RadioSEGA Review: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (Nintendo DS)

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RadioSEGA Review: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (Nintendo DS)

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Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for Nintendo DS/DSlite/DSi/DSiXL

Overview

Nintendo are to blame for the genre of kart based antics that have found every game character from a Bandicoot to a mushroom belting around themed tracks throwing power ups at each other in a bid to come first. As with all good ideas the simple ones turn out best.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for the Nintendo DS is a racing game in this very genre. A nice sprinkling of Sega characters from new and not so new games race around tracks that are themed from different Sega games, each character has his own unique vehicle and his own style of racing. During the race, there are collectables that will randomly power up the player and give an advantage over the others to come first. More on this later.

Game play

The game play is simple but effective. Choose your character and pick a track, you have four options consisting of 'Grand Prix' which is raced over 4 courses, earning points according to where you finish. If you manage to finish in the top three a new cup race is unlocked. 'Single Race' where you race one course with with other racers and 'Time Trial' which consists of three laps of your chosen track, just you alone trying to set the fastest time. There is a ghost mode to give you an idea of how you are doing. If you manage to get a really fast lap time then this can be posted to an online leader board. Once you have done all that, there are a number of missions to complete, using a specific character, with a specific goal either race, collect, etc I wont spoil it here but there are some great challenges to do.
There are a massive 24 courses in all, quite a lot for a DS game I think, and the variety of the design and different themes keep you interested. Things get quite challenging as you look for the best lines to bring those times down, and avoid being blasted by a big green boxing glove from behind.
Power ups play a huge part in this game and can be hysterical when playing with friends, but a little frustrating when playing against the computer. The best powerup is called 'All-Star' it is a signature move unique to the character you are using, for example Amy pulls out her Piko Piko Hammer and swipes at everyone in her path, smashing her way to the front. Even if you run out of power ups there are ways to get a boost to your speed and pip the others to the post, if you get your racer airborne over a jump, a stab of the right shoulder button makes you do a mid air trick, boosting your speed. Wise use of this has got me the number one slot on many occasions!

Graphics

Graphically this is very good for a DS game I was quite surprised, I was expecting blocky, simplistic graphics but Sega have done a respectable job here. The courses are themed to different Sega games and really capture the look and feel of whatever game they are representing. For example 'Outer-Forest' is outside Curien Mansion, the setting of the House of the Dead games. Its dark and gloomy with more than one Zombie wandering about and generally getting in the way of things and causing mayhem.
The race moves at a nice pace, the cars handling is very arcadey (a very good thing, no GT5 settings here, I wouldn't know what tyre pressures to put in my four wheeled egg anyway) and there are no glitches that I could see.

Sound
In game sound is fine, but it does lack the commentator from the console version, I'm not sure that's a good or bad thing, I guess it depends on your preference. Music is ok there are songs from loads of Sega games, although it is not the original sound they are pretty cool and I think 8 bit and chip fans will like it. (I really like the version of 'Fly like a Butterfly' and 'Super Sonic Racing')

Extras
As you progress through the game you earn 'Sega Miles' and you spend them in the shop. Here you buy more characters, courses and music and have access to character stats, course maps and the music player. Add to all this the facility to take it all online and play against anyone in the world via Nintendo WFC, with on line leader board ranking and this becomes a whole new game.

Conclusion

Its a fun and solid racing game, its full of great tracks and characters, there has to be someone you like here and if you are a hardcore Sega fan you will want to try them all. The poweups are pretty average but the All-Star signature move makes up for that. The sheer variation and pick up and playness of the game really appeals to me. There are some things missing from the other console versions, the most glaring one is the multiple routes and shortcuts missing from the courses, and of course the commentator, but these really don't affect things at all, and I would rather new courses than different routes on the same ones, there must only be so much you can squeeze into a DS cartridge and for what they have achieved I think its more than generous. A good game for racing fans and Sega fans alike.

Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics 4/5
Sound 3/5
Extras 4/5
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Post by Tru »

Nice review! How do you think it compares to the console version?

I would be really interested in tracking down the music now :P
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