Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Review

While many might not realise it, Sonic has been swapping his sneakers out for a quick racing car for quite some time now, as he initially appeared in his own kart racing game, called Sonic Drift, back in 1994. Since then, there have been plenty of other titles, like Sonic R and the more recently ill-fated, Sonic Riders, so Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing appears at a time when things can only really go upwards, and go upwards they certainly do.

There are a host of characters to choose from in the game, and as expected, they all have their own unique stats and abilities. Sonic, surprisingly enough, isn't actually the fastest character, although he has the best turbo boost, while Amigo has the best handling. Everything seems pretty balanced though, and the different stats only affect minor aspects of the gameplay - just because a certain character has been selected, it doesn't guarantee success, or doom players to failure. What's important is that players find a character that they're happy with, and since the cast is extremely diverse, it's not too difficult.

There are plenty of tracks to play through, and as expected, they're all themed around Sega franchises. Due to nature of the franchises present, this makes for some really diverse scenery, as players can go from the lush greenery of Sonic, to the metropolis of Jet Set Radio. All the tracks have something in common though, they're all well designed and fun to drive around. There are only a few niggling issues with some tracks, where it's possible to get stuck on annoyingly placed pieces of scenery, but these are small issues and they're mostly easy to avoid. It certainly doesn't detract from the experience, as while losing is frustrating, doing the race again makes the frustration disappear.

The gameplay is pretty standard fare. There are eight karts per race, and the objective is obviously to win. There are speed boosts dotted around the courses, jumps, and plenty of corners. To spice things up, there are also power-ups to be picked up, which can really turn the tides. Items range from speed sneakers, traffic cones, homing missiles and the All-Star, which allows a character to enter into their super mode. Each character's All-Star mode is unique though - Sonic turns into Super Sonic for increased speed, while the Bonanza Brothers can drop bombs on people who're behind them. One thing is for sure though, if another character gets the All-Star, they should be avoided.

To boost speed, and make cornering easier, players can also drift. This can be performed while pressing accelerate and brake at the same time, and players can then dictate the angle of their drift. The longer they drift, the longer they can perform a speed boost when they exit the drift. Boosts can also be gained by performing tricks in mid-air after leaving a jump. If a trick has been successfully performed, a speed boost will happen when the car hits the ground. There's just one problem with all these features though, there's nothing overly unique about them. All of the power-ups have equivalents in other games, and drifting is hardly a new concept. It's the one downfall of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, the main experience offers very little that's new and it certainly doesn't look to push the kart racing genre forward.

Where it does extend itself is with its replay value. Aside from the generic cup competitions, there are plenty of challenges to play - 64 in total - and attaining AAA rank in all of those really is a challenge. Players will be tasked with drifting a certain amount, finishing a race ahead of a rival, or some more unique tasks, like taking down a huge zombie, or squashing chickens. There are also some really fun multiplayer modes, like Grab (which features an awesome sound effect) and Knockout. These can all be played split-screen locally with 3 other players, or there is the option to take it online against other people around the world. To further add to the replay value, there is a shop that contains extra racers, including classics like Alex Kidd and Ryo Hazuki, while also featuring extra tracks and a selection of music tracks.

Each of the characters are faithfully represented, and the music works well with the tracks. Being able to purchase extra music also adds a personal touch. Everything is very vibrant though and it just promotes a really good feel when playing the game. It's not pushing any graphical boundaries, but it doesn't need to. What's here works well, and that's the most important thing.