The Mog Blog

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed might be missing the “Sega” in the title, probably for two good reasons.

1. It would have made for a longer name.
2. Danica Patrick is a real life racer who will be featured as a playable character with a custom car is clearly not a Sega character.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed brings a bit of a twist to the kart-racing genre of racing games. This time around, you not only drive on land but also water and air.

“But you can do that in Diddy Kong Racing…” or so I said to myself before I tried the game. Evidently, you don’t actually get to choose what vehicle you drive, instead your vehicle will change based on the conditions of the race. Transformed is not just the transformation of your vehicle, but also the transformation of the race track. In the Panzer Dragoon race track, everything is fine during the first lap as you’re racing your way around in your car. Second shows a dragon being a douche and destroying the track, therefore you now have to continue on water. By the third track, you’re flying in your vehicle, doing barrel rolls as you should be.

It was a pretty unique experience as each level I played during my time told its own story. Featuring references dating back to their original IPs, each track was very unique.

The character choices has not been fully revealed, but most of the big named stars are there including some other Sega IPs such as Beat from Jet Set Radio, Joe Mushashi from Shinobi, and Vyse from Skies of Arcadia. When I asked them if Ryo Hazuki would be returning, they could not confirm anything. Has me a bit worried, but I’m keeping my hopes up.

I did not get to check out much of the items, but I did notice a bunch of bees that you can drop on the road. There’s also a catcher’s mitt that act as a back shield for anyone that would want to throw something your way from behind. I also did not get to see any of the All-Star moves in action, but this mainly because the system has changed so that you get it when you collect stars and do tricks.

The word “Sega” being dropped from the title might also mean that it is also an acknowledgement for more third-party characters. Nothing to really report on it, but more and more characters will be added in before its release later this year.