Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Development staff
Developer(s)	Sumo Digital
Publisher(s)	SEGA
Director(s)	Steven Zalud
Designer(s)	Gareth Wilson
Artist(s)	Andy Ritson
Composer(s)	Richard Jacques
Video game overiew
Series	Sega Superstars (series)
Release date(s)	EU November 16, 2012 NA November 20, 2012 JP May 15, 2014
Genre(s)	Racing
Platform(s)	Windows Wii U Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Nintendo 3DS PlayStation Vita iOS
Gameplay overiew
Player(s)	1-4 5 (Wii U)
Game order
Preceded by	Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,  Wii U, PlayStation Vita, Windows 3DS, and IOS. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the sequel to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. the fourth installment in the Sega Superstars series.

Gameplay

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a mascot-based racing game in which players race against each other using characters from various Sega franchises, although it features many new mechanics and improvements from the last game. The most obvious is that, at certain points in a race, vehicles can alternate between car, boat and plane modes. The car mode handles similarly to the previous game, in which players can earn boost by drifting around corners or performing tricks whilst in the air. Boat mode features true boating physics, requiring players to consider their vehicle's turbulence. They may also be affected by waves made in the water, some of which can be used to leap into the air and perform stunts. Plane mode, the fastest of the three forms, gives players the freedom to move both vertically and horizontally. Like the other modes, players can 'air-drift' around corners to earn boost and can also perform rolls to quickly adjust their position, earning boost for narrowly dodging obstacles. Players alternate between these modes by driving through blue transformation gates. Certain tracks in the game terraform as players proceed through them, offering different playstyles between each lap.

Several new varieties of weapons have been added, including explosive hot rod engines, freezing snowballs and swarms of wasps that appear at the front of the pack. All-Star Moves return from the previous title, though these are awarded slightly differently compared to the last game, and can now be used in online multiplayer. During races, players can collect star tokens, found scattered around the course or earned by attacking opponents, which can be spent in a slot machine between events to earn random bonuses, such as enhanced items or faster recovery from certain weapons.

The main campaign is the Career Mode which, along with returning features such as Grand Prix, Time Attack and Single Race, mainly revolves around the World Tour mode. This mode involves going through a branching series of events, ranging from standard races to various challenges, including earning time by drifting, maneuvering through traffic or fighting against large tanks. Completing these challenges on various difficulties earn stars which are used to open up new branches and unlock new characters and mods. Racing with each character in any mode earns XP which unlock modifications that alter the stats of each vehicle. The game features 16 new tracks inspired by games like Super Monkey Ball, Panzer Dragoon, Golden Axe, After Burner and Burning Rangers, as well as four returning locations from the first game and mirror versions of each track. The game also features online multiplayer in all versions and four player split-screen multiplayer for the console versions. Some of the career modes can also be played in split-screen multiplayer. The Wii U version also features unique minigames and features that utilize the Wii U GamePad and can support up to five players via split-screen.

Characters

The game features 29 different playable characters, including platform-exclusive racers.

The PC version exclusives are Ryo Hazuki, Team Fortress, Shogun, Football Manager, General Winter, Willemus and Yogscasts' Simon Lane.

Wii U's exclusive was the Mii and the

Character	Origin
Sonic the Hedgehog	Sonic the Hedgehog
Miles "Tails" Prower	Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)
Amy Rose	Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Knuckles the Echidna	Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Doctor Eggman	Sonic the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog	Sonic Adventure 2
AiAi	Monkey Ball
MeeMee	Monkey Ball
Amigo	Samba de Amigo
Beat	Jet Set Radio
Gum	Jet Set Radio
B.D. Joe	Crazy Taxi
Gilius Thunderhead	Golden Axe
Vyse	Skies of Arcadia
Joe Musashi	Shinobi
Ulala	Space Channel 5
Pudding	Space Channel 5
Nights	Nights into Dreams
Reala	Nights into Dreams
AGES	Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Danica Patrick	NASCAR
Wreck-It Ralph	Wreck-It Ralph
Metal Sonic (DLC)	Sonic the Hedgehog CD
Alex Kidd	Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Mii	Wii
Xbox Avatar	New Xbox Experience
Football Manager	Football Manager
Shogun	Shogun: Total War
Team Fortress	Team Fortress 2
General Winter	Company of Heroes 2
Willemus	Total War: Rome II
Yogscast (DLC)	The Yogscast
Ryo Hazuki (DLC)	Shenmue

Planned characters

From November 17th to December 1st, 2012, game director Steve Lycett posted on Sega's official forums, challenging them to organize a vote to nominate characters for him to recommend to Sega. But as a result, only one leader character had to be added - Ryo Hazuki.

1. Ryo Hazuki (Shenmue) (3379)
2. Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid/Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA) (3180)
3. Segata Sanshiro (2613)
4. Vectorman (Vectorman) (1221)
5. Bayonetta (Bayonetta) (1215)
6. Ristar (Ristar) (1081)
7. ToeJam & Earl (ToeJam & Earl) (1015)
8. Billy Hatcher (Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg) (692)
9. Axel Stone (Streets of Rage) (584)
10. Blaze Fielding (Streets of Rage) (528)
11. Phantom R (Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure) (473)
12. Selvaria Bles (Valkyria Chronicles) (458)
13. Alis Landale (Phantasy Star) (452)
14. Sakura Shinguji (Sakura Wars) (369)
15. Welkin Gunther (Valkyria Chronicles) (367)
16. Opa-Opa (Fantasy Zone) (333)
17. Ash (Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit) (332)
18. Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza) (308)
19. Sketch Turner (Comix Zone) (306)
20. Arle Nadja (Puyo Puyo) (305)
21. The ChuChus (ChuChu Rocket!) (274)
22. Harrier (Space Harrier) (253)
23. Bonanza Bros. (Bonanza Bros.) (230)
24. Spiral Knight (Spiral Knights) (184)
25. Amitie (Puyo Puyo) (162)
26. Rag Rappy (Phantasy Star Online) (160)
27. Ecco the Dolphin (Ecco the Dolphin) (125)
28. Jacky Bryant (Virtua Fighter) (119)

Trivia

• Billy Hatcher has data in the game files although the files are incomplete. The 3DS version even has a character select icon and a minimap icon of him. He was scrapped last minute due to the devs being unable to decide on his vehicle transformations. As a result Billy is completely absent from the final game, despite his friends Rolly Roll, Chick Poacher and Bantam Scrambled appearing on the Billy Hatcher race track.
• Classic Sonic likewise has a mugshot in the 3DS files. This was allegedly veto'd by Sega who didn't want two Sonics to appear without time travel mechanics being explicitly in the game.
• PlayStation's Sackboy also has a mugshot in the 3DS file, likely left over from the PlayStation 3 version. Sumo approached Sony about using the character as a guest similar to Banjo Kazooie in the original game but Sony declined. SOL believed it was due to them releasing their own Sackboy go karting game in LittleBigPlanet Karting.
• This is the first Sega Superstars series game Sumo Digital produced that recieved an official Japanese launch, partly due to the heavy amount of importing of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing recieved in the region. Overall it is the second title in the series that Japan had released.
• Christopher Sulliven, the original voice of Vyse in Skies of Arcadia was brought back in to record new voice lines of the character. This is despite the staff having Vyse's Valkyria Chonicles voice actor, Roger Craig Smith already on production.
• Likewise for the Japanese version of the game, many of the old Japanese voice cast for the characters were brought back to their roles, including Tomokazu Seki to voice Vyse and Kikuko Inoue to voice Alex Kidd for the first time since Segagaga.
• In the Japanese release, the Pufferfish item is replaced with a garbage Puyo.