Be prepared for a million comparisons to MK!

Mario Kart is a strange phenomenon to me. It's quite hard to put into words. I would probably say that it's the most annoying and frustrating game I have ever played, no really! Trouble is, I can be quite irritable when I play a game. Just witnessing me playing CoD online is an eye opening experience with foul language and anger bursting from every conceivable pore.

Now imagine me taking that anger and transferring it to Mario Kart. Picture the scenario, I'm in the lead for the entire race until I reach approximately three corners from the end. Now I get hit by a blue shell and stop dead. I immediately get hit again by a red shell. Then I get immediately hit again by a POW block before finally being smacked into next week by some gimp on a Bullet Bill!! I'm at an unavoidable standstill during this whole episode until I finally manage to get my speed back up. I pass the finish line....LAST!! From 1st place to last in approximately 10 seconds. That is what Mario Kart is all about and that is what sends my 'rage'ometer off the scale. I end up punching my leg in sheer anger!!

This episode is what finally caused me to sell Mario Kart. I wanted to love it I really did, but there's only so many self inflicted dead legs I can take. Yet strangely, I still feel fairly affectionate towards MK but I'm not sure why.

So along comes Sega and Sonic with their offering for some karting madness. I was all ready to rubbish the game without a second thought, "pah, it's just a crappy MK clone" I'd say.

So is it a crappy clone? Well, it's a clone alright, that can't be denied, but crappy? No, far from it!!

I was in the fortunate position of being able to download this game on my 360 to get a feel for it without having to spend my hard earned (well, 'earned' at least) money on it. I was pleasantly surprised. The game is a sight faster than MK that's for sure and the art style is colourful and bold. Although I took a shine to the 360 version it somehow didn't feel quite right on that console. It was the potential of the Wii version that got me excited and it is this version that I decided to purchase.

Let's get this out of the way first, Sumo Digital have blatantly copied many aspects of MK. All the weapons from MK are there, only with a different skin. Instead of red shells you have red rockets, instead of green shells you have green boxing gloves, instead of banana skins you have traffic cones, instead of the ink squid thingy you have a dazzling rainbow.........you get the idea. So there we are, Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing (or S&SASR as the kids are calling it on the streets) has almost no original ideas, at least as far as weaponry goes.

But to be honest I couldn't care less because one thing I did initially notice from the demo was that although the weapons do come into play, they are nowhere near as punishing as they are in MK. Getting hit by a weapon will usually cost you a position or two and once you've been hit you are made invincible for a few seconds allowing you to regain your momentum. Now that I have played the full game I can confirm that my initial observations about the weapons are accurate. They are tuned enough to be a factor in a race, but never to a devastating level. It's this momentum in a race that starts to separate this it from its MK counterpart.

The emphasis with this game is focused very much on speed as opposed to MK's slower weapon heavy gameplay. If I was to make a comparison on track design I certainly wouldn't compare it to MK, I'd say it has more in common with Wipeout or F-Zero with tracks twisting like a corkscrew, turning upside down, loop de looping and more. Speed burst pads are available throughout every course (as you would expect) and are positioned in such a way that you can do almost an entire lap without slowing down. If you miss that vital speed burst have no fear, the familiar drift system from MK has made it into this game also. Simply turn into the bend, hit the drift button and build up your boost. The longer the drift the better the boost, but hey, you've played MK, you know how it works!!

Graphically the game is pretty, but is a slightly mixed bag. The visuals are much busier than MK with so much stuff happening beyond the confines of the track it's unreal!! Take the Roulette Road track. As the name suggests it's based on a casino. This means that you have a giant roulette wheel spinning underneath a transparent section of track, lottery balls rolling down a metal chute, giant fruit machine wheels spinning. It's truly manic. Unfortunately it can be argued that whilst all this very pleasing to watch, it can make the visuals look cluttered and a little 'unclean' when compared to MK's more simple design method. All this graphical content comes at a price when it comes to framerate also. It's certainly not as smooth as MK but it is a consistent framerate without any slowdown and is certainly not an issue during play. I don't really notice it now to be honest.

The audio is nice with some catchy music, decent engine effects that are different depending on which vehicle and character you're using. The only thing may be the commentator, he can be a little irritating at times, but not to worry, you can turn him off if you wish.

The game also supports online play. Whilst it is fairly basic it is at least solid. I have yet to play a race that has lag and the framerate stays consistent all the way through. One feature I do like is the way that it will fill the remaining grid with AI cars if there aren't enough players in the room. This ensures a nice busy race every time.

Whether you're racing offline or online you will accumulate 'Sega Miles'. These are credits that can be used to purchase other characters, music and courses. Whilst this is really a simple 'unlock stuff as you play' mechanic, it does at least feel like you have a choice in what you unlock first. Do you choose to save up your miles to unlock that expensive character first or do you purchase the cheap stuff early on?

It's a sad thing that this game gets caught in MK's shadow. I honestly believe the mixed reviews this game has received is due to the "it's not MK so why bother trying" mindset. If you take a step back and try to judge the game on its own merits it does a fine job and is up to the task. Yes the controls are the same, most of the weapons are the same and the drift mechanic is the same, but it's the courses and the speed that makes this game feel different. I just hope more people buy it because I believe this game can sit proudly alongside Mario Kart in anyone's collection as the other "great karting game" for the Wii.

Overall score: 90%