Sonic and Sega All Stars: Transformed

[ZeroAX]

I bought this game before Christmas and it was what I was mainly playing during the holidays. It's an amazing tribute to Sega that every Sega fan should play. The After Burner track alone, with the After Burner theme playing in the background made me want to jump up from my seat and yell "Seeeegaaaaa"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yf21arlsDM

When I saw the Skies of Arcadia themed race track I was ecstatic. Not to mention I could race as Vyse who is my favorite character .

The game is well balanced compared to Mario Kart. The items help you out, but they don't punish success like in Mario Kart. For example the equivalent blue shell is a swarm of badnick bees that run in front of the person who is in first place and they spread around like a minefield. This means that he can dodge them if he is skillful, and that other racers coming behind him can get in trouble instead.

It also has mods for each character that you unlock with experience (the more times you use the character and the crazier tricks you do, the more XP you get), which means you can use your favorite character and your favorite playstyle at the same time. I think Mario Kart did something like that with the custom karts, but here your vehicle doesn't look horrible when you change mods .

The transformed part of the game now on the other hand....I'm not sure if I am for it or against it. The good thing is that tracks change midlevel, so while you might have been driving on dry land in the first round, now you are racing with jets through water, making it more exciting, and also providing ample opportunities for last minute upsets in the race, since while you got used to the track on the first 2 laps, now it has changed and you don't have enough time to regain the lead in case you lose it cause of a mistake.

Buuut....I can't say the boats are much fun. The physics in a straight line are fun, specially using waves to do tricks and gain a boost, but taking turns with them....gooood.

The planes are a bit better, but they have the same problem as Diddy Kong Racing, where you don't get a feel of the plane's speed like you do with the boat and car. The game even TELLS you the plane is faster, but still.

Though a thing I really like about the transform mechanic is that you can take different routes to use different vehicles, giving you more options which always makes the game more fun. Specially in the After Burner track there is a ramp, which if you do a trick boost before it, you can use to transform into a plane early, which gives you a short time advantage in the race compared to other players who did not manage to gain enough speed. As I said, it rewards skill and exploration of the tracks for secret paths and options .


The Sega tributes are amazing, but I feel the game focuses too much on Sonic. There are 7 characters from Sonic (including the Metal Sonic DLC), and we really REALLY did not need a playable version of Shadow, Amy and Metal Sonic. Also, I don't think we needed a Sonic Heroes inspired stage, when everyone wants to see Mega Drive Sonic inspired tracks (come on Mystical Cave Zone, when will you get an HD remake? :'( )

Also Valkyria Chronicles, Fantasy Star, Ristar, Streets of Rage are all missing. But it's ok cause we get Shinobi, Space Channel 5, Nights, Samba Di Amigo, Super Monkey Ball and......Reck-it Ralf and Danicka Patrick? Dafuq....ok yeah, Sega made some questionable licensing agreements there (specially with the real life woman driver, but whatever), and some questionable omissions, but overall the game is an amazing tribute to Sega, an AMAZING kart racing game, an AMAZING game overall, with lots of content, a lengthy "story" mode (nothing like DKR unfortunately, but better than Mario Kart's single player offerings), many characters, cameos and tracks, and an AWESOME DLC bonus Outrun themed track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp_0-6ZKQSw

I have it on the PS3 and it's amazing. If anyone wants to add me to play some games from time to time, my PSN ID is: Quaro1987 . Hope to see you guys online, and I'd love to hear what you guys think of the game

[Nemoide]

I've been really enjoying it. But I agree about the "Transformed" parts being a bit awkward, which leads me to think the first game might be a hair better. Wreck-it Ralph and Danica Patrick are really out of place. I would have much preferred to see racers from Panzer Dragoon and Burning Rangers, but really I'm just glad those properties are getting any representation at all.

But still, they're both such great games that I can't believe it hasn't caught the attention of Sega fans everywhere (supposedly sales for Transformed is pretty terrible). I know the heads of nightsintodreams.com had involvement in the game, which is pretty sweet and I'm sure the inclusion of NiGHTS is primarily the result of a community-push to get him in the previous game (which resulted in making the character the flag-waver).

But yeah, the game is awesome. It's a ton of fun combined with a nostalgic thrill. I'm not even a fan of racing games, but the All-Stars Racing does it right.

[fastbilly1]

One can only hope that they will make a cross over game of Nintendo and Sega All Stars racing. A race between Link and Gilus Thunderhead through Onnet would be awesome.

[Gunstar Green]

I really enjoy it though I suck at racing games so I don't know if I'll be able to unlock everything.

A crossover with Nintendo would be great but you'd think at the very least this would be a wake-up call for them to expand the roster of Mario Kart to more Nintendo properties.

If the sales of this game really are abysmal then that's kind of sad because it's one of the best kart racers I've ever played.