I'm not a big fan of racing games, but recently picked up a lot of arcade racers including all of the Sonic Racing titles. This is by far my favourite and I would argue best in the series. I've played this strictly in couch co-op, so I can't write to the online play. Although I find this to be a very well made and fun cart racer, it's biggest hurdles are accessibility.
The progression of development from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to this is very noticeable. Comparing it to other character cart racers (Mario, Garfield, Crash, etc.) makes more sense than an arcade racer. This is because customization is minimal, unlockable car mods that impact a few statistics, and the dependency on external parts of the race - what items you receive, how you used them, and what environmental effects are interfering with you and the other racers.
These aren't bad things! The game plays very well, coming out of two racers that were already well designed. That is, the drifting feels nice and the car statistics actual do impact handling, and every track is significantly different and they make sense beyond just theme- or skin-changes. The difficulty with this one seems to be ramped up; even on the easiest mode you're moving fast and other racers are utilizing their items more efficiently. As well, position swapping can be so instantaneous, where someone in first can easily drop to 5th or below because they hit a wall or were hit by the right items, and subsequently, position 12 can seem to boost up to position 5 just from hitting a few boosts or getting the items they need. It's designed so items and the environment can have such a large impact on the race.
You'll figure out what tracks you love and hate easily because of their appearance and environmental effects. This is where accessibility is a huge problem against the other Sonic racers. One common complaint I'm seeing is that is that it's more difficult to see and analyze what is happening on your screen. In some levels, the track appears as a "lighter brown" against a "darker brown" of the off-track hazards, or a "lighter blue" to a "darker blue" and so on. This issue is amplified by the fact that there is so much going on - vehicles have glowing effects, multiple items make different effects, everyone's getting and using items, the environment has so many moving parts, every racer is emoting something, there's a bright yellow line behind your teammates, and there's rings everywhere. At certain points, this game looks like a neon bullet hell but in the racing genre, which hinders the actual racing of this racing game.
I grew up with Sonic, played all of the Genesis games, and watched the cartoons in the 90's. Still, most of these characters are new to me and their banter is annoying. I don't think this would be just because I haven't been following the franchise, but it feels written for a much younger generation, and the story is so elementary and repetitive, I can't even bare to watch a second of the cut scenes. It's confusing how these aspects on the game feel so childish, but the gameplay itself is so difficult and complex.
This is a busy cart racer, moreso than just about everything else in its genre. However, it tends to handle it very well with some settings to help, but not enough to make it accessible to everyone. Watch a few playthroughs, or really dive into it before your refund period expires, because if you have difficulty distinguishing some colours of the track apart - including when rockets, boulders, and fire are shooting around everywhere, then this may not be as fun for you.
The progression of development from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to this is very noticeable. Comparing it to other character cart racers (Mario, Garfield, Crash, etc.) makes more sense than an arcade racer. This is because customization is minimal, unlockable car mods that impact a few statistics, and the dependency on external parts of the race - what items you receive, how you used them, and what environmental effects are interfering with you and the other racers.
These aren't bad things! The game plays very well, coming out of two racers that were already well designed. That is, the drifting feels nice and the car statistics actual do impact handling, and every track is significantly different and they make sense beyond just theme- or skin-changes. The difficulty with this one seems to be ramped up; even on the easiest mode you're moving fast and other racers are utilizing their items more efficiently. As well, position swapping can be so instantaneous, where someone in first can easily drop to 5th or below because they hit a wall or were hit by the right items, and subsequently, position 12 can seem to boost up to position 5 just from hitting a few boosts or getting the items they need. It's designed so items and the environment can have such a large impact on the race.
You'll figure out what tracks you love and hate easily because of their appearance and environmental effects. This is where accessibility is a huge problem against the other Sonic racers. One common complaint I'm seeing is that is that it's more difficult to see and analyze what is happening on your screen. In some levels, the track appears as a "lighter brown" against a "darker brown" of the off-track hazards, or a "lighter blue" to a "darker blue" and so on. This issue is amplified by the fact that there is so much going on - vehicles have glowing effects, multiple items make different effects, everyone's getting and using items, the environment has so many moving parts, every racer is emoting something, there's a bright yellow line behind your teammates, and there's rings everywhere. At certain points, this game looks like a neon bullet hell but in the racing genre, which hinders the actual racing of this racing game.
I grew up with Sonic, played all of the Genesis games, and watched the cartoons in the 90's. Still, most of these characters are new to me and their banter is annoying. I don't think this would be just because I haven't been following the franchise, but it feels written for a much younger generation, and the story is so elementary and repetitive, I can't even bare to watch a second of the cut scenes. It's confusing how these aspects on the game feel so childish, but the gameplay itself is so difficult and complex.
This is a busy cart racer, moreso than just about everything else in its genre. However, it tends to handle it very well with some settings to help, but not enough to make it accessible to everyone. Watch a few playthroughs, or really dive into it before your refund period expires, because if you have difficulty distinguishing some colours of the track apart - including when rockets, boulders, and fire are shooting around everywhere, then this may not be as fun for you.