...you're gonna have to sacrifice some races in the interest of exploring. This has a two-fold benefit: not only do you locate the Tokens and Emeralds, but you'll discover that each course is rife with shortcuts and hidden areas. Keep those in mind, as you'll need to play sneaky to complete the harder challenges.

   Once you think you know by heart where the Tokens are located and how to reach them, get to it. Collect all five and finish the race in a ranking position (first, second, or third) for the reward: a one-on-one race against one of the four secret characters. Metal Sonic (in Resort Island), Tails Doll (in Radical City), Eggrobo (in Regal Ruin), or Metal Knuckles (in Reactive Factory). Win the race, and that character becomes playable.

   And what of the Chaos Emeralds? You'll find two in each course except for Resort Island (which only has one) and Radiant Emerald (which doesn't have any). They're usually hidden well out of the way (sometimes even requiring you to go BACKwards) and behind colorful gates that require 20 or 50 Rings to open. Collect the Rings, open the gate, nab the Emerald, then finish the race in first place...anything less, and you don't get to keep the gem. Should you manage to collect all seven Chaos Emeralds, Super Sonic becomes a playable character.

   From the start, only four characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy) and four courses (Resort Island, Radical City, Regal Ruin, and Reactive Factory) are playable. The fifth course (Radiant Emerald) becomes playable after the first four are completed, and Dr. Robotnik becomes playable after Radiant Emerald is completed. The other four hidden characters are obtained as explained above. Naturally, each character controls a bit differently. Here's how things stack up:

• Sonic -- He's the fastest of the default racers, but also has the loosest handling. His special move is a double jump and the Spin Dash.
• Tails -- Decent speed, plus he accelerates and corners well. He can fly for short distances and also perform the Spin Dash.
• Knuckles -- The all-round balanced racer, Knuckles has equal parts speed and handling. He can also perform the Spin Dash as well as gliding.
• Amy -- The slowest of the group, but she also has the best handling. With her red convertible she can hover right over water. Her special move is the Turbo Boost, which shoots her ahead in a short burst of speed. (After performing the Turbo Boost, it takes a few seconds to charge up again.)
• Robotnik -- Low max speed and poor handling, but with excellent cornering. He can also hover right over water in his Egg-Mobile, and can fire homing missiles at his opponents.
• Metal Sonic -- Like an extreme version of Sonic. He's even faster, but forget about handling. He has the highest jump of all the racers.
• Tails Doll -- Best acceleration of the crew, but has no grip and a very light, "floaty" feel. He floats right over water, and has an unusual "hover" move. Well he's just weird, you have to play as him to understand...
• Eggrobo -- Big, clunky, and slow. He gets my vote for most useless character in the game. On the bright side, his homing missile reaches even farther than Robotnik's.
• Metal Knuckles -- Probably the all-round best racer in the group. He's fast, has good handling, and his glide puts Knuckles' to shame.
• Super Sonic -- Just like Sonic, except he's faster and has better handling and cornering. Actually, once you've got Super Sonic, there's no need to use regular Sonic ever again...

   You'll find Item Panels placed here and there around the courses. Smack into 'em for one of the following goodsies:

• Rings -- You get the amount specified
• Fleet Feet -- Temporarily raises your speed
• Lightning Shield -- Draws rings in like a magnet. Dissipates if you fall underwater.
• Water Shield -- Instantly become religious as you walk on the water! You can only use it once, though.

   There's still more to do once you've uncovered everything in the normal game (which shouldn't take more than a couple sittings unless you suck). Head into the Time Attack mode to play one of four mini-games: Normal, Reverse, Balloon, and Tag Battle. In normal, it's a race to get the best time on the course of your choice. Reverse is the same, except the course is mirrored. In Balloon, you must find and pop five of the ten balloons scattered around the course. Tag Team is the neatest...your four opponents start a few seconds ahead of you. Your goal is to chase down and "tag" each one in the least amount of time possible.

   In the versus mode, it's a one-on-one race against your opponent. Choose to play a straightforward race, or a hunt for five balloons. In the PC version, up to four players can compete online.

   Speaking of the guys & gals over at UK-based TT... They had just developed a unique racing board for the Saturn, featuring a slick "12-step transparency" technique to mask pop-on. When they were asked to do a Sonic racing game, it made sense to apply their recently-designed engine to the project.

   When the game made its debut at E3 '97, it sported a vocalized promo song by Sega of Europe's resident maestro, Richard Jaques...that song was Super Sonic Racing. Naka-san was so pleased with it, he asked Mr. Jaques (who had previously composed the entire soundtrack to the Saturn version of 3D Blast) to do the entire soundtrack for Sonic R, all with vocalized songs like the E3 promo. SoE scored T.J. Davis, a popular European singer, to perform the vocals. And so began the production of the most notorious soundtrack in videogame history. (And look, I may not know art and I may have no taste in the world, but I say it was damn good.) For those who simply couldn't stomach the nauseating lyrics, an excellent instrumental version of the soundtrack was produced.

   The game hit the streets on November 18 of the same year ('97), and received a fair reception. The fruity control and esoteric music proved to be major turn-offs for alot of people, but those who took the time to get into the game found plenty to like. A year later, a PC version was released, sporting numerous enhancements over its Saturn counterpart. Various weather effects were implemented (including changing times of day); and a four-player internet mode was added.

Fun with the Title Screen: (Saturn version) At the title screen, you can move the giant "R" by pressing the D-pad, and change its colors by pressing the A, B, X, and Y buttons.

Zooming Polygons: (Saturn version) At any one of the select-screens, press the L and R Shift buttons to make the polygon model zoom in and out.

Four as One: (PC version) For all four players to control the same character in multi-player mode, hold down the Change View button and press Action.