Date Released: Winter 2012 for most versions Date Reviewed: February 17, 2013 Genre: 3D Party Racer Players: 1-4 players locally (up to 5 on Wii U), 10 online Length: 3-30 minutes per event, 12-25 hours to unlock all content Replayability: High
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Introduction
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the sequel to 2010’s crossover party racer Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Not simply a basic sequel, the game focuses around the concept of vehicles that change during the race to traverse over land, water and the sky with a few courses that even head through lava or outer space. Presented as kid-friendly but designed to be enjoyable for all ages, Transformed is a quality racer for fans of SEGA and the genre. Difficult but not unfair, the game succeeds in making a unique and fun game for groups online or off, but somewhat sloppy direction and awkward marketing attempts keep it from becoming a true classic.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has finally been made available for Sony’s PlayStation Vita handheld after initial delays in production caused it’s release to be pushed back. Developed by Sumo Digital across all platforms, this version of the game retains all of the features of its console counterparts, save for the number of racers per race, which has been downsized to eight from the console version’s ten. A version for Nintendo’s 3DS is also slated for release on February 8th in Europe and February 12th in the United, while versions for Microsoft Windows and iOS are also planned, but have yet to been given release dates. Also of note is that if any is version of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is purchased through all GameStop retailers (including pre-orders for the 3DS version) will come bundled with an exclusive Hot Wheels toy car modeled after Danica Patrick’s ‘Danicar’ vehicle from the game.
After the break, we’ve included the launch trailer released for the game back in November.
Sumo Digital’s latest arcade racing title, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, is now available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Wii U in North America and Europe. The sequel to 2010’s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Transformed brings a myriad of new changes and additions to the series, with the most notable feature being the dynamic transformations of the game’s vehicles, which allows them seamlessly race on land, sea, and air. Transformed also assembles an all-star cast of characters from across SEGA’s long history, with several newcomers entering the fray, including Joe Musashi from Shinobi and Vyse from Skies of Arcadia. In addition, two guest characters from non-SEGA properties make an appearance on the game’s playable roster, those being auto racer Danica Patrick of NASCAR fame and the character Ralph from the 2012 Walt Disney film Wreck-It Ralph, which features several cameos of SEGA characters including Sonic the Hedgehog and the zombies from The House of the Dead.
Those who pre-ordered the game will receive a special ‘Bonus Edition’ of the title, which includes an extra course modeled after SEGA’s hit arcade driving game OutRun, as well as Metal Sonic from Sonic CD as a playable character. In addition to its release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Transformed will also be released for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita on December 7th in Europe and on December 11th in North America. Versions for Microsoft Windows and iOS are also planned, but currently do not have release dates.
Be sure to check out the game’s launch trailer after the break.
A demo for the upcoming Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace for free in all regions the service exists. PlayStation 3 will also receive this, but once the network is updated, which is independent by region. It is currently unknown if any other platforms will also receive a demo version of the game, as SEGA has not announced any as of yet.
The demo features only Sonic as a playable racer, but has tracks based on the classic Panzer Dragoon and Golden Axe titles, the later of which is not a race, but a ‘boost challenge’. Both levels use the unique transforming mechanic where the player’s car turns into a boat or a plane when necessary.
A sequel to Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is available to purchase on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this week for most Europeans, but will be available for North Americans next week. The Nintendo Wii U version will launch with the console the week after and the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita versions will be available in December. The PC version has no release date at the posting of this article, but is expected in 2012.
A specialized ‘Bonus Edition’ of the upcoming Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has be announced through SEGA’s official blog. Available to all who pre-order the racing game, potential players will receive access to an extra course themed around SEGA’s classic arcade franchise OutRun and Metal Sonic, Dr Robotnik’s evil doppelganger version of Sonic as a playable character – Both of which will be available in all gameplay modes. It is unknown at this time if the content will be packaged within the game itself or be a downloadable extra.
Although the title will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, the upcoming Wii U console, PC and mobile devices, there has been no word concerning if the later two will be receiving these additions.
Developed by SUMO Digital, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will be released in North America on November 20th. A more extensive special release of the game will be revealed at a later date, but that has been confirmed to only be arriving in European regions.
Update: The European ‘Limited Edition’ has been confirmed to be identical to North America’s ‘Bonus Edition’.
SEGA Rally Championship is the 1994/1995 arcade rally racing classic developed by SEGA-AM5 and later ported by SEGA-AM3 to the Saturn console and eventually several other platforms. Designed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, whom would go on to later create and be best known for several music-focused titles such as Space Channel 5, REZ and Child of Eden. A different style entirely, SEGA Rally Championship was no different by the importance of it’s music as the soundtrack was assembled to best emulate the frantic and unpredictable nature of the world of rally racing.
This time we will we will be listening to the song featured in Desert, the first course of SEGA Rally Championship. Included after the break are several remixes across various platforms.
SEGA had a fairly muted showing at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, but it was still rich with unique and diverse titles across every major platform, like fans of the company can always expect. SEGA also had some very unexpected surprise reveals and announcements, some received better than others.
After the break we have included each game SEGA of America focused on during the event. as well as other titles related to the company. We have read hundreds of articles and compressed it all into a basic read.
SEGA has announced a sequel to 2010’s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing titled Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed. While dropping the ‘SEGA’ portion of the title, the game will still feature a wide variety of SEGA franchises in addition to the Sonic the Hedgehog series, spanning from SEGA’s early years up until now. Franchises shown off include Skies of Acadia and Panzer Dragoon, with mention of others such as Golden Axe. The game’s main feature over its predecessor is the ability for player vehicles to transform from cars into both boats and planes mid-race, combining three separate physics engines into one game.
The game has been announced for XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Personal Computer, PlayStation Vita, and Nintendo 3DS, and will be developed by Sumo Digital. It is set for a release in Autumn of 2012. Assets below include a launch trailer, a set of screenshots, and a preview by IGN including a developer video interview.
It was revealed today that SEGA plans to release a sequel to their 2010 racing game this holiday season. This information comes the Toy Fair in New York, where SEGA held a booth displaying various characters from the series. No additional information was revealed, but more announcements about new characters and features are expected in the coming months. Given the series history, it is likely to be developed by Sumo Digital, while possible platforms may include the Nintendo’s 3DS and upcoming Wii U.
This December will see the loss of the Ferrari licensed OutRun Online Arcade on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360. Unless the contract with the Italian sporting vehicle manufacturer is renewed, the game will never be available for purchase again. The actual day as to when it will be taken down is unknown.
Released in 2009 and available for 800 Microsoft Points (Roughly 10 USD, 7 EUR or 6 GBP) this port of the 2006 arcade title OutRun 2 SP has some of the content removed, replaced or new completely with the addition of high definition graphics in particular being a high point. The title was removed from the PlayStation Network on PlayStation 3 much earlier in 2010 for undisclosed reasons.
This highly praised SUMO Digital conversion of AM2’s famous OutRun driving series is not the first game to be removed from the Xbox Live Arcade download platform. Typically those who purchased games that became delisted can re-download them from their Xbox 360 download history menu, but it would be wise to save it on your hard drive just in case.
As of November 22nd, the game is part of Microsoft’s ‘Deal of the Week’ program, making it half of it’s normal price until next Tuesday.Click here to see the full list.
The SEGA Source 