Pimpin Reviews: Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing -(Summer Bash Part 2 of 16)-

Pimppeter2

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An event hosted on Pimpin Reviews, were I plan to cover every Review I have promised before I leave for my Vacation. Here's the full schedule, in order


Modern Warfare 2 vs Battle Field Bad Company 2
Sonic and Sega Allstars Racing
Toy Soldiers
Jak and Daxter: The Last Frontier vs Jak X
Condemned 1 (Request by Furburt)
Adventure Quest
NCIS plain
11th hour vs. NCIS
Napoleon: Total War
Supernatural
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Oblivion vs Dragon Age: Origins
Infinite Space (Request by Souplex)
Transformers: War for Cybertron (request by Souplex)
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 vs The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

As you can tell, it features 4 of my very special VS Reviews, and great ones to boot. I hope you'll all stay tuned!

[h4]Pimpin Reviews: Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing[/h4]​

Tid Bits
-Thanks to Labyrinth for the Pimpin Banner
-Any reply that says "TL;DR" that is not a sarcastic response and I will lose it.
-On the Short side, sorry
-Thanks for commenting!
-Happy B-DAy Souplex! Technically your day is over, but meh.

* * * * * *​

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, Mobile
Genre: Racing game
Modes: Single Player/Multiplayer
Developer: Sumo Digital (Published by Sega)

It may be hard to believe, but at a certain point in history, Sonic and his crew actually posed a real threat to The Mario Kingdom. This nostalgic period of gaming culture saw our furry blue friend challenging the fat Italian plumber for the position as the face of videogaming. Today, fewer gamers recognize his once-iconic face, and even fewer seem to still care. With Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Sega continues its proud tradition of lagging miles behind their adversary. While the game does nothing drastically different from Mario Kart, though, it shouldn't be ignored. The game provides a fun, fast, and silly kart racer for all platforms.

A Brand Kart racer is nowhere without some big name stars to flaunt, and thankfully, Sega has put most of its iconic universe on display. Sonic and his bunch of furry friends show up, namely with Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, and even the bewildering choice of Big The Cat. Other Sega favorites also show up, like AiAi from Super Monkey Ball, Ryo from Shenmue, and even now obscure characters like Billy Hatcher. The list is large and varied, and it's notable to report that the 360 version includes non-Sega character Banjo-Kazooie and even has the option to play as your own Avatar, as the Wii does with the Mii. It's slightly lamentable that no such feature is sported on the Play Station 3.

Why the fuck DOES Sonic need a car?

Sega also rose paints the players nostalgia vision by having each character ride on his or her very own unique game-related kart. The karts are surprisingly faithful to their character origins, such as D.B Joe's "crazy taxi". And you can unlock new and even more obscure favorites with Sega Miles, points awarded for each race that vary on your position and completion time. Sadly, the opportunity to pimp out your ride is missed, but DLC offers some new characters as well as Avatar gear for 360 players.

Speaking of faithful to their respective games, the course design is also phenomenal. Vibrant colors are contrasted by an obvious race path, while the jaw dropping scenery comes from various games including Sonic Heroes, Super Monkey Ball, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Samba de Amigo, and even The House of the Dead. Some paths like the now infamous Monkey Ball courses are way too intricate, with convoluted pathways and enigmatic turns, but the overall course selection is brilliant and surprisingly refreshing.

So feista after the race?

The game also features a bunch of nasty weapons and power ups to propel the wielder to first place. The various items are somewhat diverse, with boring things like Red heat seeking rockets and green boxing gloves that bounce off walls (sound familiar?), along with unique and innovative items like a Star that flips the victims screen upside down for a short time, or a Rainbow drop the flushes the opponents screen with barley see through colors. Each character also has their very own origin-related "All Star Move", a scarcely dropped powerful move that can quickly put the player near first place, though it only appears for struggling racers. For example a struggling Sonic may receive his All Star Move, transforming him into the gold Super-Sonic for a short period of time.

The game's controls are, unsurprisingly, easy to latch on to. On the 360, players use the Right Trigger to go forward, the A button to use buttons, and you'll hardly ever need to reverse. The key to winning, however, is the mastering of drifting. On any given turn or curve in the game, players can hold the assigned key to drift their kart. Holding the drift for a short amount of time will give you a short but useful boost when you get out of it. Using this feature is essential because winning without it is next to impossible, due to the questionable difficulty curve. The player is certain to get smoked by his opponents for the first couple of races, and later on players will run into the occasional cheap maneuver, like the AI landing on you after a jump, crippling you for a short time, or being hounded by very good weapons.


I'm...Sailing....AWAY

Online Multiplayer, sadly, isn't all that worthwhile. There are many race and battlemodes, but no online specific maps to play them on. Other than simply racing, online options are clunky and uncomfortable in execution. Single player modes include the token single races, time trials, and Cups, but also a bunch of missions that have specific win conditions. The game offers plenty of gametime, and frankly, is very addicting. I quickly found myself humming along with the soundtrack which features tracks found in some of the developer's most iconic titles, most of them being Sonic themed.

Simply, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing's greatest feat is that it's available on every system. Mario Kart Wii, despite obviously being an exclusive to the platform, is also in my opinion the weakest of the series to date. For once, Sonic can hold his head up high, for he has defeated Mario on his own frontier. If you're in the market for a lighthearted Kart racer with a lot of Spunk, you need not look further.


Disclosures: This game was obtained via [Rental] and reviewed on the [Xbox 360]. Approximately [8 hours] of play was devoted to single-player modes completed 1 time, and [1 hours] dedicated to the online component.


HIGH: WOW, I can't believe I'm enjoying this

LOW: Tails you cheap @#%%!$

WTF: Big The Cat? Really?​




An event hosted on Pimpin Reviews, were I plan to cover every Review I have promised before I leave for my Vacation. Here's the full schedule, in order


Modern Warfare 2 vs Battle Field Bad Company 2
Sonic and Sega Allstars Racing
Toy Soldiers
Jak and Daxter: The Last Frontier vs Jak X
Condemned 1 (Request by Furburt)
Adventure Quest
NCIS plain
11th hour vs. NCIS
Napoleon: Total War
Supernatural
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Oblivion vs Dragon Age: Origins
Infinite Space (Request by Souplex)
Transformers: War for Cybertron (request by Souplex)
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 vs The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

As you can tell, it features 4 of my very special VS Reviews, and great ones to boot. I hope you'll all stay tuned!

Pimpin Reviews
Dragon Age: Origins VS Rise of the Agronauts [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.177118-Pimpin-Reviews-Dragon-Age-Origins-vs-Rise-of-the-Argonauts]
Dragon Age Origins: DLC [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.180366-Pimpin-Reviews-Dragon-Age-Origins-DLC]
The Hero of Time (Legend of Zelda Fan Movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183579-Pimpin-Reviews-The-Hero-of-Time-The-Ocarina-of-Time-fan-movie]
Darksiders: Wrath of War [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.186512-Pimpin-Reviews-Darksiders-Wrath-of-War]
Heavy Rain [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.189128-Pimpin-Reviews-Heavy-Rain]
Dominos Pizza Turnaround >A so stupid its funny review< [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.194680-Pimpin-Reviews-Dominos-Pizza-Turnaround-A-so-stupid-its-funny-review]
Shadow Complex [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.197306-Pimpin-Reviews-Shadow-Complex]
Lost Planet 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.201030-Pimpin-Reviews-Lost-Planet-2]
The Castle -(An Escapist Forums RP)- [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.202386-Pimpin-Reviews-The-Castle-An-Escapist-Forums-RP]
Bad Company 2 vs Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.205159-Pimpin-Reviews-Modern-Warfare-2-vs-Bad-Company-2-Summer-Bash-Part-1-of-16][/quote]

The Knuckleduster:
Mass Effect 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182033-Pimppeter2-and-Domble-present-The-Knuckleduster-Mass-Effect-2]
The Trial of Society via Modern Warfare II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.204216-Pimppeter2-Domble-present-The-Knuckleduster-The-Trial-of-Society-via-Modern-Warfare-II]

Gentlemen:
The Legend of Zelda: OOT [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.183580-Gentlemen-I-present-The-Legend-of-Zelda-Ocarina-of-Time]
Diplomacy: The Game of International Intrigue [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.191357-Gentlemen-I-present-Diplomacy-The-Game-of-International-Intrigue#5993365]
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.194201-Gentlemen-I-present-Michael-Jacksons-Moonwalker-Entry-to-Review-Wars-III]

Other:
The Dinner Game [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.179110-The-Dinner-Game-Movie-Review]
The Osmos Mote Manifesto [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.184424-The-Osmos-Mote-Manifesto]


Anti-Cookie.com Game Commentary
Oy vey, it's morally gray! [http://theanticookie.weebly.com/morally-grey.html]
The Victim? My time [http://theanticookie.weebly.com/times-a-wastin.html]



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-Follow updates on reviews, and if you tweet a game to me, I'll put it at the top of the queue (meaning I will review it within a week)

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[sub]
Review by: [user]Pimppeter2[/user]
Editing by: [user]NeutralDrow[/user]
Inquisition by: [user]Kuchinawa212[/user]



[link]Pimpin Reviews[/link] is part of Line ASK Productions 2010​
[/sub]
 

Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
11,940
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Shorter review than usual. At least it feels shorter...

I'm not sold on the game. Not that it doesn't seem fun, but I'm not one for racing games in general anyway. Still, I was very entertained by the review. Keep em' coming, chief. And keep that pimp hand strong.
 

Snork Maiden

Snork snork
Nov 25, 2009
1,071
0
0
We play this on a PC at work with 4 Xbox controllers (someone got it off of Steam for some reason) and I pretty much agree with this review. We went in expecting a pretty terrible racer that would kill a lunch time, and came out a week later with almost everything unlocked.
 

blinkgun96

New member
Dec 15, 2008
325
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My Opening Statement: "Well the graphics look nice"

A good review as always, also when did you mention Tails being cheap did I miss that part?
 

Pimppeter2

New member
Dec 31, 2008
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Hubilub said:
Shorter review than usual. At least it feels shorter...

I'm not sold on the game. Not that it doesn't seem fun, but I'm not one for racing games in general anyway. Still, I was very entertained by the review. Keep em' coming, chief. And keep that pimp hand strong.
Yea, the Review is a bit short. Not much I needed to say. I think.

Thanks for commenting.

Snork Maiden said:
We play this on a PC at work with 4 Xbox controllers (someone got it off of Steam for some reason) and I pretty much agree with this review. We went in expecting a pretty terrible racer that would kill a lunch time, and came out a week later with almost everything unlocked.
Thank you. And it is tremendous fun

Furburt said:
I played this on my friends Wii a while back in March. I have to say, I really wasn't impressed. It felt a bit too much like Mario Kart, but very watered down. It wasn't a bad game, and I suppose if you really hate Nintendo characters but really want to play Mario Kart, it's the game for you, but having played Mario Kart for ages, it didn't feel fresh or new.

I still couldn't get over the fact they had Ryo from Shenmue though. Then again, they had Solid Snake in SSBB. I think they should have gotten more SEGA characters, like Jack from Madworld or Ethan Thomas from Condemned! That would have spiced it up a bit.

Anyway, good review.
I don;t have a Wii, so I got this mostly out of envy. Thanks for commenting.

blinkgun96 said:
My Opening Statement: "Well the graphics look nice"

A good review as always, also when did you mention Tails being cheap did I miss that part?
I just mentioned cheap moves, and Tails is the one that does them most. Mother fuckers landed on me like 12 times.

Thank you for posting!
 

Cabisco

New member
May 7, 2009
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I did download the demo for this, and I felt as though I was just playing a worse version of Mario Kart, the problem there being I don't like Mario Kart to begin with. Still a good review but I think i'll just continue to stay away from Sonic games like they are a plague
 

Divine Miss Bee

avatar under maintenance
Feb 16, 2010
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yay, sonic! i still love him, truth be told. and he needs the car to pick up chicks, obviously.
 

Julianking93

New member
May 16, 2009
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Wow. I didn't even know this game existed until now.

Still, great review as always, Pimp.

Can't wait for the Fallout 3 V. Oblivion review ^_^
 

BloodyThoughts

EPIC PIRATE DANCE PARTY!
Jan 4, 2010
23,003
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Great review Pimp. Shorter than usual, but considering how the game is a racing game...
Yeah.

Can't wait for your next review.
 

Pimppeter2

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Dec 31, 2008
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Demon ID said:
I did download the demo for this, and I felt as though I was just playing a worse version of Mario Kart, the problem there being I don't like Mario Kart to begin with. Still a good review but I think i'll just continue to stay away from Sonic games like they are a plague
Ahh well, watch out for the new Sonic game. Thanks for commenting



Divine Miss Bee said:
yay, sonic! i still love him, truth be told. and he needs the car to pick up chicks, obviously.
I can't believe I didn't think of that!

Thanks for commenting.

Julianking93 said:
Wow. I didn't even know this game existed until now.

Still, great review as always, Pimp.

Can't wait for the Fallout 3 V. Oblivion review ^_^
Woo hoo! Thanks

BloodyThoughts said:
Great review Pimp. Shorter than usual, but considering how the game is a racing game...
Yeah.

Can't wait for your next review.
Thanks
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
4,190
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This cheered up my day! Thank you. Shorter than usual.

Calumon: :O ......................................

Jack: A sonic game that's actually quite fun is going to keep Calumon in shock for quite a while...
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
17,032
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Sonic needs a car because he runs in excess of 700 mph. To be fair, basically.

That's what the in-game bio said, at least.

I enjoyed this game greatly. Somehow. It was an immense shock.