because the hidden characters "are mostly robot versions of the already playable ones". Moreover, AllGame believed the controls took time to get used to, but added: "Start sliding around corners and letting off the gas at the right times and you'll be finding all of the secrets that Sonic R conceals in no time". Likewise, Sega Saturn Magazine called the controls "initially tricky ... but incredibly playable," Next Generation stated "the proper techniques, with time, can be learned," and Game Informer concluded "once you get used to it, you'll find a real solid game". Game Informer thought the game played better with the digital pad as opposed to Sega's analogue controller. GamePro agreed that the controls were responsive, but to a fault: "At high speeds, it's nearly impossible to run in a straight line." Sonic R's soundtrack was particularly divisive. Sega Saturn Magazine described the "storm of controversy [that] surrounds the accompanying music", which "has come in for a bit of a slagging on the Internet recently for the addition of vocals." Although he was not a fan of dance music, Nutter stated that the tracks were "better than most chart stuff", while the included instrumental versions were sufficient "to appease everyone". AllGame offered high praise for the soundtrack, which they called "One of the most inspired ... I've ever heard", while GameSpot believed the songs gave the game so much more personality". Conversely, GamePro deplored the music as "unbelievably annoying". Computer and Video Games complimented the music, saying it "fits the Sonic style perfectly", and is reminiscent of Sonic CDs soundtrack. The ported version of the game available in Sonic Gems Collection was more negatively reviewed. Eurogamer called the game "too awkward to play for any length of time", and 1UP.com wrote the visuals were grainy—"mak[ing] it hard to tell where you're going"—and the controls were frustrating and imprecise. GameSpot described "its laughably bad soundtrack" as "[its] only redeeming quality", and GameSpy called Sonic R "a concept that works better in theory than in practice"—despite its "fantastic (if not bizarre) soundtrack". Conversely, Jeuxvideo.com, in a negative review of Sonic Gems Collection, praised the game, arguing that it was the only decent game in the compilation alongside Sonic CD. In a 2003 retrospective, Game Informer described the game as "decent, but unmemorable", while GamesRadar included Sonic R in a 2014 list of the top 50 Sega Saturn games, calling it