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Okay, but seriously, why DOES Sonic need a car? We've already seen him to be very capable of OUTRUNNING them in the past. But, for the sake of this racing game, I'll assume his legs are broken or something.
So, the demo for this game is out now for people to download. I'll admit, I've been looking forward to this somewhat. It's hard to mess up the kart racing genre. Mario, Crash Banditcoot, Jak and Daxter. Almost every big name platforming series has had their hands on this genre for a game or two (or seven, in Mario's case). So it was only a matter of time before Sonic jumped into the mix. Only being smart, Sega decided to go the Mario route in that this is really Sega's racing game. Just with a focus on Sonic.
So, how is it? Eh. Not bad but not really good. But it gave me enough fuel that I feel the need to rant about it. So, get ready.
I'm both satisfied and really let down. I still have the last few times Sonic tried a racing game stuck in my head. Sonic R had some good ideas but suffered from horrible controls and design. Sonic Riders and it's sequel (the hoverboard games) were just all around completely awful. So, with those games in my head, All Stars Racing shines as racing goodness. The reason why is simple. It doesn't do anything different or new. Yeah, that's right. If you have ever played a Mario Kart game then simply replace the iconic Mario references with Sonic references. Even the specials and moves are exactly the same just with a different look. Shells are now rockets, mushrooms are now speed shoes, stars are now Chaos Emeralds. Seriously, this is Mario Kart 64 painted over. They might as well have called it Sonic Kart 360.
But, the thing is... that's all a plus. Mario Kart, and all the other games in this genre, they are all good. So this is just another one with different stages and characters. It's fun. It's really enjoyable to play. So, I'm glad they stole from other games. It's a hell of a lot better than whatever Sonic Rider's did.
But, then comes the disappointment. For one thing, all the Sonic references are mostly based off of the new games. You see a few Genesis-era enemies in the background, but that's it. Everything looks like it was pulled from Sonic Heroes or Sonic 06. Music and sound effects are all from the Adventure games it seems. Then, the levels. Oh how disappointing. They were all locked, but I could see other levels from the game. Sonic has several levels. Lost Palace, like from Heroes and 06. It's a palace on the ocean-theme, and it's really bland. Then there is Ocean Run, which looks exactly like Lost Palace. Then there is Bingo Party, which looks more like the level from Sonic Heroes than older games. Then there is Thunder Deck, clearly based on Eggman's ships in Adventure and Heroes. Pinball Highway, which.... looks like the same level Bingo Party was based on, just a different part of it. Dark Arsenal looks like it is based on the Ark levels from Shadow the Hedgehog or something. Turbine Loop looks like it is based on the levels right before the final level in Sonic Heroes. Roulette Road..... AGAIN?! Same damn level as Pinball Highway and Bingo Party. Damn it, you only need one Casino influenced level in this game, not three! Then finally, Whale Lagoon. Which looks like Lost Palace and Ocean Run but with a whale.
Yeah, they all look very very bland. It's like they took four ideas and spread them through nine levels. But if they had just gone back some more and looked harder, there is so much potential for insane racing stages in the Sonic history. It should have opened with Green Hill, naturally. They could even have kept the Bingo Party and Thunder Deck ideas. But think of the other things they could have done as well. A chemical plant, a volcano, an oil field, a mystic cave, a jungle, OUTER F****** SPACE. The list just goes on and on. But everything they did was so bland. Bland. Exactly like the level design has been since the Adventure games. So, they drew influence from the wrong places. It just makes me sad that they threw away and ignored such potential this game could have had and decided just to settle for bland mediocrity. It's a prime example of how Sonic levels went from unique and crazy in the Genesis days to bland and repetitive today. None of these levels sound fun at all. Which is a real shame. Some of the other levels from other series look somewhat better, but most of them seem kinda bland too.
Then, there is my problem with the demo itself. This demo sucks. Not because the game sucks, but because it's a stupid demo. It limits you to one of two characters (Sonic or Banjo) and you can only play one level (Lost Palace). You can be done with this demo in 5 minutes, and it really does NOT make you feel like you should go buy this game when it comes out. It leaves you feeling that if they locked every other single thing, then there probably really isn't any depth in this game at all, and I just pretty much played the whole thing. Pretty bad idea to have such an oppressively limiting demo. Especially when the cast of characters is so large, they could have at least opened up a few more of them, and then opened up at least one level per series.
Here is the list of characters:
Sonic the Hedgehog from Sonic the Hedgehog
Miles "Tails" Prower from Sonic the Hedgehog
Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic the Hedgehog
Doctor Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog
Amy Rose from Sonic the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog from Sonic the Hedgehog
Big the Cat from Sonic the Hedgehog
AiAi from Super Monkey Ball
Amigo from Samba de Amigo
Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue
Beat from Jet Set Radio
Alex Kidd from the Alex Kidd series
Billy Hatcher from Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
Zobio and Zobiko from The House of the Dead: EX
Ulala from the Space Channel 5 series
B.D. Joe from the Crazy Taxi series
Jacky Bryant and Akira Yuki from the Virtua Fighter series
Robo and Mobo from Bonanza Bros.
Opa-Opa from Fantasy Zone
Chuih, Chubei, Chupea and Chubach from ChuChu Rocket!
Banjo and Kazooie from the Banjo-Kazooie series (Xbox 360 version only)
Avatars (Xbox 360 version only)
Miis (Wii version only)
I will probably buy this game. Not when it comes out, but in like two years when I can get it used for $20.
But, that aside, if you are a fan of Kart racing and Mario Kart 64 and Crash Team Racing are fond memories of excellence in your mind, then pick this game up. It's a mixture of those two games with Sonic painted over it, and you will enjoy it for sure.
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