Saturn Sonic R Romhack by Bo Bayles looks interesting.

[rosco46]

Sonic R: The R&R Mod

Everyone knows that Sonic R is a racing game. But what this article presupposes is… maybe it doesn’t have to be? I’ve made a patch, the R&R mod, that changes how Sonic R works: You have unlimit…

www.segasaturnshiro.com

National treasure, Bo Bayles, has released a romhack for Sonic R on the Sega Saturn which improves the game in every area from character handling to exploration of the Sonic R world.

I was not much of a fan of Sonic R but this could make me take a second look.

 

[bjork]

An admirable undertaking given the original game's reputation.

 

[rosco46]

We're inching slowly to having a pseudo 3d Sonic game for Saturn.

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

Sonic-R's focus on map explorations & easter eggs leaves it with far more in common with traditional Sonic games than what Sega themselves would later release under the Riders, Allstar & Racing brands.

It always felt (to me at least) as a time attack focused sonic game, no different from the Megadrive originals bound within a framework of a racing game.
Considering Sonic-R was one of Sega Europe's rare contributions after Sega of America dropped the ball with Xtreme, and knowing how it was rushed into development as a replacement.
This design philosophy tracks. This is my sonic conspiracy and I will always believe it.

Travelers Tales made a game 3D game engine which could have been used to produce a true next gen Sonic 4, yet due to Sega of America & Japan's infamous infighting it was bound to a 3D racer because that was an achievable goal for Christmas 97.

The fact Sega Europe pushed heavily for anything to be released that Holiday season is what gave us R.
Sega of America, the dumbasses would have left us with nothing but 3D Blast, the self professed back up project as the NiGHTS engine was off limits and Sega of Japan kept on vetoing Xtremes various in development engines due to their poor performance.

 

[Ikagura]

I do appreciate to see more Saturn romhacks yet I feel like people would get a better result by using the PC version with the launcher and some mods.