When you’re behind a team-mate, you can draft in their slipstream to charge up a sizeable boost quickly, leap-froggying ahead so they can do the same. As much as I was worried about how the team aspects of Team Sonic Racing (which would imply they’re fairly important) might mess with the simplistic pleasure of the racing from the last two games, they work really surprisingly well – they’re a rare instance of a good idea actually being implemented well. Now, with Sonic firmly back in the spotlight, can SEGA and Sumo Digital deliver a similar experience, tailored especially for the blue blur? Well, mostly.
Sonic & SEGA All-stars Racing, and the sequel Sonic & All-stars Racing Transformed, as well as taking home the “most convoluted name in gaming” award two years running, were lauded for their focus on speed and inventive course design, celebrating some of the more obscure recesses of SEGA’s warrenous history. Since then, the expeditive erinaceus (look it up) has had slightly more success by bringing all his mates (and NASCAR superstar Danica Patrick, Wreck-It Ralph and whoever else would return his calls) in on the racing action.
Eggman putt-putting around on a hover-Vespa not be considered the pinnacle of gaming? Sonic R seems to have gone down in history as such a big trash mountain Sweden is trying to buy it for fuel, and Sonic Riders was met with an unbrided “meh,” even though I quite liked it – how could Dr. For all his talk about speed, and gameplay focused on speed, and generally being the anthropomorphic personification of going quite quickly, Sonic hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to racing games.