Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed review

[sj33]

Framerate is fine mate, same as the PS3 version basically - and I think so? There was a patch waiting when I played it for the first time. It's certainly not 60fps or anything even close but it's fluid and fun. More importantly it's on par with the other versions.

I'd go out on a limb and say it's not even 30fps, though the game is so damn fun that it doesn't even matter. When you see the crazy stuff going on around the track (including the track itself transforming in real-time), it's no surprise. I do like how on the Skies or Arcadia level, the level gradually gets bombed by the pirate ships, until the 3rd lap when the island gets mostly destroyed and that's when it switches to the plane. Nice touch.

I'm generally not a big supporter of DLC, but I can see myself buying characters for this game. Sho and Tilis from Burning Rangers, for example.

[dataDave]

I'm surprised anyone still remembers SoA.

After watching more videos of this I have arrived at the conclusion that it should have been named "Sega Mega Racing: Fan Boy Wank-off Edition" instead. The Sonic title kept me away, until now.

[nonny]

Just got to the end of world tour mode just playing B class at the moment. Some epic levels in there and I notice you can unlock mirrored versions as well. Had a go of the OutRun DLC track and that's great too, felt weird coming off the road and racing along the sea. Got a strange Wave Race vibe on that one!!

I'm now going back to do A class and then try some expert as well. I'm sure it'll be tough as nails but then I didn't find B class all that difficult. The challenge is appealing to me.

[Tobal]

When it comes to Races and Boost Races, Hard and Expert are just that, the CPU will take any chance to ruin your day through powerups and in some cases ramming you of the road, and expert im pretty such there using the Super Mod of the standard setup each character gets making them fast, i would say it impossible to win with out a 5 or 6 star in speed and 3 or 4 in boost, which means for me using sonic/vyse/joe on Super Speed. I would say CPU doesn't rubberband at least or wait for you similar mariokart, i've in 2 of the 6 races i've won on expert so far done so by a clear lead thanks to the CPU wrecking each other.

And traffic in expert= in 1hr spent on the first one i got within 1 sec of finish point, got smacked by 2 blue cars which i took as a sign i wouldn't be doing it today so i settle for hard clearance which is a breeze compared to expert.

One thing i do miss from the last game is selectable music to unlock, tons of it in the last one.

[nonny]

Yeah I can see some of the traffic, drift and boost disciplines being absolute nightmare difficulty on expert but I think if I get that far it'll be a decent challenge.

I've done a few of the early races on A-Class and they were pretty easy but I've got the drifting down now but realise expert is another step above. The enemy AI is pretty unforgiving but you really have to have a weapon at all times to counter any possible incoming attacks.

Played a bit online as well and it was great fun. A few laggy overseas players but still a decent experience with 10 players.

[fuse]

This is great fun. There's boatloads of fan service, cheer, and variation in ways to play - surprised at how much better than the first it looks too - but here's something that annoys me. It's clearly designed to be played with friends, allowing you up to 4 people on the same console, and yet only 1 player saves their progress and earns achievements. I'm going to be playing most of the game in local co-op, and if I was P2 in this situation and then decided to play solo one day, I'd be left with nothing unlocked at all to play with. The flipside to this is that if I do everything in the game then have mates over they can all share in my unlocks and so on, but with the way I'll be playing this I currently feel like I'm conning my partner.

[Neon Ignition]

Really hoping this gets the sales it deserves with time and a third game can be made. Im already tempted to get the WiiU version despite having had it on PS3.

[rmoxon]

This is great fun. There's boatloads of fan service, cheer, and variation in ways to play - surprised at how much better than the first it looks too - but here's something that annoys me. It's clearly designed to be played with friends, allowing you up to 4 people on the same console, and yet only 1 player saves their progress and earns achievements. I'm going to be playing most of the game in local co-op, and if I was P2 in this situation and then decided to play solo one day, I'd be left with nothing unlocked at all to play with. The flipside to this is that if I do everything in the game then have mates over they can all share in my unlocks and so on, but with the way I'll be playing this I currently feel like I'm conning my partner.

The game lets you play the world tour with friends and you basically share progress, from what I can tell the save file isn't linked to a gamer tag, so basically whoever plays the game starts from the same point as the last person that played it. It seems odd in this day and age, but if you think about it this is how old console games use to be when it came to unlocking characters and tracks and stuff, so it's not that weird really.

[fuse]

The game lets you play the world tour with friends and you basically share progress, from what I can tell the save file isn't linked to a gamer tag, so basically whoever plays the game starts from the same point as the last person that played it. It seems odd in this day and age, but if you think about it this is how old console games use to be when it came to unlocking characters and tracks and stuff, so it's not that weird really.

It's definitely saving progress against my (P1) gamertag, whereas my gf (P2) is signed into her own account and not even being asked where to save data when starting the game. She's able to help me with World Tour, but is definitely not unlocking achievements on her account, and I'm 99% certain that if she were to play without me it'd ask her to create a new save and start from the beginning as there's no data present for her gamertag.

The majority of 'old' cart-based systems store saves on the actual cart yes, but at the same time they don't deny access to save data because the right person's not signed in.

[rmoxon]

It's definitely saving progress against my (P1) gamertag, whereas my gf (P2) is signed into her own account and not even being asked where to save data when starting the game. She's able to help me with World Tour, but is definitely not unlocking achievements on her account, and I'm 99% certain that if she were to play without me it'd ask her to create a new save and start from the beginning as there's no data present for her gamertag.

The majority of 'old' cart-based systems store saves on the actual cart yes, but at the same time they don't deny access to save data because the right person's not signed in.

hmm, I was sure I'd tried it with another gamer tag and the progress was continued, maybe I'm wrong though.

[Tobal]

DLC suggestions from Sumo

http://forums.sega.com/showthread.php?427121-S0L-s-Challenge-The-Campaign-for-SEGA-characters-to-become-DLC

I picked Ryo!

Top 3 by far are Segata Sanshiro, Miku and Ryo.

[Yakumo]

I voted for Segata Sanshiro.

[nonny]

They should do the same with new levels... But it's nice to see a developer actively taking feedback from the fans. This game is probably the best example of fan service I've seen for a long time.

Personally I'd like to see some Altered Beast or Alex Kidd inspired level.

[wakka]

They should totally put Miku in it.

[dazza_cole]

This is pure gaming crack.......loved the first one, but this knocks that for six. Put it on for a quick go whilst setting up the Wii U...and 3 hours later have forced myself away from it!