As you can imagine, SASASR is all about racing Sonic and SEGA characters in a competition to prove who’s the king or queen of the track. The majority of characters and tracks are all influenced by the Sonic series but other SEGA characters have also been given their opportunity to shine. Billy Hatcher, Beat from Jet Set Radio and the Chu-Chus from Chu Chu Rocket are some of the characters given an opportunity to battle it out to prove themselves on the race track.

There is an awful lot to do and unlock in SASASR. You have single races, multiple Grand Prix competitions, missions as well as multiplayer races. Races play as you’d expect. Battle it out with 7 other characters by using power-ups and weapons to fight your way to first place. Sheilds, missiles, traffic cones and boosts are some of the items you can use to gain the upper hand on your opponent.

The big addition to the gameplay is the ability to drift. There is no braking in SASASR; only effective drifting. Throw your car into a drift to build up a three stage boost. Then when you’ve finished your drift you will come out of it with a huge burst of speed. Mastering this technique proves to be the game’s biggest selling point and it’s fantastic fun to pull off. Extra boosts can also be pulled off by pressing the drift button in the air after launching your vehicle from a jump.

Everything you do in SASASR earns you SEGA Miles which is the game’s currency for use in its’ shop. The shop allows you to unlock bonus characters, tracks and music giving the game an astonishing amount of variety. This proves to be the game’s biggest selling point as most players will want to unlock everything.

This is made all the more enjoyable by some of the most beautiful graphics seen in a game this generation. Sumo Digital’s Sunshine Engine makes for some of the most vibrant and stunning looking locations ever featured in a game. The loop that goes underwater in the Ocean Ruin track is easily the most jaw-dropping feature I’ve seen in a long time. This game really needs to be seen to be believed.

The only disappointment that shows itself is the game’s Mission mode which allows you to tackle a vast variety of different driving challenges to earn SEGA Miles. The issue with this mode is that most of the missions are pretty average. Avoid the pots, squash the crows, drift to earn stars, collect rings and emeralds, stay in first place; the list goes on. Most of the missions are very uninspired with the mini-races proving to be the most fun. This further emphasises the game’s great racing engine and puts the other missions to shame.

The audio in SASASR also gets a big thumbs up from us as it’s incredibly effective and well used. Sound effects are all satisfying and well placed; packing the punch a game like this needs to emphasise its’ manic gameplay. Also, the amount of SEGA music featured is astoundingly generous. Each location has multiple tunes to purchase which can be selected at the beginning of a race. Every one is perfectly chosen to compliment the location and range from SEGA games past to present. There are some fantastically obscure inclusions as well. We absolutely love racing to the soundtrack of Sonic CD’s Palmtree Panic.

All in all, Sonic & SEGA All-Star Racing is a brilliant addition to the SEGA Superstars series. Its’ light-hearted and enjoyable racing will be of great appeal to the casual gaming crowd and its’ SEGA fan service will appeal to the hardcore. If you’re a SEGA fan and a driving enthusiast then there’s no reason to miss this sublime racer.

Gameplay is exactly the same as it is on the console versions with one notable exception; drift linking. On the console version of SASASR you can only drift for one corner at a time before starting the next. In the DS version of SASASR you can start a drift on one corner and then throw the car into another corner without releasing the drift and the boost you’ve earned. This means it’s far easier to earn a lot more boost and stay at a higher speed. This isn’t a huge concern but it does mean that races become a lot easier.

Like I mentioned before, all the tracks have made it onto the DS version but there are some noticeable changes. These are mainly to do with shortcuts. Where the track layouts are almost identical to their console counterparts, some of the shortcuts have been removed for some reason. The most obvious one is the lack of shortcut in the Blizzard Castle track. This is not a huge disappointment but it’s a shame none-the-less.

Music is the other feature that’s seen a change. There isn’t as much on offer and when you unlock the extra tracks you cannot choose them at the start of the race. Each song is assigned to a specific track. This means that without the songs unlocked you here the same song for each track in a certain location.

The only other change is in the presentation department. Obviously, the DS port was never going to be as pretty as the console version but the lack of graphical prowess and detail definitely hurts the experience somewhat. Tracks can feel a little bland without the level of definition the console versions have. Again, this is not a huge complaint but it certainly changes the experience.

At the end of the day, if you want a portable version of SASASR this is definitely as good as it gets. Just be warned; there are some noticeable changes and exclusions that change the feel of the game for better or worse.