Sonic in a car? It makes no sense, but neither does turning down the opportunity to grab the best kart racer on any mobile device yet.
So first things first – why is Sonic driving a car? Considering that the hedgehog is regarding as the fastest thing on two legs, does it really make sense for him to get behind a four wheel vehicle?
The answer of course, is that Sonic needs to get inside that car because every single video game mascot, particularly those aimed at kids, eventually tries to emulate Nintendo’s Mario Kart mega-franchise. Sonic has attempted to get in on the action with Sonic R and Sonic Riders in the past, but never so shamelessly or successfully as this title.
Throughout the years we’ve seen many competitors attempt to dethrone the karting king, ranging from Shrek to Crash Bandicoot and even the risible aliens from the much-forgotten CGI flop Area 51.
Of course for iOS users, it really doesn’t matter whether any game can live ever up to Mario Kart – that franchise isn’t coming to mobile platforms anytime soon, so the field wil; always be wide open. At least it was until this game.
Much like developer Sumo Digital’s previous console release, SEGA Superstar Tennis, All-Star Racing applies a Smash Bros-style approach to its tracks and characters by digging deep into the companies back catalogue, rather than relying on Sonic’s ever-expanding cast of anthropomorphic cretins.
Sonic… in a car. We’ll get used to it someday
In other words, say goodbye to Big the Cat and Shadow the Hedgehog and say hello Shenmue’s finest sailor-questioning Ryo Hazuki. And when even Billy Catcher and Crazy Taxi’s B.D. Joe have shown up to race, it’s clear this is a title that’s been designed through the wishes of SEGA fanboys just as much as younger players eager for a kart racer fix.
SEGA have also wisely chosen tracks from titles as varied and beloved as House of the Dead, Super Monkey Ball and Jet Set Radio Future for their track inspiration. It is a credit to Sumo Digital’s talents, however, that each track variation genuinely provides new challenges, whilst adhering to many individual principles of their franchises e.g. Super Monkey Ball tracks can be frustratingly labyrinthine due to a lack of track barriers whilst the speedy, rollercoaster-like Sonic tracks recall the glory days of F-Zero GX.
Sure, certain franchises that might seem perfect fits are left out (Outrun, clearly) but the tracks themselves are the best-designed we have yet seen in a mobile device, a fact that is unsurprising when you consider that this is a lovingly-prepared port of an already well-received 2010 title.
Handy controls
With extremely polished presentation through and eye-popping visuals, perhaps the biggest banana skin for All-Star Racing would be its controls, right? That’s not the case at all actually, as the app employs well-judged gyroscopic controls to allow you to handle your handset like a steering wheel. It may sound gimmicky but the controls are so deft that any mistakes you make are always of your own creation.
Races are another bright spark, as games are extremely well balanced when you consider that in addition to a plethora of projectile attacks, last-placed players can utilize ‘All Star Moves’; hugely speedy items that transform the drivers, such as Sonic’s Super Sonic abilities and the fanboy-arousing return of Ryo Hazuki’s beloved Dobuita forklift.
With three Grand Prix events that house four tracks each, time trials, a full 25-mission mode and the ability to race with three friends worldwide, All-Star Racing is absolutely packed with content, offering a near-identical feature set at a fraction of the price of its console big brothers.
Not just the best kart racer around, All-Star Racing is the finest SEGA mobile release we’ve ever seen and comfortably leads its rivals, forebears and contemporaries in its dust.
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