Sonic and SEGA All-Star Racing

Reviewed on - PS3

Also available on - 360, DS, PC, Wii

Overview

Released on February 23, 2010 this is a standard kart racing game - ala Mario Kart - with Sonic the Hedgehog as the lead character and costarring characters from just about any SEGA game you can think of.

Objections

The game features levels and characters from the House of the Dead franchise. Some parents may not be comfortable allowing children on levels based on a game which features killing and zombies. The levels used to represent the game also feature zombies that you can rundown, which may make some parents - and children - a little squeamish. There is no splattering of blood or any thing - actually you just kind of bounce off of the zombies - but it is in the game.

Outside of this, I guess some may be uncomfortable with the way the characters of Space Channel 5 are represented (sexy alien women dancing around). And something that has always bugged me about Crazy Taxi is one of the character's name - B.D. Joe (use your imagination folks) - shows up in the game.

Gameplay

Much like the basic premise of the game the gameplay really doesn't feature anything new. If you have ever played Mario Kart you know exactly what you are getting here - video game characters racing kart-style, on colorful courses. You can pick up defensive and offensive items that help you get an edge over other racers and more experienced racers will be able to pull-off the drift boost, giving you a speed boost coming out of curves.

The game does have the standard rubber band AI, but this can be turned off. This has helped my children compete in many races where they otherwise would not have a chance. Sure winning isn't everything, and this game is fun without winning, but it does help increase the amount of fun.

With that said (any Nintendo fanboys may want to avert their eyes), my children and I have found the karts in this game much easier to control than those on Mario Kart Wii. We have been playing on a PS3 rather than a Wii so it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison, but it's still a relevant point.

The part of this game that I really enjoy however is the level design. The levels are based on popular (and not so popular) SEGA games, for example Sonic the Hedgehog (popular) and Space Channel 5 (not so much). I find it interesting that the designers of this game did a better job capturing the magic of the old 2-D Sonic games than any 3-D Sonic game to date.

The levels that really stand out for my children however are the ones inspired by the game Samba De Amigo, a rhythm-music game that first appeared on the Dreamcast back in 2000. The original game is wild and this is captured perfectly in the level design. You drive your kart in and out of rainbow vortexes surrounded by oversized-sunglass-wearing apes and vivid colors that look absolutely spectacular on any HDTV. You can check it our here.

Sadly though, not all of the levels are great, as with any kart game some of the levels are either uninspired or too hard for your average child (or adult in some cases). For example, I would have younger children avoid the levels inspired by Super Monkey Ball. These levels are frustrating for me, and nearly unplayable for my children. If they were playing alone and got into one of these levels, they more often than not had to quit the game due to high levels of frustration.

While the game has great level design in the races, I cannot say the same for the levels used for versus modes. Maybe it's different in online play, but the courses designed for four player split-screen are gigantic and make no sense if you are playing with just four players. You end up spending most of your time on opposite ends of the level rather than actually competing. It would have been nice if there was an option to scale these down based on the number of players.

Will it Last?

Assuming you enjoy kart racing games, this game will be in your console of choice for a while. In addition to the starting courses and characters there are 16 courses, 12 racers and 32 music tracks to unlock. All are unlocked by spending SEGA Bucks gained in-game by simply racing.  Although winning races and performing special moves in game will get you additional money, you don't need to achieve any feat unreasonable for a child (or adult). The PS3 and 360 offer trophies and achievements respectively, adding to the length of play on these systems.

Verdict

I really enjoy this game, but more importantly my children (and wife) do as well. The game is easy to pick up and have a good time with no matter your level of experience.

7.5 Out of 10