Sonic's Best Racer | Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed (PC/360/PS3/Wii U/Vita/3DS, 2012)

 NOTE: This review is part of a retrospective of the Sonic franchise. Feel free to read the other Sonic reviews I’ve done here - https://expithecat.blogspot.com/search/label/sonic%20retrospective

After taking a two month break, I can now get back to reviewing Sonic games!

Background and History

With the first Sega and Sega All Stars Racing seeing some success, another Sonic kart racer was announced in April 2012, releasing in November later that year. The console, PC and Vita versions of the game ran on a new engine codenamed Sumo with the 3DS being built from the ground up, and the game received praise at launch, being nominated for a few rewards.

Yeah I… couldn’t really find much about this game’s development. At one point there was a vote taken on Sega’s official forums regarding a DLC character with various options including Hatsune Miku, Segata Sanshiro, Vectorman, Toejam and Earl, Bayonetta, and Ristar, but ultimately Ryo Hazuki was chosen. That’s about it, really.

Personal Experiences

With the first Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing game, my opinion on it in general was always that, while it is a solid enough kart racer on it’s own, it does lack a lot of it’s own identity and didn’t really offer enough that was already done better in games like Mario Kart Wii, leaving me little reason to go back to it - especially with the rather easy AI and dull missions. It just never really stood out to me that much and it was never really a game I cared about enough to go back to.

Transformed is a bit of a different story though. While the game originally came out in 2012, I didn’t really get the chance to play it until 2014. My brother did have a 360 which could play the game, but I didn’t really collect or play it much especially at that point when I had my Wii and was mostly playing that when it came to consoles, and also at the time there was no way I was going to convince my parents to buy me a Wii U, so ultimately I settled on the first game for a little while even if I didn’t really find myself playing it much.

But the first time I played the game was actually on PC. My brother decided to buy me a Humble Bundle that included various Sega games like Sonic Adventure DX, Crazy Taxi, Nights Into Dreams and… well, this was a part of that bundle. And despite my somewhat mixed opinions on the first game, I actually had fun with Transformed. It was one of the few relatively modern games that could run well on my Dell Inspiron, and while it wasn’t my most played games or anything, I did get a lot more fun out of it than with it’s predecessor which I had on the Wii. And considering I didn’t own a Wii U, it did serve as a nice (potentially even better) substitute for Mario Kart 8.

I definitely have always considered Sonic and Sega All-Stars Transformed among my favorite kart racers - maybe not my *favorite* but definitely up there next to games like Crash Team Racing and Mario Kart Double Dash. Of course, we all know nothing can beat Garfield Kart and Race with Ryan, but that’s besides the point.

Story

There still isn’t one.

Presentation

I think it is safe to say that Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed looks really good. While the first game did look pretty good as it is, I feel like this game has a bit of extra “oomph” to it’s style. The character models and animations look really good, with the race tracks and environments having a lot of color and depth to them building upon the style set in the games they're based off of. I think the water especially looks really good here, and in addition to that you have little details like the water “splashing” onto the screen, or in one case, Segata Sanshiro riding the missile in the background of the “Race of Ages” track.

But what else impresses me is that the PC version of the game is also surprisingly well optimized. I mentioned that it was one of the few fairly modern games that ran well on my Dell Inspiron in 2014-2015, and with how good this game looks, it surprises me looking back that it actually generally maintained a stable framerate. I can’t remember my entire experience playing it back then, or the settings I ran it at, but I do remember it generally maintaining 60FPS on that PC, compared to, say, Sonic Generations which generally ran below 30FPS on that PC.

From what I can tell, the console versions seem to run at 30FPS - at least the Wii U version and I’m assuming the 360 and PS3 versions as well - although the 360 version of the game has received enhancements on the Xbox Series S and X allowing it to now run at 60FPS. The Vita version also exists which I think is rather impressive for a handheld version - the graphics don’t look quite as good of course but it does maintain a 30FPS like the console versions.

Unfortunately, as you may expect, the 3DS version is definitely the weak link of the bunch. Not a terrible kart racer, but the graphics do appear to be downgraded quite a bit and the framerate does feel pretty choppy and unstable. I do kind of feel like they were trying to stick to the same art style and not completely downgrade it like the DS version of the first All Stars Racing game, but at the same time… I kind of feel like I would’ve preferred them to downgrade the art style if it meant the game would run at 60FPS like the DS version of ASR did.

Anyway, the soundtrack is also pretty good. I mean, it does mostly consist of remixes, but they are definitely good remixes and it makes the music in this game pretty catchy. I really liked Sanctuary Falls’ music in particular - largely due to “Back in Time” from Sonic R being mixed in, definitely a nice touch. I don’t have too much to say about it, but Transformed does contain a pretty nice soundtrack overall.

Gameplay

I don’t think I really need to explain that Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed is, well, a kart racer. The core gameplay is more or less the same as the first one, but obviously Transformed does build upon and improve it in several ways. For one thing, the roster is expanded upon. Some of the characters from the first game don’t return, including Big the Cat, Chu Chus, Banjo Kazooie in the Xbox version, among others, but there are quite a few new playable characters that can be unlocked from other Sega IPs as well as some third party properties. 

NiGHTS for example is now playable in this game whereas in the first he was limited to a background “race starter” appearance, along with Reala. And on top of having a variety of Sega properties, there’s also some… interesting third party characters here, especially in the PC version. Two of them really stuck out to me - Ralph from “Wreck-it Ralph”, which had come out around the time this did, and considering Sonic did make an appearance in that movie I guess it made sense to have some marketing here. But in addition to him, the PC version has Heavy, Pyro and Spy from Team Fortress 2 playable. You can’t individually choose them, but you can select them as “Team Fortress” and they change out based off the vehicle you’re using - Pyro in car form, Spy in plane form and Heavy in the watercraft form. 

Also, Danica Patrick, an actual NASCAR racer, makes an appearance in this game as does… Yogscast, some Youtube guy. I mean, even some of the Sega IP choices are interesting - the damn Football Manager is playable in this game. And honestly… It kind of makes this game feel all the more unique with the amount of variety in the roster - combining both the different Sega and third party properties. Some of the characters were only available as DLC, but at least in the case of the PC version, the game’s listed as “Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed Collection” and comes with both the game itself and all the DLC characters… except Yogscast, he’s still sold separately.

But to backtrack a little bit, I mentioned that there are different forms to the vehicles that you transform into - the car, plane and watercraft - which makes for one of this game’s biggest additions over its predecessor. Within many of the game’s tracks, your vehicle will transform into one of these at various points as the terrain changes. 

This isn’t the first kart racer to have this kind of feature - some would probably compare it to the hang glider and boat motor kart add-ons that first appeared in Mario Kart 7, but prior to playing through this game’s World Tour mode, I actually played another game that had this kind of feature way earlier than either All-Stars Racing Transformed and Mario Kart 7, that being Diddy Kong Racing - which offered the exact same vehicle options that your vehicle can transform into in, well, Transformed.

However, even that isn’t quite the same idea. With Diddy Kong Racing, while your vehicle changed based off the track, it didn’t really “transform” within the track itself. The game was basically just split into kart-based tracks, plane-based tracks, and watercraft-based tracks with their respective terrains.

With Transformed, like I said, your vehicle basically changes at points within the tracks themselves - different areas having your vehicle change to suit different terrain. And while it is a similar idea to the different options you had in Diddy Kong Racing, this does still have more of it’s own idea with the concept and helps make Transformed stand out.

I feel like this idea in general is an interesting one, and I’d definitely say that the execution works pretty well. This really helps offer a good amount of variety within Transformed’s tracks and gameplay, as the different terrain and mechanics of the vehicles can really change up each race. The vehicles don’t feel quite the same - for example, with the plane you generally have more space to move but certain mechanics like flipping doesn’t make you boost, and the watercraft… I mean, water physics, you can probably get an idea - and it really adds a new level of strategy when it comes to mastering the game, while still being understandable enough for a more casual player. 

Plus, by having transformations take place within the tracks themselves, it definitely adds more variety and gameplay dynamics with how much each race can change. Some tracks may even have areas shift based off what lap you’re on, leading to new parts of the track where your vehicle changes due to the terrain, further adding to the gameplay dynamics and variety the Transformed already does a good job of offering. 

I really like these kinds of concepts in racing games, as it really allows for an extra amount of variety and dynamic gameplay within the tracks, and Transformed not only delivers, but arguably excels.

But even when you put all that stuff aside, I feel like Transformed works really well as a kart racer, as well as a definite improvement over it’s predecessor, on it’s own. In addition to how I felt the All-Stars Racing didn’t really have enough of it’s own identity, I also commented that the controls and tracks, while not bad, did kind of fall onto the basic side and didn’t really allow much for experimentation.

Transformed, however, definitely improves on this. I feel like the handling and drifting feels a lot smoother, and some mechanics - particularly the air flip - feel a lot snappier. The air flip isn’t as “randomized” this type, allowing you to flip in the direction you tilt the right analog stick in, giving you more input on what kind of flip you do, which I feel sort of helps with the timing and direction.

The drifting has a bit of extra nuance to it too. Like the first game, using a longer drift rewards you with boost (now displayed with “drift levels”), but with this game you can also “chain” your drifts, allowing you to quickly switch your direction while maintaining your drift. This helps add a bit of extra mechanical depth to drifting and allows the player to keep up the pace without slowing down, keeping the race feel smoother and incentivizing the player to understand the controls and handling.

And that’s kind of one of the main things that Transformed improves control-wise over it’s predecessor. Not only does it feel smoother, but it also allows for more experimentation. The player can chain their boosts and drifts, which incentivizes understanding the controls further to keep the pace and keep up your speed. The game just has more going on mechanically, offering an overall higher skill ceiling, while also feeling a lot smoother and snappier than it’s predecessor.

I should also mention that the AI is actually somewhat challenging this time. In the first All-Stars Racing game, the AI felt a bit too on the easy side, even on the game’s highest difficulty, but here, they actually do put up a decent challenge with each race and feel… competitive. When playing for this review I decided to play through most of the World Tour mode on medium, and I can definitely say the AI on medium was just as if not more challenging than All-Stars Racing’s AI was on it’s hardest difficulties. Which, of course, is a plus for me, as it actually incentivizes me to further explore the game’s mechanics and control options, and to just do well in general.

The tracks also feel dynamic and offer more variety. I did sort of go over this with how the “transformed” mechanic does allow for different terrain and paths, but to continue, I definitely feel like this game’s tracks just have more going on and do more interesting things with the themes than it’s predecessor.

I feel like the track themes do play a part in this - there’s more variety and selection from Sega’s history within these tracks. The Sonic series itself not only has tracks selected from Heroes, but also Colors and the classic games, and that’s in addition to the game having tracks themed after locations in Shinobi and NiGHTS Into Dreams, among others. Some tracks are reused from the first game, and a lot of the game themes from there carry on with this game, and I feel like they do utilize this to it’s advantage.

For example, the NiGHTs track, or “Dream Valley”, is largely a plane-based track with a boat section - adjacent to the game’s “flight” based gameplay. But in addition, you also have the orange rings from the game which give you a boost, as well as “nightmare” sections which change depending on the lap which also feel based on some of NiGHT’s bosses - ultimately incorporating elements from the game into the track and race itself.

Probably my favorite track in the game though is “Race of Ages” - an overall tribute to Sega’s history condensed in one track, with holograms of Sega’s consoles floating through the air as well as minor touches like Segata Sanshiro’s missile flying in the stage’s background, making for just an overall interesting track and a love letter to Sega’s history. Which this game already sort of is, with the track serving as a tip of the iceberg.

And of course the track design also offers the kinds of things I really like to see in kart racing tracks as far as alternate paths and means of traversal goes. Some tracks offer splits in the road, ramps to flip off of, shortcuts with a bit of risk and reward - continuing to offer a lot of variety and dynamics to the track design itself. This is in addition to the game just feeling a lot better designed around the controls, which I had an issue with the first game in some cases (particularly the Super Monkey Ball tracks and their extremely, sometimes sequential, tight turns), but I never really felt that was much of an issue here. Combined with the smooth controls, you have a game that offers a lot of variety and dynamic to it’s tracks and races.

And I haven’t even mentioned the game’s different modes and content. In addition to having 21 tracks, which you can play in Single Player or Grand Prix modes, alongside mirrored versions of those modes provided you’ve unlocked them, but there’s also a ‘World Tour’ mode, which sort of serves as this game’s mission mode - in which you participate in races or different types of challenges - standard races, traffic attack, boost challenges, “boost” races (races without items), versus races, battle races, ring races, and pursuit. A lot more variety in what you can do than with the first game’s mission mode, and potentially more than most other kart racers. This game’s just full of content, and I definitely feel an incentive to keep going back to it to find new things that I haven’t tried.

Items also feel like an improvement. Instead of just feeling Mario Kart-esque, they actually do feel different while also not being too bullshitty. They do come in handy, and with the right amount of skill can change how the race goes, but they aren’t something you can rely on to get ahead, which is an approach that I kind of prefer when it comes to kart racers like these. Once again there’s more incentive to mastering this game’s mechanics as you can avoid getting hit by items if you are well-versed enough in the game’s controls and timing. 

I will say I did have a minor problem with All Star, at least as Amy, sort of screwing me over at some points - sometimes when I would try to drive onto a lower path (that the game would allow me to normally) with Amy’s All Star, for some reason the game would count it as me falling off the track entirely and reset me as it would if I actually did… even though I was just moving onto a lower path, which did set me back, even cost me the race, sometimes.

Conclusion

Not only would I consider Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed (whew that’s a mouthful) an improvement over it’s predecessor, but also potentially among the best kart racers out there. On top of having interesting and unique mechanics to it that help it stand out, it also controls really well and is just full of content and variety. The tracks are mostly fun to play, the different modes keep the game fresh, and with this game being more mechanically interesting, it really feels like it incentivizes replayability. I’ll be honest, in some ways I kind of feel like this game is arguably even better than Mario Kart 8/8 Deluxe, at least when it comes to content and skilled gameplay.

I can definitely recommend it - it was basically on every platform available in 2012, and you can still get it on Steam (often for pretty cheap during Steam sales) as well as on Xbox One and Series S/X through backwards compatibility. Plus as I mentioned if you have a Series S/X, you can even play it at 60FPS. If you like kart racers to any degree, this game will offer a sizable amount of content and replayability. It’s a really good kart racer, and arguably one of the best, so I’d suggest trying it out.