Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing has arrived and yours truly is pleased to report, the game is very good. The title may not win the “most original reward” but what it mimics, it mimics well. Care to see how this title faired on a scale of 1-10? Jump down the rabbit hole and find out…

I am certain that you have heard that this title pretty much copies Nintendo’s own Mario Kart, but in case you didn’t, if they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, consider Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing overly flattered. While The kart genre has been flooded with crappy imitations, thankfully this game is not one of them (crappy imitation anyway). The game pays homage to Nintendo’s classic while still managing to stand on it’s own 2 wheels.

The game starts off with players earning points via placement in races and trophies at the end of each round (4 races per round). The tracks are varied and vibrant and provide some amazing track design decisions. You will find yourself racing on Super Monkey Ball themed levels, to Sonic, to House of the Dead, to old classics like Billy
Hatcher (please make a sequel sega) and Samba de Amigo. Players start off with 8 racers but will soon be unlocking a dozen more. Upon completion of each race players are rewarded with coins that they can later spend to unlock some fantastic Sega goodies. It felt rewarding and provided some depth to this quality 3rd party title.

Gameplay wise the title is pretty much spot on. The offering of a bevy of control options just like Mario Kart will suffice racing fans and just seem to work. The difficulty ramps up nicely and you will find yourself in some pretty intense battles both online and off. The title also offers a plethora of multi-player options and just help to add to the replay value.

Graphically speaking the game is a joy to watch and moves at a nice pace. As mentioned above, the backgrounds are highly distinctive and character models are very nice. You will find this to be one of the prettier Wii titles and the development team seems to have put in a decent effort (although the game looks VERY nice on a 360 or a PS3).

The only qualm I think people will have is the originality factor which I got past real quick.  While comparing this to Mario Kart is inevitable, Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing really does a terrific job in giving gamers an excellent option to the kart racing genre. It’s a great title for everyone to enjoy and provides some fun for all members of the family. It’s a Mario Kart clone through and through but it’s one that actually gets it right.

Overall gameonnintendo score 8.4 out of 10.