Prerelease:Sonic R (Sega Saturn)

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Sonic R (Sega Saturn).

Sonic R originated as an F1 prototype. However, Sega wanted a 3D Sonic game among the Saturn's library and chose Traveller's Tales to make a racing game because of their work on Sonic 3D Blast. However, the developers were only given seven months to work on the game.

Early Development

F1 Car Model

On November 27th, 2017, Jon Burton (Main programmer of the game) was looking through old data backups stored on his hard drive to see if any remnants of when Sonic R was still an F1 Racer for the Saturn remained. He found Car files that belong to a model but had to write a program to view the model and also tediously tweak each of the files in order to get the geometry right and apply textures until the model was perfected. The video also shows different levels of detail for the car for when it would be further out of view.

"Ver 0.1"

To do: Possibly some more things to document.

The earliest version of Sonic R, with a build date of March 14, 1997. This build is extremely different from any other pre-release media of Sonic R and feels more like a tech demo to show off the game's engine.

• There's no HUD or player model present.
• It seems like you can only move forwards or backwards, although you can use the D-Pad to move the camera around.
• While the stage looks to be an early version of Radical City, it's actually a completely unused track that didn't make it into the final game.
• There is no sound effects or music.
• Various graphics are present that weren't used beyond this build.
• There appears to be a draw bug at some point where the track can turn a yellowish green color.
• There are no objects, however throughout the track there are grey static squares that would eventually become rings.

"Ver 0.2"

To do: Lots more stuff to document like the various test polygons shown in the video.

Built April 3, 1997, the game is considerably further along but still very unfinished, sporting a bunch of untextured graphics and some test polygons on the map.

• There is still no HUD in this build.
• There is now a motionless flickering Sonic model in your POV.
• In this build you still can only move forwards or backwards as Sonic is on a rail.
• The stage is an early version of Resort Island that is mostly untextured and lacks a lot of objects.
• The background for Resort Island is a placeholder from the Moose Hunters level of Mickey Mania.
• There are other Sonic models on the track/rail that are essentially the racers, including a test floating Metal Sonic that's an environment-mapped character which never made it into the final game due to limitations of the Saturn.
• Rings are now on the track however you can't collect them yet.
• Stuff like the rocks, waterfalls, bridge, and fence have different textures from the final game.
• The loop at the end of the first lap has been implemented, albeit in a glitchy state.
• There is no sound effects or music.
• There are no ring gates or pickup items present in this build.
• The draw distance is much larger than in the final game, most likely due to many untextured polygons being rendered.
• The water in this build is pretty unpolished.

SonicTT3

To do: Lots more to document and compare to the E3 build.

Built on May 2, 1997 (a month before the game was shown at E3), this was the first build of Sonic R to be shown to Sega.

• There is now a HUD, which has a crude placeholder for time and rings.
• The Sonic model now seems to be final while still lacking any animation. The camera also seems a bit more zoomed out in this build.
• Sonic no longer is stuck to a rail so he can move around more freely and once he stops there is now dust particles.
• Resort Island has been much more polished since the last build as now everything is textured and the waterfalls now animate.
• There is no camera collision in this build, making it easy to see through walls and fall through floors.
• The background shows the stage is set at sunset (like in the E3 build) and is a bit cut off.
• The racers appear to now have different speeds and hover a bit unlike the previous build, though it seems like the metal Sonic has been removed and they can also clip through floors.
• You can now collect rings and they also have pickup effects now.
• The rocks and fences appear to be finalized now, though with darker shading.
• You can't go up the loop in this build because of missing camera collision, and there's still no fence to prevent you from skipping it.
• The music seems to be unchanged from the previous build.
• There are still no ring gates or pickup items in this build.
• The draw distance in this build is now shorter than in the previous build, but it's still larger than the final game.
• The water has improved a bit from the previous build, but it's still pretty unpolished.

Early Press Build

Sonic R was meant to be kept under wraps until E3 1997, however an earlier build made it into some portions of the press. This appears to be slightly later than the SonicTT3 build, Sonic had been given animations and the game was starting to take shape, but this build is far from polished. As well as having an incredibly simple HUD.

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  Sonic can walk on water now.

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  This door in the build requires 100 rings to get through as opposed to 50 rings changed in the final.

E3 1997

The game was first shown off at E3 1997 at a 20% completion state, with only Resort Island playable.

• The player icons are different and transparent.
• No map to show where the racers are.
• The draw-in is worse.
• Racer AI is not yet coded. They merely follow the race track's path.
• Only Sonic is shown as being playable in the footage, as the other characters had not yet been coded.
• Resort Island is shown at sunset, while the final version takes place during the day.

Later Development

Saturn Video Magazine

Showed off a build later than the one seen at E3 '97, but still predating the currently-released prototype.

• All of the opponent characters get a big boost at the beginning.
• The "GO!" graphic is different.
• Tails and Knuckles use Sonic's rolling sprite for jumping.
• The music track has placeholder vocals from a Sega of Europe employee.

Early Character Models

Programmer Jon Burton showed some early models in another video.

• Overall, the early character models are more detailed than their final counterparts. These models are still used for the prerenders, though.
  • Tails is represented more accurately with his hair tufts and whiskers.
  • Knuckles' shoes are correctly colored in the early model, while the final uses Tails' design for some reason.
  • Super Sonic hilariously had two buckles on each shoe in the early model. This was patched, except that his buckles are on the top now...
• Amy's car originally had a sawblade which would be used as a weapon.
• Instead of a cannon, Eggman would've used a bomb.
• Metal Knuckles' eyes were green instead of orange, and his dreadlocks had more markings(?).
• Similar to Metal Knuckles, Egg Robo had an issue with his black body texture and his gun hole was blue instead of yellow.
• Tails Doll had more stitches in the early model and had a larger white stripe.