Music is a major component and as Alex Kidd turns on his All-Star move and the theme from Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (my very first Mega Drive game) starts up I can't help but smile. Or is it?īut the nostalgia doesn't end with visuals and characters.
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That plus running over a hedgehog with your Eggman car just isn't very entertaining. The way it works is that smaller vehicles accelerate faster while the heavier ones are better equipped to ram their opponents of the track. They had in fact started out by having some characters race without vehicles, however as the physics impact the racing in a very real way it just didn't feel right. The game received some criticism for putting the fastest creature in the world - Sonic the Hedgehog - in a car, but I was given an explanation by the developers. Naturally there will be a few Sonic themed levels, and there are also a sizeable cast of Sonic characters already revealed including Eggman, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow and Big. There are also tracks based on Billy Hatcher and the Giant Eggs, Super Monkey Ball, Sonic Heroes and more so far.
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This Halloween Sega revealed a track based on the House of the Dead series called Curien Mansion. And that's a good thing, you don't want the race to be about who gets last place before the final lap. However, I'm told that the All-Star move will be tuned down for the final game as Sumo Digital wished to highlight this feature during the demo. When I tried the game the All-Star move was an all powerful tool that allowed me to move from last to first place in half a lap. Sonic is naturally turned into Super Sonic and Amy uses her giant hammer. Beat from Jet Set Radio puts on his blades and uses spray cans to distort the vision of those he passes. If you are playing as Ryo Hazuki he will trade his motorcycle for the legendary forklift and you can pick up and throw away your opponents as you pass them by. When you are falling behind in the race you get the All-Star move from one of the Mario Kart-esque boxes spread around the track.
It is probably the most blatant rubber band mechanic you will ever find. Sumo Digital did keep the basics of the racing from their initial project and it is still very much about drifting and gaining boost.īut let's return to the All-Star move. Another interesting note was that Sumo Digital originally planned for it to be more of a pure racing game without weapons, but the brass said "let's add some weapons", and the game turned into something closer to what we are accustomed to - a typical kart game. But somewhere in the PR catacombs of Sega headquarters "revenge" was not a word Sonic would use and the special move that lets all characters take revenge on those ahead of them in the race was renamed All-Star move and the game was named Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.
When I first learned of the title prior to E3 this summer it was called Sonic Revenge Racing. At least we will get to race with him next year. We haven't seen the enigmatic young man since he starred in Shenmue 2 and hopes of a third game have been squashed time and time again.
The greatest piece of fan service Sega fans are getting, at least as far as we know, is the inclusion of Ryo Hazuki from the Shenmue games. But also two words that make up the foundation of Sumo Digital's upcoming Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. Two words that Sega have been struggling with ever since their ill fated Dreamcast console was put to rest.