
The level icon or the big black/grey thing?
The grey thing I would say is some sort of turret or cannon.
The icon...I have no idea. Too blurry.
Yes, I meant the big tower thing. It's never used, so I'm not sure what the real point of it is.
I've not played the game for years so I don't even remember it.
Could just be decoration though. Or maybe it's something they wanted to work into the level, similar to canons in other games that shoot you to another part of the level but it got cut for whatever reason and they decided to keep it in the level anyway.
Just watched a video to remind myself and it just looks like decoration to me. It's kind of out of place. Maybe it has something to do with the 'pinball' part of the level or something?
Haha, Sonic R is one of my favorite Sonic games. Based on your findings I would assume it would be used to launch Sonic into the pinball part of the stage below. When you start the level, it looks like the launcher is aimed toward the pinball portion. That is my assumption.