Better Late Than Never Reviews: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (iOS, Android) Review

Time for a new Better Late Than Never review, a review for a game that has been out for a long while, but not old enough to be a retro review. It's for a mobile version of a kart racer I absolutely adore, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. How does it handle on iOS and Android devices? Let's find out together (even though I wrote the review and already know the answer).

Why did the hedgehog drive a car? It's not a riddle. Really I don't know why.

One of my favorite mascot kart racers of all time is Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which released on last generation consoles and even the Nintendo DS. This obviously made me want to experience the mobile version of the game, as my fan fever for the racing series is as high as ever. While the mobile versions of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing has more in common with the DS version than the console versions, the game is overall a pleasant kart racer for iOS and Android device owners to entertain themselves with.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing offers multiple modes for its relatively low price. The Grand Prix offers four cups and three difficulties that have to be unlocked. Thus, you start at the Chao Cup on the easy difficulty, and once that is completed, the next cup is available for you to play.

The graphics of this game are a compromise between the Nintendo DS and home console versions.

One really annoying part of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is its highly frustrating competitor AI, especially in later difficulties such as normal. The AI loves attacking you with homing missiles, and it seems like it happens so much that you can seldom get a good lead going because of this artificial means of difficulty. It makes races closer than they should be, and sometimes you'll be cursing the game and the AI because of how seemingly cheap it is. Thankfully, clearing all of the difficulties and cups in the Grand Prix mode isn't necessary to get all of the achievements of the game, if you're into such a thing.

The AI is highly aggressive in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing's mobile versions... and highly annoying.

Another mode offered in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is the Mission mode. This mode puts you in different scenarios with the task of earning up to ten stars based on how you do. For instance, you might have to drive through as many gates as you can in an arena before time runs out, or play as Sonic, carefully aiming and shooting at creatures resting on the track, hoping to reach the goal in a set amount of time. The missions are quite fun and add some nice twists to the otherwise standard racing formula.

The Super Monkey Ball tracks require the most technique with their many sharp turns.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices uses two methods of control. The first is tilting your smartphone and tablet to steer. The other is a virtual analog stick to drive about and navigate the game's many twists and turns. Either works well, though you get more precision with the virtual analog stick than you do with tilt controls, which feel a little loose. Item use and drifting are done by pressing buttons on the touch screen. There are three stages of drifting, and drifting longer around a turn or corner results in a bigger boost once you let go of the drift button. Just be careful to not crash into a wall while drifting, or the effects of your boost will be negated.

Sega Miles is the currency of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, earned from participating in races, grand prix events, and missions. You use this currency to purchase in-game items such as new characters and race tracks for use in Single Race and Time Trial modes. Compared to the console versions of the game, the prices are considerably higher, and that is probably as an incentive to get players to use real world money to buy Sega Miles. While this isn't necessary at all, it can be quite a grind to earn enough Miles to purchase everything the game has to offer.

Unlock new racers with the use of Sega Miles, the currency of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.

Speaking of the tracks, there are sixteen from various Sega series, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Samba de Amigo, Jet Set Radio, Billy Hatcher, Super Monkey Ball, and The House of the Dead. A good number of tracks are taken directly from the home console versions, but the majority of tracks are specifically made for this mobile version. Some feature shortcuts, but this is rare unfortunately. Otherwise you're just speeding around linear tracks with very little to enjoy.

Use items like these boost-granting speed shoes to gain a slight edge over your tough opponents.

In the realm of multiplayer, what is offered is a bit limited. There is online play, but it's difficult to find any opponents, obviously due to how old this game is by now. There is also local multiplayer for multiple owners of iOS or Android devices to race each other.

Each racer has a chance for an all-star ability if they get too far behind the competition.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing isn't that much of a looker, using a lot more simplistic models than I would have expected for an iOS and Android game. The tracks and environments aren't too shabby texture-wise, and the draw distance is really good. It all runs at a firm frame-rate, too. Sound-wise you get all the same voice clips from the console versions and you get track music from other franchise games. The only difference here is that you cannot choose what song is played on a given track. This is because only one song is played per track. A disappointment, but understandable for this lesser version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.

If you don't mind the infuriating AI or the need to grind for Sega Miles to unlock content, what you'll get is a very capable kart racer on mobile devices that plays better than it looks. The online may be a ghost town, but the single player content you can enjoy is pretty loaded with things to do, whether it be the Grand Prix events, Mission mode, or the Time Trials. While nowhere near the caliber of its console bigger brother, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing on mobile is a nice port that offers a good deal of fun.

[SPC Says: C+]

Classics I Can Return To - Part Six

Last March we delved into seven more classics that I routinely return to. If you read the headline of this article, then you can probably guess that I'm about to do so again-- this time with seven new titles that I just cannot get enough of. From modern classics to games over a decade old, Part Six of Classics I Can Return To begins now!

If you missed a previous part of this long-running series and want to check past games listed, look no further than these links:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Splatoon (Wii U)

When it launched back at the end of May, Splatoon has a decent enough amount of content. However, over the past few months, the game has seen a steady stream of new content in the form of multiplayer maps, modes, weapons, and soon to be the ability to have private online matches with friends, a feature that I cannot wait to be able to try out. Along the way, Splatoon has surprised me with just how addicting the gameplay really is, and even when one is not winning, you're still making progress towards unlocking and purchasing new gear and weapons. Splatoon wasn't perfect went it launched by any stretch of the imagination, but now that it has seen so many continuous upgrades, it's darn close.

Rayman Legends (Multi)

While I don't hold it in as high of a regard as its predecessor, Rayman Legends is a fantastic 2D platformer that I enjoy whether at home on my Wii U for some local cooperative play or on the go with my PlayStation Vita version. Playing with my older brother is a blast on the Wii U version with him moving about the Murfy levels and me using the GamePad to arrange platforms and level quirks to save his bacon. The standard platforming levels where we're playing as Rayman and Globox (or whoever we decide on) are just as strong as ever. It's a game that I didn't know if I'd still be playing many years after its release, much more buying two versions of the same game!

Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

Even though Mario Kart 8 still gets a lot of playtime in the Stortzum household and with friends at their dorm rooms, Mario Kart 7 has started to suck me back in. It's amazing how much slower the game feels compared to the Wii U game, especially after speeding through the 200 cc expansion of Mario Kart 8. Regardless, I still love playing Mario Kart 7 with friends and family, and one of the most important reasons is because the amount of excellent, memorable, and fun tracks, both new and retro, is almost unmatched in any other Mario Kart. Mario Kart 8 might have the more interesting track design due to the anti-gravity portions of track, but Mario Kart 7 has more tracks that I absolutely love.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (Multi)

I've covered Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing's successor, All-Stars Racing Transformed, on a previous installment of Classics I Can Return To. This time we're talking about Sumo Digital's first racing game starring Sonic and the whole SEGA crew. Having a much better cast of characters to race as, at least in this writer's opinion, a wide variety of well crafted race tracks, an awesome mission mode, and less bugs compared to Racing Transformed. Despite their being more content in Transformed, I've by far spent more time playing and enjoying the original Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Whether it's on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or heck, even my iPhone (albeit the latter is a much different game), this kart racer remains one of my favorites to this day.

Batman: Arkham City (Multi)

There was a lot of poking fun at Nintendo, specifically Reggie Fils-Amie, the main face of Nintendo of America, regarding his "not the same game, not the same content" PR spiel regarding Batman: Arkham City arriving on the Wii U very late compared to the other versions. While for many there was no reason to return to Arkham City after they had already played in on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC, I felt compelled to do so because I loved the game so much. I beat it on the PS3, and then I went ahead and jumped in to the Wii U version near launch. It remains my favorite Batman game to this day, and being able to make up an excuse to play it all over again was fantastic. Now, I think I'll go back to the PlayStation 3 version and tie up some loose ends by getting some more trophies...

Unreal Tournament (PC)

I got into Unreal Tournament really late. It'd be like me coming to my 2004 high school graduation in 2014. It was a long time before I finally got the pleasure to play UT, suffice to say. Starting out with the weak PlayStation 2 port (yes, I know, I know), I managed to enjoy my time against the game's incredibly smart computer opponents, learning the game's seemingly endless amount of maps, getting a grasp of the different weapons, and fragging all that I saw fit to frag. Moving to the PC version, I quickly adapted to the mouse and keyboard controls. Sure, I still totally suck when compared to other players, but I enjoy myself regardless.

TimeSplitters 2 (PS2, GCN, XBX)

The final game on this edition of Classics I Can Return To came from the minds behind GoldenEye 007, Free Radical Design, a core group of Rareware developers who left prior to Perfect Dark's completion. They took some of the aspects of those games and created this awesome futuristic first-person shooter. The amount of multiplayer content rivaled Perfect Dark, offering multiple bots, well designed arenas with plenty of hiding spots, camping spots, and points of contention, modes, and options. The single player offered so much replay value with the harder difficulties giving players more to do and longer levels to survive. Through my tour of the TimeSplitters series, TimeSplitters 2 is the one I recall fond memories of most.

Top Five Most Underrated Kart Racers

The kart racer-- a favorite game type of mine definitely. Nowadays they aren't widely made outside of the Mario Kart series. However, over the years we've seen different developers attempt to make games in the genre to varying degrees of success. Even if you create a great kart racer, there's no telling if it will turn out to be a commercial hit. Today's top five list delves into the kart racers that either sold below expectations, didn't receive much hype, or just are overlooked in general. After you've checked out the choices here, feel free to agree/disagree and share your own ideas for kart racers that need more attention.

5) MySims Racing (Wii, DS)

Of all the kart racers listed on this top five, the one that surprised me the most was MySims Racing. When I was originally given a review copy to judge the game, I did not expect something special, despite enjoying past MySims games on Nintendo's Wii. However, I quickly found myself greatly liking what I was playing. MySims Racing contains superbly designed tracks with cleverly hidden shortcuts aplenty, a fair and well rounded balance of items, smart enemy AI, tight controls, and enough content to make the game well worth owning for any Wii and kart racing fan.

4) LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3)

Worthy of the price of admission alone thanks to its insanely robust track creator, LittleBigPlanet Karting is an above average kart racer that thanks to said track creator, opens up the possibilities for some amazing track designs. The tracks that come with the game on the disc that are played through the story mode are wonderful already, and every one was built with the same creator available to players. You can build multiple lap races, transforming tracks via some minor programming knowledge, one lap adventures, and even boss battles. While the actual item balance and unfair rubber band AI leave a lot to be desired (a reason why LittleBigPlanet Karting is only #4 on this list), the kart racing package on the whole is definitely worth checking out, especially since it can be purchased for less than $20 easily nowadays.

3) Mickey's Speedway USA (N64)

Released during the hey day of kart racers, the PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64 generation of home consoles, Mickey's Speedway USA was Rare's second kart racer for the N64. While it doesn't come close to outshining the masterpiece that is Diddy Kong Racing, the game starring Disney's lovable Mickey Mouse crew is one that is indeed packed with lots of positives-- nice track design with well done shortcuts, cute banter between characters, a high amount of polish (befitting of Rare), suitably catchy music, fantastic multiplayer, and a story mode that progressively gets more difficult as the game goes on. Mickey's Speedway USA is in a lesser echelon of kart racers compared to Mario Kart 64 and the previously mentioned Diddy Kong Racing, but it holds its own regardless.

2) ModNation Racers: Road Trip (Vita)

LittleBigPlanet Karting supports a much larger kit of tools for players to create their own race tracks, but not only is this much more convoluted to do compared to the PlayStation Vita launch title ModNation Racers: Road Trip, but the actual gameplay is lesser as well. The Vita version of ModNation Racers possesses a wide array of pre-made tracks for the excellent story campaign, full of side missions such as not hitting a wall, taking every shortcut, and hitting five enemies, for instance. Creating capable and highly competent tracks is a breeze, and the use of the touch screen to accurately draw track, place objects, and sculpt terrain makes for an engaging designing experience that won't make you need to watch a 50 minute series of tutorials just to have a fighting chance of building some great.

1) Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (Multi)

While its sequel, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed gets a lot of acclaim from fans and critics, the original Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing usually gets overlooked. Not here at SuperPhillip Central, where I actually consider the original Sonic & SEGA all-star karting mashup to be superior. It has a better cast of characters with a more enjoyable way of unlocking them via spending SEGA Miles, it has a more entertaining single player mode with its Mario Kart DS-style mission mode, and it has tracks that are much easier to see the twists and turns of. A lack of glitches and bugs compared to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed makes the pick of the original Sonic & SEGA quite easy to make as the most underrated kart racer currently on the market today.

Honorable Mentions: Konami Krazy Racers (GBA), Banjo Pilot (GBA), NASCAR Kart Racing (Wii), Crash Nitro Kart (PS2, GCN, XBX)

Top Ten Kart Racing Games (2015 Edition)

With several new kart racers out since the 2013 list of top kart racing games, it seemed like an opportune chance to build a new, updated list of the kart racers that I deem the best of the big bunch. These games have great track design, tight controls, and all the options one would expect of great games in the genre.

You may notice that neither Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart 64 are on this version of the list. Both suffer from the same problem, an obvious case of rubber-band AI, which is immediately apparent when the AI's speed goes to impossible heights just to catch up to the player. This is easily seen on the Rainbow Road track on Mario Kart 64 if you take the shortcut that allows you to skip essentially half the track. The AI will catch up to you within a lap's time.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this second round of the Top Ten Kart Racing Games of all time.

10) ModNation Racers: Road Trip (Vita)

This might be an "out there" choice, especially as so few people have played it, what, with it being on the PlayStation Vita and all. However, ModNation Racers: Road Trip made the series that started on the PS3 even better with greater track design and the ability to create much more extravagant tracks of your own with much more ease. That was thanks to the touch controls of the Vita hardware. Furthermore, item balance was genuinely well done, thanks to the ability to use boost energy, made from drifting, to shield yourself from offensive attacks. It's one of my most played Vita games due to the fun racing and even more fun track creator.

9) Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)

The first handheld entry in the Mario Kart series, Mario Kart: Super Circuit not only contained 16 new colorful tracks, but one could unlock all of the tracks from Super Mario Kart to make for an impressive amount of great tracks to put the pedal to the metal on. The game introduced the now well known ranking system that scores players on their skillful racing, and many times, good luck. It was a game that was more balanced and fully featured when compared to Super Mario Kart, and actually featured fairer AI to battle against for the first place trophy.

8) Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

The latest portable entry in the Mario Kart series is Mario Kart 7, and it didn't go as item-heavy as its predecessor, Mario Kart Wii did. While Mario Kart 7 lowered the racer count back to a less exciting eight, the game was a more balanced one because of it. Sure, later CC races would have more than their fair share of blue shells for first place to worry about, but for the most part, Mario Kart 7 was a far better entry than Wii. It featured some now-classic races and brought back several favorite tracks in retro cup form, such as Coconut Mall, Airship Fortress, Dino Dino Jungle, and more. Online communities were a step up from past Mario Kart online attempts, allowing friends to join specifically designed cups made by other players with a whole set of options.

7) Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN)

Mario Karts prior to Mario Kart: Double Dash!! were pretty iterative, only offering newer tracks. Well, to be fair, going into full 3D with Mario Kart 64 was quite notable, but the basic mechanics and foundation were the same. Double Dash!! shook things up greatly with having two Mushroom Kingdom characters per vehicle, offering 16 new, colorful and creative tracks, multiple characters and vehicles to choose from, character-exclusive items like Bowser's big shell, and an awesome All-Cup that had racers taking on all 16 tracks of the game in a row. The GameCube saw many iterations of Nintendo's franchises that disappointed, but I'm of the mindset that Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was not one of them!

6) Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Multi)

Sonic and friends return for a racing romp with the inelegantly titled Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The game offered an immense amount of modes to players, from classic Grand Prix to a mode where players participated in races, challenges, and other tests of skill to unlock new challenges and racers. The reason I rate Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed lower than its predecessor is that this game featured more glitches and bugs than the original, as well some frustrating track design (i.e. instances where the direction to go is not abundantly clear, making some races very irritating) and lame character choices (I'm looking at you, Wreck-It-Ralph and Ms. Danica Patrick). However, there is no question that All-Stars Racing Transformed was and still is a fantastic kart racer that is more akin to arcade classics than say, a Mario Kart.

5) Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (Multi)

Containing a wide array of classic SEGA all-stars, such as Sonic (of course), Billy Hatcher, Beat from Jet Set Radio, Samba (of Samba de Amigo fame), Aiai from Super Monkey Ball, and plenty more-- even some very old school selections, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing featured brilliantly designed courses with plenty of killer shortcuts. The amount of love poured into the game was definitely apparent through every orifice. Using points to buy new courses, characters, and music was something that kept players going in their quest to unlock everything the game had to offer, and it was the preferred way I enjoyed of unlocking content than what the sequel provided. Trying all 30+ challenges in the game's Mission mode was also a blast. While not featuring all the little presentation flourishes that All-Stars Racing Transformed had, I still enjoy the original Sonic & SEGA the best when the two are compared.

4) Crash Team Racing (PS1)

Before feeling it was above cartoony games, Naughty Dog developed some very good games for the original PlayStation and its successor, the PS2. One of these for the PS1 was taking the characters from its Crash Bandicoot games and placing them into a kart racing game, very much inspired by Diddy Kong Racing's Adventure mode. The end result proved that Naughty Dog got exactly what made the genre and Diddy Kong Racing by extension successful, as it created an engrossing kart racers with excellent designed tracks filled with killer shortcuts, tight controls, balanced items, and loads of fun. Perhaps the only gripe I can give to Crash Team Racing is that the game's music fails to captivate as much as the rest of the package.

3) Mario Kart DS (DS)

My favorite handheld racer is Mario Kart DS. Sure, now you can't participate in online races via Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection, but at the same, no more looking at player emblems that resemble or are blatantly dongs. Instead, the game still features plenty of content to make it worthy of playing even if you can't do online anymore. Mario Kart DS was the game that introduced the retro cup tracks into the fold, offering 16 tracks from past Mario Kart titles. Additionally, DS was the first game in the series to possess a Mission mode, where players engaged in challenges such as driving through numbered gates, collecting coins, and battling bosses in arenas. Mario Kart DS was recently released on the Wii U Virtual Console, allowing a whole new generation to try the most complete handheld entry in the series to date.

2) Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

By itself, Mario Kart 8 is a competent package with some of the most ingeniously designed tracks in kart racing history, thanks to the most part by the all-new anti-gravity sections, turning Mario Kart 8's tracks reminiscent of F-Zero in some regards. Although the battle mode isn't up to the standards made by previous games in the series, what makes Mario Kart 8 shine the most is in its post-release content. We've seen 16 more tracks added to the game, and while these do cost money, the value is amazing as the tracks are just as smartly made as the base game. The recent addition of the 200 cc has made it so Mario Kart 8 is faster than ever before, making the game feel like a totally different beast. It is all of these reasons why Mario Kart 8 is now my favorite entry in the series and my pick for the second best kart racing game.

1) Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

The original Nintendo 64 version of Diddy Kong Racing reigns supreme in my book as best kart racer of all time, almost two decades after its initial release. The game still contains the most complete kart racing package combined with incredibly tight and responsive controls. There were three main vehicles to play as across dozens of lovely and dynamic tracks, an immensely innovative and creative Adventure mode that made for much greater longevity than other games in its genre, and it featured a resoundingly remarkable soundtrack and presentation. Diddy Kong Racing changed how I looked at kart racers, and it constantly returning to it I realize just how special this creation from the minds at Rare really was and really is.

Honorable Mentions:

Super Mario Kart
Mario Kart Wii
MySims Racing
LittleBigPlanet Karting
ModNation Racers