Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed
Since the very first Mario Kart there has been one undisputed king of the Kart Racing genre. Mario Kart broke the racing genre rules focusing on fun, weapons and fan-service over realism, lots of cars and seriousness. Many have tried to at least match Nintendo at their own game and very few have come close.
Enter SUMO Digital who in 2010 released Sonic and Sega All-Star Racing. Offering a large number of racers, a more in depth single player with a new mission mode and a unique all-star power-up system, it came closer than any other Kart racer to matching Mario Kart. Being Multi-format also helped giving us an online mode without friend codes and HD visuals.
Inevitably though comparisons to Mario Kart were made and the overall conclusion was that Mario Kart was still king. The 3 level, “keep drifting to get larger boost” system led to lots of long turns and for all the worlds in SEGA there was too much emphasis on Sonic.
With Transformed SUMO have come back strong and not only match Mario Kart but in many ways surpasses it. Some may consider this a stretch but I honestly believe this could be the greatest Kart racer ever.
As a single player experience Transformed is untouchable. Mission mode has been replaced with the new World Tour mode. Added to the races are a selection of challenges ranging from standard races to ones were boosting stops a countdown, or you have to navigate through traffic. Unlike mission mode where you were graded on your performance over a single difficulty, World tour has four difficulties per challenge with the hardest offering a real challenge for even the most hardcore gamer. Completing a challenge will give you a number of stars ranging from 1 (completed on easy) to 4 (expert), which unlock new challenges, characters and mods.
This is all in addition to the standard Single Race, Grand Prix and Time attack modes. With the exception of time attack all modes can be played in 4 player local co-op (5 on WiiU). SUMO also worked on expanding Time attack slightly offering 4 ghosts to beat at different difficulties ranging from really easy to damn near impossible. The ghost for 10th Place in the world rankings also appears unless of course you’ve managed to do better than that.
While the stars of the show with the first Sega Racing were the characters this time it is definitely the tracks. Each stage belongs to a different SEGA universe with only Sonic getting more than one stage, and even then it’s only three. These Range from the expected like Jet Set Radio and Super monkey Ball to the obscure like Shinobi and Panzer Dragoon. Each stage looks incredible and often has an excellent remix to go with it. Typically the soundtrack is amazing.
Unfortunately the character roster is a step back. There are some brilliant new additions like Vyse but some dull ones like Meemee and Pudding. Also to work better online the All-star moves have been scaled down. No transforming into Super Sonic this time round.
Speaking of power-ups though, Transformed has the most balanced set of power ups ever seen in a Kart racer. One of the biggest problems with Mario Kart is how it bombards you with weapons when you are doing well. You can race perfectly only to find a last minute blue shell has taken you from 1st to 4th. This doesn’t happen in transformed. The new Swarm power up does target those far ahead of you and is effective in slowing them down, however it can be avoided with skill. All-star moves also help those who are struggling but not in a way the completely influences the race.
Going back to the characters each gains experience as you use them which unlocks mods. Mods change the stats of your chosen character, for example some may bring down acceleration for better handling. There are around 7 mods per character multiplied by 25 playable characters gives you 175 mod/character combinations. If someone has picked your favourite character another character might have the same stats on a different mod, allowing you to play almost identically to how you normally would (there are still some slight differences, Sonic’s 6 speed mod seems to be quicker than Vyse’s 6 speed mod).
SUMO knew what they wanted from Sonic Racing Transformed and not only pulled it off but far exceeded anyone’s expectations. As a single player experience it has more depth than any other kart base racer and as a multi player experience brings a good selection of modes, with 4/5 players able to play most modes together. Balanced weapons, brilliant track design, three distinctive styles of racing and a killer soundtrack all add up to an incredible experience.
Mario Kart is now lagging being Sonic Racing after being hit a killer blow. It’s going to take something very special for Mario Kart to come back now. Your move Nintendo
9/10
Enter SUMO Digital who in 2010 released Sonic and Sega All-Star Racing. Offering a large number of racers, a more in depth single player with a new mission mode and a unique all-star power-up system, it came closer than any other Kart racer to matching Mario Kart. Being Multi-format also helped giving us an online mode without friend codes and HD visuals.
Inevitably though comparisons to Mario Kart were made and the overall conclusion was that Mario Kart was still king. The 3 level, “keep drifting to get larger boost” system led to lots of long turns and for all the worlds in SEGA there was too much emphasis on Sonic.
With Transformed SUMO have come back strong and not only match Mario Kart but in many ways surpasses it. Some may consider this a stretch but I honestly believe this could be the greatest Kart racer ever.
As a single player experience Transformed is untouchable. Mission mode has been replaced with the new World Tour mode. Added to the races are a selection of challenges ranging from standard races to ones were boosting stops a countdown, or you have to navigate through traffic. Unlike mission mode where you were graded on your performance over a single difficulty, World tour has four difficulties per challenge with the hardest offering a real challenge for even the most hardcore gamer. Completing a challenge will give you a number of stars ranging from 1 (completed on easy) to 4 (expert), which unlock new challenges, characters and mods.
This is all in addition to the standard Single Race, Grand Prix and Time attack modes. With the exception of time attack all modes can be played in 4 player local co-op (5 on WiiU). SUMO also worked on expanding Time attack slightly offering 4 ghosts to beat at different difficulties ranging from really easy to damn near impossible. The ghost for 10th Place in the world rankings also appears unless of course you’ve managed to do better than that.
While the stars of the show with the first Sega Racing were the characters this time it is definitely the tracks. Each stage belongs to a different SEGA universe with only Sonic getting more than one stage, and even then it’s only three. These Range from the expected like Jet Set Radio and Super monkey Ball to the obscure like Shinobi and Panzer Dragoon. Each stage looks incredible and often has an excellent remix to go with it. Typically the soundtrack is amazing.
Unfortunately the character roster is a step back. There are some brilliant new additions like Vyse but some dull ones like Meemee and Pudding. Also to work better online the All-star moves have been scaled down. No transforming into Super Sonic this time round.
Speaking of power-ups though, Transformed has the most balanced set of power ups ever seen in a Kart racer. One of the biggest problems with Mario Kart is how it bombards you with weapons when you are doing well. You can race perfectly only to find a last minute blue shell has taken you from 1st to 4th. This doesn’t happen in transformed. The new Swarm power up does target those far ahead of you and is effective in slowing them down, however it can be avoided with skill. All-star moves also help those who are struggling but not in a way the completely influences the race.
Going back to the characters each gains experience as you use them which unlocks mods. Mods change the stats of your chosen character, for example some may bring down acceleration for better handling. There are around 7 mods per character multiplied by 25 playable characters gives you 175 mod/character combinations. If someone has picked your favourite character another character might have the same stats on a different mod, allowing you to play almost identically to how you normally would (there are still some slight differences, Sonic’s 6 speed mod seems to be quicker than Vyse’s 6 speed mod).
SUMO knew what they wanted from Sonic Racing Transformed and not only pulled it off but far exceeded anyone’s expectations. As a single player experience it has more depth than any other kart base racer and as a multi player experience brings a good selection of modes, with 4/5 players able to play most modes together. Balanced weapons, brilliant track design, three distinctive styles of racing and a killer soundtrack all add up to an incredible experience.
Mario Kart is now lagging being Sonic Racing after being hit a killer blow. It’s going to take something very special for Mario Kart to come back now. Your move Nintendo
9/10
posted by Master hunter at 1:46 pm
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