Kart Racers are nothing new by now. Mario and his friends have been at it for almost two decades. Since then, everyone has caught the bug at some point and some of video games’ most famous characters have sat down in the go kart or kart to race. Everyone from Crash Bandicoot to Pac-Man to Mega Man have spent time behind the wheel. For Sonic, this game isn’t even his first attempt at winning over some Mario Kart fans but it is his best. This game serves smartly as not only a Sonic racing game but a catalog of Sega characters to showcase. There are characters in this game that haven’t been seen since the Dreamcast or the original Genesis system. Somewhere this knock off got everything right in development as Crash Team Racing can now stand aside as the #1 knock off, this game now holds the pole position.
Fluidity is a great thing to have in a racer and combined with the variety of tracks Sonic & Sega has to offer its a good deal. The AI will rubberband ahead of you but not too much, the AI also remains aggresive even at the back of the pack which is refreshing to see. Power Up offerings are mixed up well and vary from missiles to mines to speed boosts. If your doing poorly you may get the Superstar which has your character usually ditch their vechile for a special one to climb from the back to first. Sonic will go Super Sonic and fly through the racers, or Ryo from Shenmue ditches his motorcycle for a forklift and plows through opponents.
The game’s mission mode is interesting but really tough to perfect. Mostly you race against the clock, through time gates, collect items, or try to drift the entire track cycling through the game’s characters. The boss fights in Mission Mode are really the only poor aspects of the mode. Its you versus a big boss and you need to keep picking up items around the track, constantly firing and never missing if you want to beat the boss. This, of course, doesn’t work well as the boss gets immunity flashing time after taking damage and power ups are spread apart.
If you are looking for a great kart racer to hold you over then stick with Sonic & Sega All Star Racing. Between buying everything from the shop, mission mode, grand prix, and mastering all the achievements you’ll be sinking a very enjoyable 20+ hours into this racer. Just do yourself a favor and don’t play as Big the Cat.
- Large cast of characters and a large soundtrack
- The many options keep you busy
- Monkey Ball Stages have awful turning corners that get you stuck
- Bosses in Mission Mode
Score: 5/5
