Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing - review

The game's developer's, Sumo Digital, have shrugged their shoulders at any idea of trying to rival Nintendo's legendary cartoon racer (in the way Sega went head to head with Mario when they created Sonic), instead creating what is almost a Sega-themed expansion pack.

What's most important, though, is that they've done it very, very well.

The game features faces from Sega's vast canon of games, with familiar faces such as Sonic, Billy Hatcher (he of the giant egg), AiAi (from Super Monkey Ball) and Alex Kidd rubbing shoulders with slightly lesser-known characters such as Ryo Hazuki from Dreamcast title Shenmue.

Racing can be done in grand prix competitions, missions or multiplayer, results of which earn the player Sega Miles which can be spent in the in-game shop to buy characters, songs and tracks (although, sadly, not upgrades for the characters).

The characters ride a variety of machines, from planes to hovercrafts to cars to motorbikes, and feature differing skills which influence how they perform.

Acceleration, strength, speed and handling are just some of the areas in which characters can be compared.

The missions section features around 60 different races and tasks, ranging from straightforward racing to such innovations as levels where you earn points for boosting or power-sliding, or a course filled with breakable pots, with the objective being to complete the course causing as little damage as possible.

Other missions then call on you to complete a similar course causing as much damage as possible, which will provide a therapeutic release to anyone who spent far too long repeating the former course in order to leave all pots intact and thus obtain the maximum AAA rating.

The missions, each allocated to a specific character, are varied and simple enough to create a very healthy 'just one more'¦' effect, although that can make it frustrating when you run up against some of the tougher tests a bit later on.

The races themselves are everything you would expect from Mario Kart on an Xbox360 or PS3. The tracks are eye-catching and fun, with alternative routes and secret shortcuts in abundance, and all of the classic power-ups are there: missiles (standard and homing), mines, speed boosts and more.

I should also mention that the warning alarm which sounds when a missile is on your tail is completely identical to Kart, surely a consciously-included nod to the original game and its developers.

Unique to S&SAR are specific special moves, which differ for each character. Sonic has a mad boost of speed, Billy Hatcher crushes everyone with his giant egg, and so on.

These are good fun and encourage you to try out different characters to see how they uniquely dish out their own brand of punishment when the right power-up arrives.

If you don't own a Wii (or even if you do), and you hanker for some Mario Kart-style action, S&SAR is made to order.

8/10

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing

PS3 - 23.98

Nintendo Wii - 29.99

PC - 19.99

XBox 360 - 23.98

Nintendo DS - 19.99

Buy it at www.game.co.uk)