We all grew up playing the Mario Cart games. I remember playing split-screen on the Super Nintendo while others may have gotten their first taste with Mario Cart 64 or Double-Dash. Its a fun twist on the racing genre and Sonic was long overdue for a spot in the limelight. That is not to say to this is Sonic's first racing experience but its easily one of his best; it finally puts him on par with his rival. A ton of different characters and tracks along with superb vehicle handling make this is a top-notch racing game.
Game play is key to any racing game and this one is exceptionally smooth. This game is quite unique in the fact that you race across land, water, and in the sky. Thankfully, the vehicles handle smoothly across all three modes. The drifting is very satisfying and is quite easy once you get used to how it feels. You'll be drifting a lot as you'll get a boost that varies in strength depending on the length of your drift. If you need some assist there is an array of different power-ups at your disposal. These range from homing RC drones, to big fat blow-fish, to snow balls.
The content in this game, especially in the career mode, is quite astonishing. First and foremost almost everything can be played via couch co-op which is a rare find these days. The career will have you compete not only in races but various challenges such as races that require you to constantly drift or races that require you to meet checkpoints while avoiding traffic. The easier difficulties will make this game fairly accessible while the hard difficulties can be quite challenging. All the game modes will reward your character with experience points for finishing racing. These will unlock different mods you can use to change the stats on your vehicles.
Sonic is one of a dozen or so IPs represented in this game. There is a bunch of characters from the Sonic universe including Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow. You'll find them racing along the likes of Beat ( Jet Set Radio), Ulala (Space Channel 5), Aiai (Super Monkey Ball), Amigo (Samba De Amigo), Ralph (Wreck it Ralph), and many more. You'll race across multiple tracks that represent just as many different games. The character models look just as good as the tracks which are brimming with personality. Some tracks feature each vehicle mode evenly while others focus one or two more than the others. Almost all the tracks change each lap giving each race an exciting cinematic feel.
Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed is a successful modern twist on the classic kart racer genre. The races are fast and frantic. You'll feel great as you pull off tight drifts or knock out opponents sneaking up behind you. There is a wonderful variety of much loved characters and locations featured in this game. Bring a friend over to enjoy the robust co-op that is accessible across almost the entire game. No matter how you play it or who you play as you're bound to have a great time playing this game.