Same people who lament no longer having interesting manuals to read in modern games mad about dead simple mechanic that's explained in the manual, making an average map the "big filter"; RTFM.

Booted this up somewhat on a whim to explore kind of what I consider to be a throughline of sorts for the kart racer subgenre, because while I wouldn't exactly call this one of em (some might, I prefer "HIGH OCTANE ACTION ARCADE RACER"), it left a noticeable imprint for how courses are designed (inc. hazards) and people usually make the connection whenever any other kart racer implements some kind of boost/meter/hybrid system (not a "boost" item).

Was very pleasantly surprised by the little comic that fleshes out the characters, enhancing their personality immensely and explaining some of their driver habits, like Pico's bloodthirsty driving style, and sure enough in races it felt like he had the least restraint when it came to ramming into me. Makes me want to go check out the OVA/series they made for this, honestly feels like the premise was ripped by Redline (2009) LOL

Anyways the game absolutely rips, the level of stage readability for a mode-7 racing game while keeping such a raw sense of momentum is fantastic. The granularity in maneuvering is also surprising for the time, when most of its contemporaries feel like glorified lane-racers or were arcade titles with both unfair, copious levels of specialized hardware and unfair level design. I adore the presentation, having one of my favorite compositions on the SNES (the melee rendition being one of my favorite tracks in all of gaming)

"When the first Grand Prix race was held, people were angered at the brutality of the competition. The organizers had, during construction, placed various obstacles and traps along the raceway. But as time passed, and people grew used to these dangers, they soon demanded even more excitement in the race. In time, winning this race meant earning the highest honor that could be bestowed on anyone in the Universe.

In a very short time, people came to call this Grand Prix simply, 'F-ZERO' "

this is like the anti-sonic forces to me.

the problem with sonic forces is that it's bland, boring and it has extremely little to do. shadow has plenty of levels, hundreds of paths and is ANYTHING but boring.

but it's laggy, unpolished as all hell, extremely edgy in the corniest ways possible, and the level designs are... awful, to say the least. sonic forces, for how much i enjoy shitting on it, is an extremely polished game with so little edge it may as well be a circle.

shadow is better simply because i felt something while playing it. even if that was just laughing at the stupid cutscenes and stupider dialogue, it got something out of me. it also took some risks that, while i don't think they paid off, were at the very least interesting.

bad, but in a fun way.

Played through the Silver release (the most recent version), which means all the major levels for the three main characters and none of the boss fights, finale stages, town stuff, or any of the connective tissue that makes Sonic 06 whatever it is.

My thoughts on 06 go back and forth, which is kinda funny considering I used to love it as a kid and it was the reason I persuaded my family to get us an Xbox 360 back when it came out. Last time I played it was nearly a decade ago, and my thoughts were more or less that it was alright enough, but that fixing any of the technical issues wouldn't magically change it into an amazing game.

This is my first time playing P-06, which is basically that entire concept come to life. Most of the bugs and technical issues are sorted out, character control is hugely improved especially for the side characters, and there's lots of little details and polish added to make for a cooler, more dynamic experience. I particularly dug the in-level cutscenes that add some extra storytelling and the unique times of day added to certain stages like Tropical Jungle and Wave Ocean.

It's a nice enough way to revisit the main stages of Sonic 06, though playing them back to back made me realize how little the levels tended to differ between campaigns. I like (in theory) how the cast plays largely identically, but the linear design of stages means that I'm often replaying the same levels just in a different order. Occasionally you get unique segments (Sonic's entire run of Tropical Jungle occurs in areas only he visits) or you'll get characters who play differently enough that you explore the space in entirely unique ways (Rouge and Silver in Tropical Jungle, wow I keep mentioning that stage).

But it doesn't happen often enough and it makes checking out those stages feel less interesting than they should be. Shadow's campaign in particular feel like a slog with its numerous mandatory combat encounters, in contrast to Sonic's speedy excursions and Silver's psychic platforming and fighting.

Obviously, this project's still in the works (at the time of writing ChaosX is sorting out the boss fights), so I can't quite say this is the best way to play 06 because - as I alluded to up-top - there's still a lot about the game that isn't here yet. That's perfectly understandable, and it's equally impressive and wild that ChaosX and everyone else has managed to get the bulk of the game working with this degree of polish and improvement.

For folks who wanna revisit the main stages without the rigmarole of getting 06 up and running (via original hardware or emulation), it's worth a shot. But like how the Sonic Generations Unleashed Project doesn't adequately replace Sonic Unleashed for all the stuff it leaves out, I can't (currently anyway) consider this worth trying over Sonic 06 if you want to experience the full package.

Hopefully that'll be different in the future, if everything works out. I hope it does, and I wish all those involved the best of luck.

What I can never fault Ring Racers for is its ambition. Its environments are lovely, well realized, and expand on familiar Sonic zones and trappings in a way that accentuates every single track. It's a mechanically rich game with a bunch of different systems to compensate for every idea it has. It loads you with objectives and a glut of content that is mind boggling to begin to tackle. In all senses, it is a love letter to the legacy of Sonic and the fan game community that has sprung up around him, and takes every opportunity to remind you of its fan game status that it absolutely relishes. As a celebration and collection, Ring Racers is absolutely sublime.

Getting there tends to be the trickier issue. Much has been said about the game's intro, and while I find the dialogue and overall presentation of the tutorial very charming, I do find it a very misguided intro to the game. The mechanics taught in the tutorial are often used very sparingly across the actual races, and even those used often like drifting are used in different, shorter-form contexts than the tutorial would imply. It practically posits Ring Racers as an entirely different game and experience compared to what it actually is, and it goes on doing that for quite a while!

The actual races themselves vary in quality drastically depending on the track layout. Ring Racers can be absolutely vicious with its track designs, with hazards feeling devastating as they can easily combo into other hazards or items that toss you around like a pinball. This can be DEVASTATING on slopes, which require Sonic's vaunted momentum to get up and are aided by the ring system, letting you increase your speed a little bit per ring used. This should present some level of risk/reward; do you use your rings on straightaways to burst ahead, or save them for slopes as a means of recovery to maintain position? Unfortunately, rings are plentiful to a fault, and computer opponents (ESPECIALLY your rival character) are want to use them whenever possible to ludicrous speed increases, so rings become less strategic unless you're specifically saving them for chaos emerald bonuses in Grand Prix standings and more "I hope this part of the track also has rings". And when it doesn't... well you have the spin dash to get you out of the worst of things, but it feels pretty rough.

Drifting is also highly committal compared to rings, meaning that all alternate forms of speed are just kinda secondary to the immediate allure of the rings, which do not have enough risk to them to make the immediate reward not always a pull. This is compounded by items, which use the same button as using rings and, thus, often get in the way of progress more often than they help, especially considering how avoidable most offensive items tend to be as they struggle to interact with the steep sloped terrain of Ring Racers! I feel that individual race courses struggle to decide if they want to play nice with Ring Racers' systems or want to struggle against them, and very few of them are properly in line with the expectations set by the tutorial. It makes for a very uneven experience where a single bad spill on the last lap is both really debilitating and could not be entirely your fault, with means of consistent recovery not entirely present as opponents can keep padding their lead with rings and the comeback items are either unweildy to use, especially in a bad headspace, or inaccurate.

There are moments where Ring Racers does put everything together. Zones like Emerald Coast, Withering Chateau, Opulence, Regal Ruin, and Joypolis show DRRR at its best, with a consistent sense of flow, opportunities to best use shortcuts, and a great feel for combining the drift and ring mechanics. But for every one of them, there's a Marble Garden just asking for the player to try and break it in two before it breaks them. It lacks the kindness of kart racers like Mario, fails to commit to its individual mechanics like F-Zero, and does not string its systems together in nearly as seamless away as Crash, Diddy Kong, or even other Sonic racing titles manage. Ring Racers is its own, unforgiving beast that I can't say I had a bad time with, but it feels a bit overtuned for all it wants to strive for; a love letter that needed an editor, but how do you say "turn down the passion?" I like and respect it, I'll come back to keep pecking away at its wide breadth of content. But man I STILL haven't unlocked Whisper and don't even have a clue on how to get her, and I sincerely hope she's in the character class I like otherwise I'm gonna be real sad.