Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
 

As I mentioned in Kalyx's "New 2D Sonic Announced!" thread, there is a new Sonic racing game on the way.

Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing is basically Mario Kart with Sega characters. Each character has a vehicle to match their personality and uses power-ups as they race around Sega themed courses.
Each character has a speacial move called an All-Star Move. Sonic becomes Super Sonic, Samba plays music and everyone nearby forms a Conga behind him, Amy uses her massive hammer etc.

It's being developed by SUMO Digital, the guys behind the XBLA Outrun game, which I enjoy.

Release date: 10th February 2010 on the 360, Ps3, Wii, PC and DS.

Confirmed characters so far:

Sonic the Hedgehog
Miles "Tails" Prower
Knuckles the Echidna
Doctor Eggman
Amy Rose
Shadow the Hedgehog
Big the Cat
Billy Hatcher
AiAi from Super Monkey Ball
Amigo from Samba de Amigo
Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue
Beat from Jet Set Radio Future
Alex Kidd from Alex Kidd

ToeJam & Earl where intended to be in the game but SEGA couldn't get the rights to them. Fans have contacted the guy that does own the rights (Greg Johnson) and he says, due to fan response, he will discuss it with SEGA but it's unlikely.

Trailers:

Announcement trailer
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Trailer 2:
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Ryo Returns
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Gamescom interview
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I'm on a bit of a SEGA high right now, playing through the old sonic games pretty regularly aswell as others like the Megadrive Ultimate Collection and Outrun on the 360 so this is looking appealing to me. I always enjoyed Mario Kart and with me favouring the 360 this time around, I'm glad I'll have a Mario Kart style game on the 360. It may not be a day 1 purchase but I'll get it not long after.

It'll probably just be gay like the last 10,000 Sonic games.

I think it could be pretty good. It's being developed by the guys that did Outrun for XBLA which I enjoyed, like I said. I'd not dismiss it right away.

I really want them to add Sketch Turner from Comix Zone. He could drive a black and white sketched hotrod or something. At the least, a Comix Zone themed course could be cool.

I'd take a Comix Zone remake over a track themed like it any day. I could never get very far in it, but I'd love to see it re-done, as long as it stayed true to the original while yet still being a somehow new experience.

This game will suck. Why is Sonic driving a car? Couldn't Sega just make a fun Sonic racing game that's kind of like Sonic Advance 2?

That game was so bad ass
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I just kinda passed this up as another Mario Kart ripoff but now that I see the dude from Shenmue is in it I kinda have to play it

Didn't last time SEGA made a Sonic racing game, it went from $60 to $20 within 2 weeks due to bad sales ?

This one looks better than the previous racing game but I doubt its going to sell well again.

Yeah I'd like a remake or a sequel. SEGA are doing a new 2D Sonic and held a poll a few months back asking us to vote which Megadrive (Genesis) game we wanted remade. Earthworm Jim was winning but he is already getting a remake so they removed him and Toejam & Earl won as far as I'm aware. What I'm getting at is with a new 2D Sonic, a new EWJ and a new TJ&E, it's not totally impossible we'd get a new Comix Zone eventually. It's just really unlikely.
Anyway Comix Zone is such a "90's" game with the music and style that if they remade it, it would probably be updated which means Sketch would likely have that whispy "emo" hair, be in his early 20s and the music and graphics would match the modern update. I can't see them releasing a new one if it still has a 90's grunge feel to it because "The kids wont buy it".

They answered that question in the gamescom interview. Basically, they tried having him on foot but it didn't work to have him handle like a car, he was too fast and it was just too awkward to do overall.

There are a couple of gameplay videos up. The game is closer to Mario Kart than I thought. The game has 20+ items but the few I saw in gameplay videos, which were only demo builds and only had a handfull of items in them, were SEGA versions of standards MK power ups. We have the speed boost item, the guided missle item and the obstacle-you-drop-behind-you-to-slow-the-others-down item.
Interestingly, something I don't think MK did, was each vehicles handles differently and performs better on different surfaces. The example given was that Sonics car handles well on concrete but slows down on grass while Robotnik handles better on grass and dirt than on concrete. Also, it seems there is a commentator.

Gameplay videos:
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Dare I say it looks better than MKart Wii. Can't go wrong as far as a party game, these kart racers.

I think it has the potential to be as good as MK Wii and maybe even better. We can't say for sure until a demo surfaces.

What I want to know is why Tails is in a generic, random yellow plane and not his Tornado II bi-plane from Sonic 3. If Shadow and Ryo have their motocycles, you'd think Tails would get his vehicle.

<marquee behavior="scroll" direction="left">http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...onicxpress.gif</marquee>

Halloween trailer. It shows the House of the Dead course and a new character. A zombie couple from HotD:EX called Zobio and Zobiko. Never played HotD so I never saw those characters before. The track itself is a little generic looking to me.

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Leaked box art for the 360 version appeared on Segas American site and seems to have vanished since. At least, I can't find it now. It was leaked weeks ago but no one believed it until it appeared on the actual Sega site.
The cover shows a console exclusive character for the 360 version.
Click if you want to know

It's not a spoiler, it's on the cover.

<3 Banjo and Kazooie.

But don't worry, Sega will botch this up like they have any game they've developed in the past 7 years or so (Bar Billy Hatcher)

That's a random addition.

It's actualy Sumo Digital that are making the game. They did the XBLA Outrun which I thought was a good game so I have faith in this turning out equal to or better than Outrun. I have to admit, the tennis game sucked, though.

I am looking forward to this for probably the wrong reason, because it has Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue in it. And hopefully if this sells well, they may consider a Shenmue III, maybe.

Pfft, no wonder the box art looks so awful. "Rated E for Everyone". I don't mean to be a negative Nancy here, but if this game flops, as I expect it probably will, I hope it's the failure that finally kills Sonic off for good. Sick of hoping for the next great Sonic game and then not having it deliver.

They've been "considering" Shenmue III forever. The problem is it's so cost-prohibitive to make. And also, one X-Factor you have to consider is on the off chance they decided to try to give it a go and then decided to make it PS3 exclusive, would the combination of what they claim is not good enough technology, plus the fact that PS3 is a bitch to program games for, be so much of a turn-off for them that the game would be cancelled mid-development? These are the important things to consider when discussing Shenmue III.

Nope, the only person at Sega who wanted it was Yu Suzuki and he's as good as left.

Banjo & Avatar trailer
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So we can play as ourselves and call our friends to help us out. Cool. I guess the Wii could get a similair thing with Miis but no news of that.

Edit: Just found an image of the Avatar All-Star move, incase the traler was too fast.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2789/...fc9ef08d38.jpg
Looks like we'll have to bash A to make our friends run faster.

Merry Christmas from SEGA, I guess.

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New trailer, showing off the tracks and 2 new characters
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Leaked character roster but no source given yet.

Assuming those exclusive characters are correct, looks like ps3 gets nothing special although makes sense what the Wii exclusive is if the Xbox 360 got avatars as racers.

I wonder if this will be any good. Certainly looks inspired...

I've said it a few times but I think this game could be quite good. It's not going to be Game of the Year by any stretch of the imagination but I think it will be simple and fun which is all you can ask from a mascot kart racer. SUMO Digital is behind this and I think they did a good job with OutRun and this is hopefully building ontop of that.

Found a source and article:



Source: Here.

I don't need game of the year, just Mario Kart with cooler characters and effects.

not bad..

I'm curious about game modes. Is it just racing or will it have a Mario Kart style Battle Mode? I'm hoping it has more to do than just race and it will hopefully be online.

It fucking better have online. I mean, really.

Just checked Xbox.com. Yeah, it's online.

-Players: 1-4
-Multiplayer Versus
-In-game Dolby Digital
-HDTV 720p
-Storage Device
Online stuff:
-Players: 2-8
-Content Downloads
-Leaderboards
-Online Tournaments
-Player Stats
-Voice Support

Here's hoping the copyright issue with TJ&E gets sorted and we see them as DLC.

Online tournies is cool. Heh, Mario Kart without Friend Codes.

...and the blue shell.

Actually I'm banking on the absence of a much too strict balance system. I don't mind balance protocols but when a legit strategy is getting last place until the last lap and using God weapons to take first or second... it gets annoying - even if you truly never know who's getting first in general games.

I don't mind some Diddy Kong Racing style kart racing, where your actions determine outcome rather than god weapons for 12th placers.

I just saw a video from September last year with one of the developers talking us through a race. He mentioned how they have tried to balance weapons out. If you trail you'll get offensive weapons, if you're leading, you'll get defensive weapons. He said they are trying to minimize rubberbanding as much as they can. So hopefully the strategy you mentioned wont work in the game.

He also said about the game "Think OutRun but with Sonic.". I thought it would be. So I'll be getting it for sure.

I may as well post the video.
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That's awesome.

Better yet, I've read (on GameFAQS, though) that you can turn All-star moves off. So if they turn out to be a "Win the race" item, we can just turn them off. As long as there is no equivilent to the blue shell, it should be fine, I'd imagine.

Europeans and Austrelians are getting Ryo in his forklift as a preorder exclusive for the 360/PS3. Nothing for Americans yet.

I tried listening to that on youtube, thinking it would be the music from the trailer with lyrics but it's not and I couldn't last more than a few seconds.

Achievements leaked:

The demo is up on the UK 360 marketplace.

I played a few races and the AI was a little tough at times. Turns out difficulty is set to "advanced" by default. On an easier setting, I won a few races.
The demo only lets you play as Banjo & Kazooie and Sonic. Banjo is faster that Sonic but harder to control. The All-Star moves are pretty helpful without making it feel too easy and each feels unique. Banjos has Kazooie hold up that magic wrench from Nuts & Bolts and it rains giant jiggies to get in the way of the other racers and you speed up while it plays the BK theme. Sonics ASM is Super Sonic and you have to bash A as much as you can to pick up and keep speed while moving left and right to knock racers out the way.

Controls are ok but It's not as tight as Out Run Online Arcade was. To boost, you have to press and hold the left trigger and move the stick left and right. I usually just boosted by doing tricks over ramps.

Items are pretty standard with mines = banana peels, boxing gloves = green shells, Sonics shoe = mushroom etc but some of them are a little hard to know what they do and because of that, I'm not sure when to use them. The rainbow, for example. I have no clue what it does so I don't know how to use it effectivly.

I like the game and I hope it turns out to be a lot of fun with everything open to me. The demo didn't really prove it one way or another.

Fail (Banjo being faster than Sonic, not the typo ;))

WHAT?! That sounds horrific.

We better get that damn demo.

Scratch that, we Yanks got it, queued for download.

Wait, with the boost, do you mean like Mario Kart style or waggling constantly?

Mario Kart style. Actually, it doesn't have to be left and right. It can be left or right. Just tap it in a direction and you have a boost. One tap for a basic boost, twice for a bigger boost.

Just got done playing it a few times more and it's really growing on me. Had a quick race on multiplayer splitscreen. It still runs smoothly with 2 screens, even when there is a lot going on on each screen. The game can get pretty hectic, to be honest, with everyone getting items and ASM. I had boxing gloves flying around the track while Billy Hatcher was rolling a giant egg (his ASM) behind me and I had to avoid mines.

I think Banjo is pretty bad compared to Sonic in this game.

I was wrong about the boosting. You don't have to move the stick at all. It's just a case of drifting long enough to get the boost you want.

If you hold down the drift button and tap the accelerator, you can drift around tight corners. I've been playing the demo everytime I'm on my 360. Now that I know how everything works, I quite like it.

I'm curious what everyone else thinks about the demo.

Edit: All-Star Move trailer
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This is HD Mario Kart Wii. Win.

The games out in the US but the UK wont get it until Friday. Except me. I pre ordered mine so I'm getting it a day early (today).
Anyone picked it up? Thoughts?

Apparantly, online play doesn't have All Star Moves and people are complaining but, to be honest, I think people would have complained if they did put them in online play. Plus, you know someone would have eventually hacked the game to have never ending ASMs online.

Launch trailer:
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Taking out the super moves for online mode shows to me that they take their game seriously.

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I got my copy through the post today. The game is fun to play but the achievements are a breeze to get. I got 10 of them in under 20 minutes. You have to buy each track/BGM/Character which is good if you want specific things ASAP, you just save up your SEGA miles. I saved mine up for the Bonanza Bros.
Going to try online later tonight, maybe.

Edit: Tried online. You can use your Avatar online, which I did. ASM definitely aren't in online but you never miss them because, most of the time, the race is pretty close. Sometimes everyone spreads out a little but that only happened in one or two races on the harder courses. Saw no lag in my maxed out room on a very busy track, which is a big plus. All in all, I think the game is pretty excellent. Worth picking up. :y:
As for Achievements, I now have 21 out of 50.