I think this is a brilliant beginner's racing game. If you have heavy nostalgia for this title in specific, I absolutely get it. The drift system is Mario Kart's pumped up to eleven - drifting to get speed is EVERYTHING in this game. Your natural movement speed is so painfully slow and getting a drift boost is so easy and lasts for so long out of the initial drift that getting back up to high speed is an absolute priority. Additionally, the actual drift is smooth as butter, both letting you weave out and cut in depending on the strength of your control stick hold flawlessly. Maintaining speed all throughout a lap is both simple to get a hold of and feels good to do!
Additionally, dang for a first draft, they really nail character in this game. Sure, you can tell that the budget isn't exactly stellar, but there's some REALLY good pulls for Sega all-stars and vehicle designs! Big the Cat on a motorcycle far smaller than he is with Froggy colors is hilarious, Eggman on a big wheeler because he "wants to look down on everyone he passes" is great, the Chuchus IN a rocket is a fantastic little touch, and Opa-Opa alone is a celebration of silent characterization. Seriously the amount of animation flourishes on that little guy; zero attachment to him before and now I would protect him with my life!
Unfortunately, simplicity is Sonic & Sega All-Stars' greatest downfall. I call it a "beginner's" racing game because most of the track design is based around the drifts - long, shallow turns that let you get that boost sky high. It makes the actual navigation of tracks rather samey, the chokepoints where you would use items repetitive and basically identical as "where the hazards are" or "when the split paths converge". There IS a lot of personality in these environments, but the process of going through them doesn't change due to the simplicity of the track design and the game's base mechanics. And due to the lower budget of the game, it doesn't have the time to sell the spectacle of each track mechanically. Sure, the Samba de Amigo tracks are visual spectaculars, adore those, but you don't interact with those visuals in any meaningful way; they're just neatly there, off to the side as you do the same drifts you do anywhere else! It is a good-feeling game with a lot of love for its source material, but very rarely does it come close to meeting its potential. As-is, it kinda just peters out halfway through the mission mode.
Note that nothing I said about the tracks above applies to the Super Monkey Ball tracks. For no reason, ALL of the Monkey Ball tracks are rude, filled with 90 degree turns and obstacles, and handle gravity differently as your kart clings to it rather than jumping off of it most of the time. They are fantastic and singlehandedly show the potential of this original game being realized. Seriously, Monkey Target is an all-timer of a race course and I want that to be known.
Additionally, dang for a first draft, they really nail character in this game. Sure, you can tell that the budget isn't exactly stellar, but there's some REALLY good pulls for Sega all-stars and vehicle designs! Big the Cat on a motorcycle far smaller than he is with Froggy colors is hilarious, Eggman on a big wheeler because he "wants to look down on everyone he passes" is great, the Chuchus IN a rocket is a fantastic little touch, and Opa-Opa alone is a celebration of silent characterization. Seriously the amount of animation flourishes on that little guy; zero attachment to him before and now I would protect him with my life!
Unfortunately, simplicity is Sonic & Sega All-Stars' greatest downfall. I call it a "beginner's" racing game because most of the track design is based around the drifts - long, shallow turns that let you get that boost sky high. It makes the actual navigation of tracks rather samey, the chokepoints where you would use items repetitive and basically identical as "where the hazards are" or "when the split paths converge". There IS a lot of personality in these environments, but the process of going through them doesn't change due to the simplicity of the track design and the game's base mechanics. And due to the lower budget of the game, it doesn't have the time to sell the spectacle of each track mechanically. Sure, the Samba de Amigo tracks are visual spectaculars, adore those, but you don't interact with those visuals in any meaningful way; they're just neatly there, off to the side as you do the same drifts you do anywhere else! It is a good-feeling game with a lot of love for its source material, but very rarely does it come close to meeting its potential. As-is, it kinda just peters out halfway through the mission mode.
Note that nothing I said about the tracks above applies to the Super Monkey Ball tracks. For no reason, ALL of the Monkey Ball tracks are rude, filled with 90 degree turns and obstacles, and handle gravity differently as your kart clings to it rather than jumping off of it most of the time. They are fantastic and singlehandedly show the potential of this original game being realized. Seriously, Monkey Target is an all-timer of a race course and I want that to be known.