With Mario Kart dominating the kart racing scene, Sonic and some of his SEGA buddies have shown up to challenge the friendly little Nintendo plumber.

This is a game that offers a lot of variety in terms of game modes. The single player missions are bursting with different events including drifting, knockout races, and challenges where the player will have to dodge pots, shoot specific targets with different powerups, engage in some battle arena’s, take on some normal race events, try out some jump races and a whole lot more.

Built with the same engine as SEGA’s Outrun 2’s, the engine allows the game to shout with exuberance as it pushes the visuals, character animations and the overall playability. As an example, in order to be successful in races, the player will need to use cornering techniques of either drifting through corners or cautiously slowing down. It adds some depth to the racing and makes it a lot more fun to master.

There are a selection of power-ups, however they are a little disappointing.  There are only about seven different power-ups, and it would’ve been great to see a larger variety. Although, the different game modes and unique level designs allows for enough diversity, that the lack in power-ups is forgotten.

Whenever Sonic is around, you can always count to get an appearance from his faithful companions, Tails and Knuckles. Not only has he brought his loyal sidekicks, but the rest of his SEGA family as well. By completing missions the player will earn SEGA miles to purchase characters such as Dr. Eggman, B.D Joe from Crazy Taxi, Shadow, Amy and many more. They’ve thrown in all the characters you’d expect, plus a whole bunch more you wouldn’t, which makes the variety of characters very interesting.

To put simply, the visuals are stunning. There is absolutely zero room for improvement in the level design, as you race around defying gravity on the most colorful and vibrant of imaginative tracks. They represent what fans have come to expect from Sonic and SEGA games. The characters and their accompanying vehicles are extremely detailed which allows for the game’s visuals to flow and complement each other perfectly.

The sounds are excellent, with one exception – irritating commentary. Then again, what would a game be without commentary that isn’t slightly irritating after clocking in a couple hours and hearing it over and over again.

Kart racers are built for multiplayer fun. SASASR has redefined what this means and more. The game has four player split screen for local, and eight players online. The players can either race against each other or play a versus mode in a battle arena.

Sonic and SEGA all star racers offers so much more from a kart racer perspective. It’s fast paced, beautifully designed, carrying addictive multiplayer and the single player missions are giving it the gas to take poll position.

[starreviewmulti id=1 tpl=20]