A Virtual Nostalgia-splosion
It's hard to emulate the success of Mario Kart, as seen by games like Pac-Man World Rally and Crash Tag Team Racing. Sure, they're decent, but they were released in a time where good online kart-racing gameplay just didn't exist. Mario Kart Wii, of course, had to include online, but at times it felt so bad and bugged up that I just wouldn't bother playing it.
And then comes along Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing.
Granted, when you see a game like this, you might just call it a rip-off and move on. However, in terms of Mario Kart's standards, S&SASR is much wackier. Granted, when you look at the number of content compared to Mario Kart Wii, it isn't that much of a huge scale difference (even with Banjo and Kazooie and the XBL Avatar), but what they did they definitely did right.
But enough of that. I'm sure you'll want to see my fully fleshed opinion on Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing, and I won't decline a good review, so here is my review of Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing.
First of all, I just gotta get this out of the way: This game's menu music is the absolute best menu music I've ever heard. Ever.
Now that I got that out of the way, let's move on. The game consists of your standard kart-racing modes: Single Race, Grand Prix, Time Trial, and Missions. Grand Prix consists of four tracks, similar to Mario Kart, in which you must place first out of 8 contenders to get the most points. Single Race is a single race on any of the tracks you've purchased from the shop. You can also edit the number of laps, AI difficulty mode, whether hazards will appear, and items. Time Trial is a race against the clock as you compete on the leaderboards to obtain the best time. Finally, Missions is a mode where you take on several challenges such as drifting, driving through rings, and elimination. While I generally don't have a big problem with these modes, Mission mode felt kind of rushed and half-assed because most of the missions were the same thing. Nonetheless, I found the play modes enjoyable.
As for online play, I will definitely tell you this: It is WAY less laggier than Mario Kart Wii's, allowing for less frustration in the middle of races. You can pick any character you want (as long as it isn't taken) and you can use settings such as Catch-Up mode. However, I am a little concerned that All-Star Moves did not make it into online play, since that was most of the game's focus. As for everything else, it works like a charm.
The game uses a type of currency called "SEGA Miles," which are used to purchase items in the shop. In the shop are characters, tracks, and music to play in the background while you race. You also get a SEGA License (which is virtually your game save) and you can upgrade it by collecting more SEGA Miles. However, this serves no real purpose other than achievement whoring.
Which brings me to my next subject: This game has piss easy achievements. I mean, they're painfully easy to collect. Even the ones that are supposed to be challenging, like the one where you have to get an AAA rank on all of the mission, end up being no more than mildly difficult. If you're looking to seriously boost your gamerscore, S&SASR does just that.
Also, at first, I had a little trouble understanding the controls. However, once I did, the game was an absolute breeze. This might not be a big deal to some gamers, but hardcore gamers looking for a challenge probably won't find it here, even on the highest difficulty setting.
If you're looking for a decent kart racer that DOESN'T have the word "Mario" slapped on the front, this game is for you. If you're looking for some good online kart-racing for a change, this game is also for you. I'd recommend it mostly to children, but if you're looking for a break from Mega Man or something, it's a nice time-waster.