posted on 16. 12. 2009 by Lori in PlayStation 3, Sega, Xbox 360 

Hands-On: Sonic & Sega All Star Racing

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Hands-On: Sonic & Sega All Star Racing

My first console ever was a SEGA Genesis, so the “Sonic the Hedgehog” games were always very dear to me, so when SEGA decided to show “Sonic & SEGA All Star Racing” I was all over it, and fast.

Yesterday we got to sit down with a PS3 Preview-Build of the game. Hit the huge Continue button below to see what we thought.

The game is good. Really good. It’s basically “Mario Kart” in HD by SEGA, which is a guarantee for success, banking on some very well known and some pretty obscure SEGA franchises. “Billy Hatcher and The Giant Egg”? Check. “Super Monkey Ball”? Check. “Shenmue”? Believe it or not: check.

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The 3 tracks we were allowed to play, 2 “Sonic” stages (Casino, Palace), 1 “Billy the Hatcher” stage (Snowy-level), were filled with copious amounts of detail, which ultimately is lost on you since everything is zipping by pretty quickly as you are navigating the tracks, trying to pick up foes from a distance or crashing into everything because you are too tempted to get some boost out of your powerdrifts — yes, the game includes a snaking mechanic.

Clearly, there’s still work to be done: The frame-rate doesn’t hold up just yet and a SEGA rep told us that the 3 tracks we played were literally the only ones that are finished so far, but if SEGA can manage to fill up the disk with enough content this might be the best game including Sonic since “Sonic Adventure” on the Dreamcast.

It’s refreshing to see a game like this based on a franchise other than “Mario”, and seeing how aside from “Mod Nation Racers” there’s not a lot of karting going on on the HD twins, this game is just what the doctor ordered. We just hope your doctor’s last name is not Robotnik.

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