Previews// Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing

One might take a look at the upcoming Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and cry foul at ‘yet another Mario Kart ripoff.’ It’s understandable - we’ve had a few, starring Crash Bandicoot and that idiotic Crazy Frog, for instance. What might change your mind about this particular title is the pedigree behind it, and the waves it is making in the SEGA community.

Sumo Digital is developing this mascot racer, and the studio is no stranger to SEGA properties. The team is probably best known for its pixel-perfect console ports of OutRun2 and Virtua Tennis, while its love for the Sonic publisher allowed it to create the rather enjoyable SEGA Superstars Tennis in 2008.

Now, Sumo is putting its OutRun and other driving game experience to work, in what can only be described as SEGA’s driving equivalent of Super Smash Bros. As a result, the game has caught more attention from die-hard fans than any recent title.

Luckily, being a bit of a SEGA nut myself, I was given the chance to playtest an early version of the colourful mascot racer and from what I’ve played the hype seems well deserved. There are excellent nods to various games in SEGA’s rich history, all the way from the recreation of the Sonic the Hedgehog title screen background in the main menus to the loop-de-loops and springs in Sonic’s ocean-themed track.

In terms of characters, I was told that over 20 are planned, but only 14 have been announced so far, with my demo play featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, his friends Tails, Knuckles and Amy, his enemy Dr. Eggman, and former SEGA mascot Alex Kidd, along with Beat from Jet Set Radio Future, AiAi from Super Monkey Ball, Amigo from Samba de Amigo and - one of my favourites - Billy Hatcher from Sonic Team’s Giant Egg.

Each of the characters has a different vehicle that is styled to suit their personality - Sonic has a blue spiked sports car, Beat has a ride that packs loads of speakers and subwoofers in the trunk and AiAi rides a banana on wheels. With each selection comes a list of basic statistics (like handling and acceleration) and a special move, which I’ll discuss later.

There were four tracks available on my playtest - one I wasn’t allowed to play on, which was Super Monkey Ball’s Jumble Jungle stage - and each is a stunning representation or re-imagination of SEGA levels from the past and present. Sumo’s in-house Sunshine engine really brings out the blue skies and playful nature of each stage and character, and it’s fun to see each driver fully animated during a race, even if they’re just going in a straight line.

The gameplay itself is nothing to be sniffed at either. Basically, Sumo has taken what’s worked best for the OutRun series - including the handling and drifting - and chipped away at the control scheme to make it more accessible for all players. The result is that, on a PS3 pad, L2 has a range of different functions. While driving forward, it will make you brake; while turning it will make you drift, in the air you can perform a trick which will give you a speed boost, and if you’ve stopped dead you’ll reverse.