Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing is a recently announced racing game that is similar to the mario kart series, features characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series and other SEGA franchises. It is for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It is currently the third installment in the SEGA Superstars series and is being developed by Sumo Digital.

Gameplay
The game plays out like a kart racing game, with characters collecting power-ups to boost their speed or hamper their opponents. Like Sumo's previous Sega game, Sega Superstars Tennis, each character has a 'Star Move' unique to them, such as Sonic transforming into Super Sonic, that they can use against their opponents. The game will have multiplayer options for up to four players on split-screen and eight players online.

Characters drive vehicles that relate to the character. Courses that appear in the game are slated to be references to various Sonic and SEGA titles.

On November 25, 2009, a special press event about the game was held in France, where the DS version made its playable debut.

Development
Following the release of Sega Superstars Tennis, Sumo Digital decided to do a racing title, based on their experience with recent Out Run titles. In an early prototype of the game, Sonic raced on foot, Dr. Eggman rode an Eggpod with legs, Tails flew in a biplane, Amy Rose drove a car and Gilius Thunderhead from Golden Axe rode one of the Chickenleg creatures from the game. This version, however, was reportedly not fun to play, largely due to the varying sizes between the different characters, but also because the drift mechanic wouldn't work with racers who were on foot. It was later revised so that everyone would be in cars, bikes, or modified flyers.

The soundtrack for the game will consist of various old and new tracks from the various Sonic and Sega franchises, though it will also feature original songs by various artists including Richard Jacques. Each course will start with one track, with more being unlocked as players earn Sega Miles. The Nintendo DS version of the game will feature Musical Instrument Digital Interface versions of the tracks composed by.

Downloadable Content
On September 22, 2009, Sega accidentally leaked top secret information from a corporate meeting with Sony Computer Entertainment America, in which it was revealed that characters from non-Sega IP were being considered as platform-exclusive DLC for the game, such as Ratchet & Clank. In addition to discussing PS3-only downloadable characters, the notes also mention having characters from Rareware properties and the Fable universe, ostensibly for the Xbox 360 version of the game. So Since it seems Sega may be interested in adding downloadable characters for all the Next-Gen Consoles this may lead to the possibility of characters such as Mario being added for the Wii & Nintendo DS or Banjo and Kazooie on the Xbox 360 version but this is unconfirmed as of now.

In a Q&A with Development Director, Craig Duncan, it was said that DLC would only be made available if the game becomes a commercial success.

Trivia

 * This is the first Sega Console game in to have Sonic drive a Car since Sonic Adventure 2 Kart Racing Mini-Game.
 * It is said that many courses thats place on various zones include medieval castle ramparts, lush rainforests and bustling cities, all taken from the visually rich and varied universes of Sonic and SEGA.
 * It's possible that there's two versions of each course like Seaside Hill for example. The first version appeared in the Screenshots while the Second Version appeared in the E3 Demo of this game.
 * The characters in this game perform different animations/poses whenever they pass a racer or get passed by a racer, some of thier animations/poses causes the character to let go of the wheel for a moment yet the player still has complete control of the racer/car.
 * This is Big the Cat's first time appearing on a Next Gen Console Game as a playable character as well his first time being playable in console game since Sonic Heroes.

Video and Screenshots
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