Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Overview
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is a kart racing game featuring several characters from Sega's library of games. Released on February 23, 2010, this is the second game from Sumo Digital Ltd. to feature Sega characters in a sports game, the first being Sega Superstars Tennis. It supports up to four players offline, up to eight online on the console versions, and six on the Nintendo DS version. The PC version is not online-enabled.
Gameplay
Playing strongly similar to the Mario Kart series of Nintendo fame, the game has eight different racers driving around a track for 3 to 5 laps. Each track is laid out with various sharp turns, jumps, and shortcuts. When taking on a sharp turn, the player may drift by pressing and holding the Drift button as they turn. While holding the Drift button, the player may also rapidly press the Accelerate button to make their turn even sharper. As the player drifts, they will build up a turbo-boost which will give the player a small burst of speed when they let go of the Drift button. The longer the player drifts, the longer the boost will be, with there being three levels of turbo-boost. If you bump into anything while drifting, you will lose any turbo-boost accumulated from that drift. Pressing the Drift button in mid-air after launching from a jump will have your character perform a trick from their kart. Successfully finishing the trick will result in a turbo-boost upon landing. Much like drifting, you may perform up three tricks to build up to three levels of turbo-boost, with each character having different tricks, some will be able to perform theirs faster than others, with those who have longer tricks are given longer boosts as opposed to those with shorter tricks. If the player lands in the middle of performing a trick, no turbo-boost is given, though they retain the speed they were driving at.
Racing Commentator/Announcer (Consoles Only)
All throughout the races, there is a racing commentator that gives running commentary, where he talks about the current track information, counts down to the start of the race, talks about a racer's certain position, announces which lap it is, tells the racers when someone has received and initiated an All-Star Move, and announces the winner. The only version that doesn't have the commentator feature is the DS version.
Characters
There are currently 24 characters in all, some being exclusive to certain platforms. Each character has their own unique vehicle and special weapon known as their "All-Star Move." As of April 1, 2010, more characters has been added only available through purchased downloadable content.
- Sonic the Hedgehog
All the playable characters, excluding the console exclusive characters.
Origin: Sonic the Hedgehog
Vehicle: Speed Star
All-Star Move: Super Sonic - Miles "Tails" Prower
Origin: Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Vehicle: Tornado Racer
All-Star Move: Tails Tornado - Knuckles the Echidna
Origin: Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Vehicle: Land Breaker
All-Star Move: Emerald Power - Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik
Origin: Sonic the Hedgehog
Vehicle: Egg Monster
All-Star Move: Missle Madness - Amy Rose
Origin: Sonic CD
Vehicle: Pink Cabriolet
All-Star Move: Piko Hammer - Shadow the Hedgehog
Origin: Sonic Adventure 2
Vehicle: Dark Rider
All-Star Move: Super Shadow - Big the Cat
Origin: Sonic Adventure
Vehicle: Green Hopper
All-Star Move: Giant Froggy - AiAi
Origin: Super Monkey Ball
Vehicle: Blazing Banana
All-Star Move: Super Monkey Roll - Amigo
Origin: Samba de Amigo
Vehicle: Sun Buggy
All-Star Move: Samba de Party - Ryo Hazuki
Origin: Shenmue
Vehicle: Naoyuki's Motorcycle
All-Star Move: Working Man
- Beat
Origin: Jet Set Radio
Vehicle: De La Custom GGs
All-Star Move: Tag Jamming - Alex Kidd
Origin: Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Vehicle: Sukopako Motorcycle
All-Star Move: Peticopter - Billy Hatcher
Origin: Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
Vehicle: Racing Rooster
All-Star Move: Egg Rodeo - Zobio & Zobiko
Origin: The House of the Dead EX
Vehicle: Hotrod of Horror
All-Star Move: Run-a-Way Love - Ulala
Origin: Space Channel 5
Vehicle: Astro Glider
All-Star Move: Tension Blast - Jacky Bryant & Akira Yuki
Origin: Virtua Fighter
Vehicle: Red Lightning
All-Star Move: Virtua Fight - B.D. Joe
Origin: Crazy Taxi
Vehicle: Crazy Taxi
All-Star Move: Crazy Boost - Mobo & Robo
Origin: Bonanza Bros.
Vehicle: Get-a-Way Wagon
All-Star Move: Blimp Strike - Opa-Opa
Origin: Fantasy Zone
Vehicle: Opa-Opa
All-Star Move: Fantasy Thorn - Chuih, ChuBei, ChuPea, & ChuBach
Origin: ChuChu Rocket!
Vehicle: ChuChu Rocket
All-Star Move: Cat-Walker - Banjo & Kazooie
Origin: Banjo-Kazooie
Vehicle: Bolt Bucket
All-Star Move: Jiggy Rain
Note: This racer is exclusive to the Xbox 360 version. - Avatar
Origin: Xbox Live
Vehicle: Ava-Car 720
All-Star Move: Party Power
Note: This racer is exclusive to the Xbox 360 version. - Mii
Origin: Nintendo Wii
Vehicle: Super Zoomer
All-Star Move: Parade Power
Note: This racer is exclusive to the Wii version. - Ryo-F
Origin: Shenmue
Vehicle: Forklift
All-Star Move: Working Man
Note: This racer is exclusive to the PS3 and 360 versions through DLC.
- Metal Sonic
Origin: Sonic CD
Vehicle: Metal Booster
All-Star Move: Maximum Overdrive
Note: This racer is exclusive to the PS3 and 360 versions through DLC.
Tracks
All tracks originate from various levels of classic Sega games.
- Seaside Hill
- Whale Lagoon
- Lost Palace
- Ocean Ruin
- Casino Park
- Roulette Road
- Pinball Highway
- Bingo Party
- Final Fortress
- Turbine Loop
- Dark Arsenal
- Thunder Deck
- Death Egg Zone*
- Egg Hangar*
- Blizzard Castle
- Icicle Valley
- Rampart Road
- Dino Mountain
- Lava Lair
- Carnival Town
- Sunshine Tour
- Jump Parade
- Rocky-Coaster
- Studio Amigo***
- Sun Fair***
- Tokyo-To
- Shibuya Downtown
- Rokkaku Hill
- Highway Zero
- Curien Mansion
- Outer Forest
- Sewer Scrapes
- Deadly Route
- Jumble Jungle
- Treetops
- Detritus Desert
- Sandy Drifts
- Pirates Ocean
- Monkey Target
*These tracks are exclusive to the PS3 and 360 versions through DLC.
**These tracks are all based on the House of the Dead franchise, but are labeled as "Curien Mansion".
***These tracks are exclusive to the DS version of the game.
Arena Tracks
In addition to the race tracks, there are additional arena tracks made for the split-screen multiplayer mode. House of the Dead/Curien Mansion
- Grave Hard
- Rumble Ramps
- Seaside Square
Music List
Each track theme features music that is played during gameplay. Unlocking songs from the SEGA Store gives you more track to choose from. Sonic the Hedgehog
- Seaside Hill
- Seaside Hill [ Sonic Heroes]
- Palmtree Panic (Present) [ Sonic CD]
- Can You Feel the Sunshine? [ Sonic R]
- A New Day [ Sonic Rush]
- Windy and Ripply [ Sonic Adventure]
- Casino Park
- Casino Park [ Sonic Heroes]
- Back 2 Back [ Sonic Rush]
- Bingo Highway [ Sonic Heroes]
- Super Sonic Racing [ Sonic R]
- Be Cool, Be Wild and Be Groovy [ Sonic Adventure]
- Final Fortress
- Final Fortress [ Sonic Heroes]
- Metal Scratchin' [ Sonic Rush]
- What U Need [ Sonic Rush]
- Crank the Heat Up!! [ Sonic Adventure]
- E.G.G.M.A.N. (Insturmental) [ Sonic Adventure 2]
- Death Egg Zone
- Cosmic Fall - [ Shadow the Hedgehog]
- General Offensive - [ Sonic Adventure]
- Never Let it Go - [ Sonic the Fighters]
- Egg Fleet - [ Sonic Heroes]
- Space Gadget [ Shadow the Hedgehog]
- Tumbling Xylophone
- Bossa Nova of Briny Air
- Jack-in-the-Box!
- Volcanic Orchestra
- Billy's Courage
- Samba De Janeiro
- Carnival
- Bum Bum
- Vamos a Carnaval
- Sambo De Verano
- Party Time*
- Super Samba*
- Monkey Island
- Party Game 1
- Party Game 2
- Ultra Heaven
- Monkey Race
- Hope With Doubt
- Into the Dark
- Aura of Dread
- Theme of the Magician
- Restoration of Terror
- The Concept of Love
- Sneakman (Toronto Mix)
- Funky Dealer
- Let Mom Sleep (No Sleep Remix)
- Fly Like a Butterfly
*These music tracks are available in gameplay only on the Nintendo DS version.
Split Screen Multiplayer Game Modes
Split screen multiplayer features several game modes besides the regular racing game. These game types are not available online.- Race
Beat your rivals in a mad cap dash to the finish line!
- Battle
Use weapons and pickups to eliminate all your rivals!
- Capture the Chao
Grab the Chao and take it to your base to score!
- Grab
Grab the Chaos Emeralds and try to hold on to them to score!
- King of the Hill
Be the only racer in the zone to score!
- Knockout
Better speed up! Every 15 seconds the racer in last place is knocked out!
Items
Along the tracks, you can drive into item bubbles to receive one of various items to aid you in the race.- Shield
Creates an energy shield that surrounds you for a limited amount of time. Withstands one attack. - Rolling Bomb
Shoots out a bomb in front of you, exploding upon impact. - Giant Rocket
Launches a rocket down the center of the track. Pressing the Item button again detonates the rocket. - Rainbow
Drops behind you. Anyone who drives into it has their view temporarily obstructed with a wavy rainbow effect. - K.O. Glove
Shoots forward a giant boxing glove that ricochets off walls. - Mine
Shaped like an orange traffic cone, these are placed behind you that either explodes on contact or after a certain amount of time has passed. - Manual Rocket
Launches a homing rocket at the nearest racer ahead of you. - High Speed Shoes
Gives a temporary speed boost. - Confusion Star
Targets the nearest racer and flips their screen upside down. - Mega Horn
Emits a blast of sound damaging those near your vehicle. - All-Star
Allows the chosen character to use their All-Star Move. The further down you are in positions, and depending on your gameplay performance, the more likely you will receive your All-Star.
Trivia
- Among the planned characters that did not make it into the game, whether for legal or time issues, were ToeJam & Earl, Gilius Thunderhead of Golden Axe, Vyse of Skies of Arcadia, and Segata Sanshirou.
His vehicle would've been a Sega Saturn. - Originally, Mario was considered as a Wii-exclusive character, however Sega decided against the idea so as to differ itself from the Mario & Sonic series.
- Pre-ordering the game in the UK came with a code that changed Ryo Hazuki's vehicle to a forklift. This was later released everywhere else as DLC.
- On the Wii and PC versions of the game, one of the playing cards on the track Roulette Road shows a picture of Sonia, Sonic's sister from the cartoon Sonic Underground, taken from fanart by artist RianaLD. This was evidently mistaken for official artwork. Sonic Team did notice the error and requested it fixed, though they were unchanged upon release. Apologies has been offered to RianaLD and plans are already being made to fix it on the PC version. The Wii version, due to lack of an update feature, cannot be altered.
