I know this game is flawed to hell and back; weird controls, confusing level design, broken characters that break said level design, but at it's core it's a very unique game with a lot of creative ideas such as tag mode where you chase after CPUs and try to catch them.

Sonic R isn't the first on foot racing game but it is the most popular amongst the handful of games, the best on foot racer that surpasses Sonic R in every area is Speed Runners and I genuinely recommend checking that game out if you want a similar experience but with a better multiplayer.