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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Wii U
The Power of Transformation
3.5/5 stars
Good kart racing games have been hard to come by recently. In fact, the last Sonic & All Stars Game was probably one of the better ones to come out in quite awhile. How then does this sequel stand up to the original? While I can't say it tops the original, it provides just as much fun (and a bit of frustration) as the first game. Throw a few friends in the mix and you have another fun racing game.
Presentation: Like NSMBU the graphics, even though they are updated for HD systems, don't exactly scream amazing quality. There are jaggies and clipping to be found throughout, though the tracks and characters look pretty good on screen. Once again, this is a very colorful game and the tracks take you from classic Sonic to Golden Axe, Panzer Dragoon, NIGHTs, Skies of Arcadia and Billy Hatcher (amongst others). Each track has its own feel - and, as true to the name, often feature designs that have you driving, flying and jetting across the water.
These transformation features make this an interesting race experience. Handling for flying and on the water are quite different compared to staying in your kart. It also makes some of the later challenges that much more difficult (more on that later). This means that each character technically has three vehicles - a kart, a flying vehicle and a boating vehicle. The transformations take place only in designated areas, though some levels change over the course of three laps, meaning if you started a level driving, you may end up on that same course flying (destruction is always a viable option). It is a good concept and keeps thing interesting.
Speaking of characters, you have a bunch of returning favorites (Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Alex Kidd, Amigo, AiAi) some interesting newcomers (Pudding, Gum, Vyse, NIGHTs and Joe Musashi). Somehow they made a character for Wreck-It Ralph, but instead of choosing the obvious Kart Racer character from the film (Vanellope) they chose Ralph. Also, I'm kind of disappointed they didn't create a Sugar Rush themed level - which would have been epic. Probably didn't have enough time and/or money to pull it off. Also, they included Danica Patrick for some reason.
The music is just as varied as the levels and comes across as a nice soundtrack that hearkens back to classic SEGA. While I'm not totally familiar with the franchises, the designs and music were varied enough that things never got old (well, unless you race certain challenged over and over again).
Story: Nah, this is a kart racing game - there is no story, just cups to complete and challenges to overcome.
Gameplay: Classic racing taken to the next level with transformation. You can still drift and pick up various weapons - ranging from a homing tracker and ice missiles to a swarm of hornets and a hot rod that can either blow up your opponents or burn out and slow you down. You also have the return of the All Stars, which give your characters a super boost as well as a way to wipe out all enemies in front of you with a specialized attack. The All Star is much harder to come by here than the original game, so when you get it, make sure to use it wisely.
This game, unlike the disappointing Little Big Planet Racing, features pretty much universal split screen racing. One player can use the WiiU pad if they want, others the Wii controller or controller/nunchuck configuration. Races consist of the typical cup races - which, when completed, can be raced again as mirrored tracks and also the World Tour. World Tour gives you stars based on what difficulty to choose to race - one star for easy, four for expert. You can unlock characters and console mods (including Dreamcast, Genesis, etc) with those stars. Each character has a set of stats for their style: speed, acceleration, handling, boost, and all star. You also have your different classes - heavy characters tend to have great top speed, but slow acceleration. Light characters are quick, but may have handling issues. Each character earns points as they race and complete challenges, unlocking various mods for that character that can increase some stats, while lowering others. Usually I just kept with the standard style unless a certain elements of levels forced me to change.
Speaking of challenges, the World Tour doesn't just have levels to race. Certain levels give you some added race requirement. Sometimes you have to take down rivals (up to five), Battle Races give you set amount of "lives" and every time you get hit with a weapon (or, forbid, fall off the track) you lose a one - last to survive wins. Other challenges have you hitting boost pads, drifting across designated areas, hitting checkpoints in traffic or even taking down a tank in three different stages. However, the most infuriating challenges for me are the strictly aerial ones. There's no question I'm much worse at flying than driving or boating - and aerial challenges require you to fly through checkpoints using skills. I don't have those skills, so usually I failed (I did, however, manage to complete the first challenge successfully before anyone else, thank you).
In order to completely unlock all the characters and mods, you will have tackle expert. That, unfortunately, is where the game gets tough. These get tough - the races are much more difficult, challenges give you much less time and you ultimately have to be damn near perfect to get through them. It takes all the fun out of the game and they could have dialed it down just a bit. The other big issue we found with the game is that it did freeze a couple of times and at other times, if you were eliminated, the sound would get stuck on a drift or, in one case, an annoying stage effect, and just blare out the speakers until the race or challenge ended. It's bugs like this that should never make it to the final production, but somehow, they got passed.
Still, overall, this is quite a fun racing game. It can get quite frustrating on the higher difficulties but other than that, it provides a nice chunk of entertainment and friends and family alike can enjoy classic kart action.
Presentation: 3.5/5
Story: N/A
Gameplay: 4/5
Overall (not an average): 3.5/5
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