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Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
To be clear, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is not Mario Kart. Unlike Mario’s successful carting franchise, All-Stars Racing boasts a roster of diverse characters, arcade play, fantastical tracks, distinctive vehicles, contextual power-ups, character-specific attacks and more.
Wait, we just described Mario Kart, didn’t we?
Joking aside, it’s hard to ignore the similarities most cart racers share. All-Stars Racing compiles a hodgepodge of characters from Sega’s extensive history into one title, allowing players to vie for the finish line as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Eggman, Amy Rose, Shadow, Big the Cat, Billy Hatcher, AiAi, Amigo, Alex Kid and Beat of Jet Set Radio. Sega also recently revealed Ryo from the Dreamcast classic Shenmue, who appears to use a forklift and motorcycle as his vehicles of choice.
Aiming at accessibility for a variety of experience levels, the wide tracks avoid sharp corners, unforgiving cliffs, and environmental hazards that would potentially remove racers from the thick of it. Skill-based play instead comes from drifting, strategically using power-ups, and memorizing the track’s hidden secrets, each of which is designed to give seasoned cart racers the edge.
Tracks are based on recognizable Sega environments, such as Seaside Hill or Roulette Raceway of Sonic fame. Each also boasts a “gimmick,” hazards that capitalize on the theme of the environment like massive casino chips plummeting from the sky.
Power-ups litter the track and are contextual to the player’s position in the race. Rockets and speed boosts can be expected when working your way through the ranks. If you are already at the front of the pack, defensive items are abundant. All-Star mode initiates special attacks that can result in players gaining massive ground, taking out fellow racers in the process. We witnessed AiAi trigger his All-Star attack, barreling down the track after trading his banana-mobile for an oversized marble.
Multiplayer and online play is a large component of the game, with All-Star Racing boasting four-player split screen and eight-player online. If you are looking for more numbers, 20 seems to be magic. Sega promises 20 characters, 20 unique power-ups and 20 environments.
Despite the familiar gameplay mechanics, All-Star racing seems poised to stand on its own two feet. The next-gen graphics impress and the tracks seem a bit more varied, original and intense than other arcade racers we’ve seen of late. This bodes well in our book.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing will hit retail for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS on 2/23/2010
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