Sonic and SEGA and racing, OH MY!
First I'll start with the characters.
The characters of the game include several characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series (as the "Sonic AND SEGA" part of the title implies), they include Shadow the Hedgehog, Big the Cat, Amy Rose, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Eggman (Robotnik) and, of course, the hedgehog himself, Sonic.
Other series seem to be limited to one character each, unless you count two characters in one kart as multiple characters. The non-Sonic characters include AiAi from Super Monkey Ball, Amigo from Samba de Amigo, Billy Hatcher from Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Beat from Jet Set Radio, Ulala from Space Channel 5, B.D. Joe from Crazy Taxi, Alex Kidd (SEGA's mascot before Sonic moved in), the mice from ChuChu Rocket and surprise entrant Ryo Hazuki of Shenmue fame, among others.
The Wii version of the game also includes Miis as playable characters (which for me means Martin Scoresese, Admiral Ackbar and Oprah), while the Xbox 360 version uses Miis as well Xbox Avatars.
Though the Xbox 360 version also has a surprise exclusive character in the form of Rare's Banjo and Kazooie (hence the 360 version's longer title)! They look like their Nuts and Bolts versions of themselves (and even drive a vehicle inspired by said game). I wonder if they're trying to make Banjo and Kazooie the new mascots of the Xbox or something. They work as mascots though it feels a little strange to me since I remember their starting days on the Nintendo 64.
The PS3, Nintendo DS and PC versions of the game have no exclusive characters….sorry. But it may tell you which systems are preferred for this game. And it seems strikingly odd that the Wii version doesn't have an exclusive mascot character. A certain plumber stands out…
Each character's kart has its own strengths and weakness in fields like speed, acceleration, turbo boost and handling. The great part about this is that no one seems over or under powered, and you just there's not much difference in the characters learning curves, despite their differences in skills (though you may want to take some notes still, wouldn't want to charge into a zig-zaggesy course as with poor handling on your first try after all).
I have to say I love the lineup of characters, though there are still a few series left unrepresented like Golden Axe, Skies of Arcadia, ToeJam and Earl and Ecco the Dolphin and others. But I suppose there are always the possibilities of downloadable content and sequels. But as a whole, I love all of the lovable characters of SEGA's history that make up the game's roster.
Before I move onto other subjects I suppose I should get the big question out of the way and just say this: The gameplay works!
Yes, Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing is more than an attempt at a Mario Kart ripoff, and succeeds in being a genuinely fun (though admittedly, strikingly similar) game! The controls are tight and everything in the game flows smoothly. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is probably one of the best Mario Kart clones to date, and it makes you wonder why SEGA didn't think of this sooner (let's forget about Sonic R for now).
The levels of the game are another delight, as each one is cleverly designed and fun to look at (for example, the easiest course, Whale Lagoon, includes that ever awesome Orca from Sonic Adventure jumping and flipping over the racers). The levels in the game originate from the Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Monkey Ball, Billy Hatcher, Jet Set Radio, Samba de Amigo and House of the Dead. Like the characters, the levels serve as a means of celebration of SEGA's history (like Smash Bros. does with Nintendo) and gives the game a wonderful sense of nostalgia and whimsy. All of the levels are really clever in design and offer plenty of unique challenges and try-and-find-them shortcuts. Though admittedly, some of the Monkey Ball themed levels can get a little confusing.
The graphics are great, and the game is bursting in color (oh color, I've missed you in video games). The music is also great (save some of the cheesy Sonic R tunes) and comes from an array of SEGA classics.
And just like in Mario Kart, there are plenty of items to help you and hinder opponents in every race. Some of the items include Sonic's shoes (which act like Mario Kart's mushrooms, giving players brief boosts of speed), boxing gloves (koopa shells), parking cones (banana peels), and a remote controlled missile which charges through any opponent in its path until you detonate it, and a few others.
Most notably though, are the All-Star moves, which are unique to each character. Sonic turns into Super Sonic and races past everyone, Eggman's vehicle hovers above others and fires multitudes of missiles, Beat glides pats others (spray painting their screens along the way), and the ChuChu's unleash a KapuKapu (cat thingy) on the racetrack, just to name a few. Oh, and even Banjo and Kazooie get an All-Star move in which they rain Jiggies (jigsaw pieces) onto the heads of the other racers.
Though sadly I have to admit that aside from the All-Star moves, the items of Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing seem to lack variety (though I do like the remote missile). And aside from Sonic's shoes (and the All-Star moves, obviously), the items don't seem to represent the different series like the characters and racetracks do.
The game features a few different modes, many of which were basically taken out of Mario Kart, like Battle Mode. All of the modes are solid, though I prefer the full on races in this game (whereas in Mario Kart Battle Mode sometimes stole the show).
The game can also be played online, which can be fun. Though as usual I prefer local multiplayer (due to less exploitation of things like glitches and whatnot).
The game features an announcer that may quickly start to annoy some. But I see him more as one of those "love to hate" kind of things.
All in all, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is a very fun game that I highly recommend. It's one real fault is that it may seem to lack much that isn't originally found in Mario Kart, but when you have a Mario Kart clone this good it's hard to complain. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is an absolute blast! It's sure to be one of the best party games of the year.
And yes, Sonic drives a go-kart. Well c'mon do you think it would be fair if he ran on foot? He runs faster than the speed of sound for crying out loud!
"Spin the beat professor K!"