Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a 2012 kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It is the sequel to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and is the fourth installment of the Sega Superstars series. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November 2012, for PlayStation Vita in December 2012, for Microsoft Windows in January 2013,[7] for Nintendo 3DS in February 2013, and for iOS and Android in January 2014. The PS3 and Wii U versions of the game were released in Japan on May 15, 2014.

It features a transformation element of racing gameplay unique to that of any other racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Announcement
Pictures depicting the side-view of the shelf revealed boxes for Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Beat and AiAi. Shortly after this event the website called Starland.com also added info on the game. They listed it in the pre-order list for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii for $57, to be released on 30 November 2012 but was then removed by Sega.

On 30 April, an announcement trailer was released, revealing the game's official name, as well as a new mechanic that transforms the character's vehicles to land, air and water forms. The confirmed platforms of release are PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC, Vita and Nintendo 3DS.

The game was released for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in Australia on 15 November, for the Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita in North America on 11 December and in Europe on 20 November. The PC version was released on 31 January 2013. The Wii U version was a launch title (with the exception of Japan), launching along with the console on 18 November in North America, and on 30 November in Europe/Australia. It was later revealed that the PC edition will allow racers to play as the DLC Team Fortress 2, Total War Shogun, Football Manager, Company Of Heroes 2 and Total War: ROME II characters.

On 22 October 2013, Sega announced that the game would be released for Android and iOS devices, coming out on 1 January 2014 with Ryo Hazuki as an additional character.

On 12 February 2014, Sega announced that the game will be released in Japan for the PS3 and Wii U by 15 May 2014.

Gameplay
Gameplay is similar to the game's prequel, in which players choose different settings and characters before a race. The most noticeable addition to the game is the three different modes of racing: land, sea and air. Racers' cars can now change into a plane when in the air and into a boat when on water after passing through a Transformation Gate. The Sumo Digital staff stated in some interviews before its release that Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed would be "proper boating, proper flying." In addition, the tracks themselves change during the race. For example, in Dragon Canyon, the bridges are destroyed by the dragons in the track's third lap, requiring changing into flight mode.

All-Star Moves return and they are collected in capsules like in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. There are new weapons, such as ice shots to freeze opponents and a baseball glove that catches an attack from behind, and giving the player that weapon. There are also seventeen new tracks, plus four favorite tracks from the previous game, similar to the retro cups in the more recent Mario Kart games.

Players are able to earn XP points to put towards a leveling system, which can potentially unlock vehicle mods and other items. The more XP points are collected, the better characters become on the track. Once collected enough stars from World Tour events, you can unlock Console Mods, that are found in World Tour. These mods have been chosen for characters, depending on the Console Mod unlocked.

On the loading screen before a race, there is a slot machine similar to the one in Sonic Heroes. Once enough All-Star Tokens are collected from previous races, players can pull the lever to try their luck. If the three slots match, a new item is obtained. The player can also win an item at the start of every lap or have an item at the beginning of the race. If not, the player does not earn anything, and can spin once more if he/she has the required number of coins. The slot machine requires five coins for a spin. The slot machine and tokens are missing from the 3DS version due to it running on a different engine.

Stickers
Stickers are special rewards obtained after completing a certain condition in the game. Some of these Stickers also unlock Xbox 360 Achievements, PlayStation 3 and Vita Trophies and Steam Trophies/Achievements. The Wii U and 3DS versions of the game do not use an achievement system, but allows for sticker collection in the game.

Playable characters
There is a total of thirty playable characters (including three third-party characters). The game features specific platform rosters and no single platform has all thirty characters. Players start with ten characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, AiAi, Beat, Amy, BD Joe, MeeMee, Ulala and Wreck-It Ralph) and the other characters are unlocked by winning enough stars in the events in World Tour. Racers include:

Veterans

 * Ryo Hazuki: A transforming Arcade cabinet that changes from the OutRun as a car to Hang-On as a boat and Space Harrier as a plane.

Veteran Third-Party Characters

 * Mii (exclusively for Nintendo): Confirmed during Gamescom 2012. Steve Lycett (S0L) on an official SEGA Forum also confirmed. Car styled after an OutRun vehicle in the Mii's chosen color (Wii U only; red in 3DS). (Clear all normal GPs on Wii U, or clear all Mirror Cups on 3DS)
 * Xbox Live Avatar (exclusively for Xbox 360): An upgraded version of the Ava-car 720 that is now black and green just like the Xbox 360 Elite and the Xbox 360 S model and looks like a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. (Clear all normal GPs)

Newcomers

 * Vyse: From Skies of Arcadia, an old-fashioned steampunk race car similar in design to his airship,The Delfinius (Buy for 30 stars in World Tour)
 * Gilius Thunderhead: From Golden Axe, a bronze animal-eqsue statue. It appears as an Ox in "car" mode, Turtle with a Rhinos' head in "boat" and Gryphon in "plane" mode. (Buy for 120 stars in World Tour)
 * Joe Musashi: From Shinobi, a yellow and black quad bike which when transformed into a boat,becomes a Jet Ski. (Buy for 85 stars in World Tour)
 * NiGHTS:  NiGHTS itself becomes the vehicle while a Nightopian rides. (Buy for 80 stars in World Tour on Console versions, 40 stars on 3DS)
 * Reala: Reala transforms into vehicles while a Nightmaren drives. (Buy for 160 stars in World Tour on Console versions, 90 stars on 3DS)
 * Gum: A white and neon green quad bike, similar to Beat's vehicle. (Buy for 105 stars in World Tour)
 * MeeMee: A pink copy of AiAi's F-1 car.
 * Pudding: A green, futuristic car from Channel 42 resembling her aircraft from Space Channel 5: Part 2. (Buy for 50 stars in World Tour on Console versions, 64 stars on 3DS)
 * AGES: A transforming fusion of several elements from Sega's past; the Hornet from Daytona USA, a Dreamcast controller, and a F-14 Tomcat from Afterburner. (Buy for 165 stars in World Tour on Console versions, 111 stars on 3DS)
 * Football Manager (exclusively for PC): Drives a small cart-esque SUV, motorboat, and jet. Transforms inside of a soccer ball/football.
 * Shogun (exclusively for PC): From Total War Shogun, drives a feudal-inspired cart with a dragon design in car and plane, while the boat transformation is inspired by a fish.
 * General Winter (exclusively for PC as free DLC on 5 July 2013): From Company of Heroes, the Commander drives a tank with a red star on the sides.
 * Willemus (exclusively for PC as free DLC on 5 August 2013): From Total War: Rome II. Drives a Roman legion-themed vehicle.

New Third-Party Characters

 * Danica Patrick: A neon green racing car called Danicar with logos for Sonic, SEGA, GoDaddy.com, and Hot Wheels. (Buy for 16 stars in World Tour; Not available in the Japanese Version of the game )
 * Wreck It-Ralph: A red wrecking truck.
 * Team Fortress: (Exclusive for PC) A combined team consisting of three characters from the multiplayer first-person shooter Team Fortress 2. In Car form, the Pyro drives a red Go Kart-like vehicle with Flamethrowers mounted on its sides. In Plane and All-Star modes, The Spy pilots a sleek miniature Fighter Jet and in Boat form, the Heavy controls a camouflaged Airboat with steel plating and a Sasha-like Minigun mounted on each side.
 * Yogscast Character (Simon) (exclusively for PC as free DLC on 6 December 2013): Another group of 3rd-party characters from a famous Minecraft Commentary YouTube Gamers. It is a Charity DLC Promotional for the Yogscast's Dwarven Dairy Drive's Humble Bundle. It includes Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Game-Base for Steam.

Tracks
There are a total of twenty-one tracks, with seventeen new ones (one exclusive to the Limited/Bonus Edition) and four returning ones from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. The tracks have a set Grand Prix order, as follows:

Note: All of the new tracks, will not be the same while you race throughout the three laps. Some tracks change during the last lap, like Ocean View. Some will change every lap, like Dragon Canyon. Some will not change, and they will stay the same track for three laps, like Carrier Zone. Also "Race of Ages" is the only track that you can choose to change the path to a boat path or plane, depending on which gate is entered first.

Dragon Cup

 * Ocean View (Sonic Heroes) - Car/Boat
 * Samba Studios (Samba De Amigo) - Car/Boat
 * Carrier Zone (After Burner: Climax) - Car/Boat/Plane
 * Dragon Canyon (Panzer Dragoon) - Car/Boat/Plane

Rogue Cup

 * Temple Trouble (Super Monkey Ball) - Car/Boat
 * Galactic Parade (Sonic Colors) - Car/Plane
 * Seasonal Shrines (Shinobi) - Car/Boat
 * Rogue's Landing (Skies of Arcadia) - Car/Boat/Plane

Emerald Cup

 * Dream Valley (NiGHTS into Dreams...) - Boat/Plane
 * Chilly Castle (Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg) - Car/Boat
 * Graffiti City (Jet Set Radio) - Car/Plane
 * Sanctuary Falls (Sonic & Knuckles) - Car/Plane

Arcade Cup

 * Graveyard Gig (The House of the Dead EX) - Car/Boat
 * Adder's Lair (Golden Axe) - Car/Boat/Plane
 * Burning Depths (Burning Rangers) - Car/Boat
 * Race of Ages (SEGA Tribute race) - Car/Boat/Plane

Classic Cup

 * Sunshine Tour (Samba De Amigo) (Returning) - Car Only
 * Shibuya Downtown (Jet Set Radio Future) (Returning) - Car only
 * Roulette Road (Sonic Heroes) (Returning) - Car only
 * Egg Hangar (Sonic the Hedgehog 2/Sonic & Knuckles) (Returning) - Car only

Bonus level

 * OutRun Bay (OutRun 2) (Bonus/Limited Edition, DLC) - Car/Boat

Mirrored versions of all the tracks, including Outrun Bay, can be unlocked.

Steam collectibles
The Steam software consists of various features including collectibles like emoticons, badges, backgrounds and trading cards for each game. This game is the only one of the series to have such a feature.

Badges
In Steam, badges are crafted by combining a set of trading cards, obtainable through a random item drop, which lands in the Steam Inventory. The more cards combined, the greater the experience points the badge will contain.

Backgrounds
Once a Steam user has enough XP through crafting badges, special perks will follow by, such as item drops of backgrounds and coupons. These are the following backgrounds for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed:

Updates
After the release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, various updates have been released across all of its versions to fix various bugs and improve performance:

Wii U version

 * The Boost Challenges and the Burning Ranges world tour track have been fixed as they were noted as broken earlier.

PC version

 * Alternative INTZ Render for cards that do not support INTZ was added along with VAC support, and other bug fixes to ensure stability.
 * Network fix to stop the issues with the Race Playlist when the servers are busier.
 * Online matchmaking should work regardless of region.
 * Dropped connections were lessened.
 * The Pointer drift in the Launcher was resolved.
 * Better support for Direct Input controllers was added with better automatic control mapping.
 * The Time Attack ghost download for top ten players was fixed.
 * Time Attack filters now works correctly.
 * The 'judder' was removed for high spec machines and 120 Hz monitors.
 * A Steam Voice Chat Enable/Disable option was added.
 * A Steam Voice Chat Push to Talk support was added.
 * A Steam Voice Chat volume setting was added.
 * The Ability Steam Voice to mute/unmute players in a lobby was added.

All versions

 * Networking:
 * Vehicle collisions in online races handle high latency was improved.
 * The Rating reset issues was resolved.
 * The -100 Rating Penalty for players leaving the race to dodge losing points was resolved.
 * In Starlight Carnival, the Road shader was adjusted to prevent 'driving in the sky' issue.
 * The Super pick-ups bug in which they sometimes do not activate in arenas was fixed.
 * The Rare issue leaving players unable to return to the lobby were addressed.
 * Difficulty:
 * Tuned the difficulty of Traffic Attack, Ring Race, and certain Race events in World Tour.
 * Corrected certain traffic attack gates if they do not give extra time.
 * Made the "Skip event after 3 failed events?"' option appear on all difficulties.
 * Achievements:
 * The "Team Sonic" achievement is made achievable in local gameplay so it is easier to get.
 * "Yokozuna" achievement is no longer unlocks when the player only beats Sunshine Tour Expert Ghost.
 * 'Beat someone 500 points higher than you' sticker no longer awarded unless a specific criteria is met.
 * The 'Meteor Strike' No longer triggers incorrectly.
 * Misc:
 * Co-op swap weapon slot now allows the player to swap if he has already had a weapon.
 * Improved front end leaderboard caching.
 * In-games triggers now handles physics tunneling better for very fast players.
 * Incorrect HUD showing 'Lap 2' cases was addressed.
 * Improved motion controls for the Wii U version.
 * The Favorite character in license is no longer incorrect.
 * Occasionally being able to drive through Swarm attacks corrected.
 * Audio:
 * Announcer should now say correct finishing position in high latency games.
 * All-Star music volume level was corrected.
 * Reverb effects was removed when audio is disabled.

Reception
For the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, IGN gave an 8.5 score, saying that it is better than several of the racing games of 2012 and that it is a true arcade-like racing game, but not as fresh as Mario Kart 7. The second review released was from UK's Official Nintendo Magazine, giving it an average score of only 62%. The reviewer stated that "the early excitement of the transformations doesn't make up for an interminable world tournament, poor local multiplayer and uninspiring weapons. The mixture of Sega and Sumo (with a hint of Bizarre) should have made for a game that was as accomplished as it was nostalgic. Instead, it just feels pallid." Eurogamer, however, gave the game a score of 9/10, saying "This manages to be more than just a tribute to the great and good of Sega's past - it does enough to earn its own place alongside them." The Daily Mail reviewer gave the game their perfect score (5/5), saying that the game was bad on multiplayer, but overall a revisit to Sega's greatest memories. GameTrailers gave the Xbox 360 version an  8.7/10' , saying that "it’s a fun, challenging, and easily enjoyable racing game that uses a lot of familiar mechanics and ideas but knows well enough to try and do its own thing". In their last Sonic game review, Nintendo Power gave the Wii U version an 8.0/10, commenting on its "well-behaved multiplayer and tracks that were born to become a race track." The Official Xbox Magazine gave Transformed an 8/10, praising for its beautiful track graphics and awesome multiplayer, with the exception of poor quality on its split screen in multiplayer mode.

On 18 February 2013, the game was the first third-party game to score a Wii U number one. As of March 2013, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has sold 1.36 million copies worldwide.

Trivia

 * All sixteen characters from Sega Superstars Tennis return in this game.
 * This is the second time in which a Sonic game was leaked due to the premature release of toys, the first time being when toys of Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog had been revealed before both characters' debuting game, Sonic Adventure 2, was even announced, both of which happen to be sequels.
 * There are two other games (Mario Kart 7 and Diddy Kong Racing) that have a transformation feature.
 * Sumo Digital said that they had the idea of the transforming vehicles before Mario Kart 7 was announced, as said in an interview with Nintendo Power.
 * Unlike the first game, the PC version features an online multiplayer mode.
 * There is a minor change in the title from the first Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing game, as the "Sega" is missing, just making it Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed rather than Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed. This is because other characters, such as Wreck-It Ralph, Danica Patrick, Mii/Xbox 360 Avatar, Team Fortress, General Winter and Yogscast are not Sega characters. (General Winter was a THQ character before SEGA claimed the franchise)
 * The first three trailers for the game use the song "Promises" by Nero for the BGM. All the trailers after the August trailer use "Acid Cube" by Richardson & Macklin & Ford.
 * Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the second Sonic game to have a trailer that uses non-Sega music, the first being Sonic Generations, which had trailers that used the songs "Tenderoni" by Kele for the Gameplay/Green Hill trailer and "Na Na Na" by My Chemical Romance for the City Escape trailer.
 * Although Beat appeared in the first All-Stars Racing game with his Jet Set Radio Future design, he appears in All-Stars Racing Transformed with his original design from Jet Set Radio, although a bit shorter in height.
 * The cars in the game have undergone a radical design change due to the transformation mechanics in this game. Notable examples include Sonic's Speed Star, which now has sharper angles, different wheels, and less "Sonic spines"; Amy's car loses the tire cover, gets a bigger wind shield, and becomes rounded; and Doctor Eggman's monster truck is now a six-wheeled red "tank". Every racer now has a car, a tank-like vehicle, or a quad bike instead of a bi-plane (e.g. Tails' Tornado Racer) or a motorcycle (e.g. Shadow's Dark Rider).
 * This is the first Sonic the Hedgehog game (as well as the first spin-off title) on the PlayStation Vita (not counting the PSP re-releases on the PlayStation Network) and the Wii U.
 * At the end of the Comic-Con 2012 trailer, and during the Danica Patrick trailer, some of Sonic's voice clips from Sonic Generations are used. The same applies for Dr. Eggman.
 * Wreck-It Ralph, from the 2012 Disney film of the same name, is a playable character in the game, which is likely a reference to the fact that in the film, Ralph "game jumps" through different arcade games. The game including Ralph might reference the fact that Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Tails, and other Sega characters appear in Wreck-It Ralph.
 * With the exception of Tails and Amigo, all of the characters that appear on  Transformed' s cover (Sonic, Dr. Eggman, AiAi) also appear on the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing cover.
 * Similarly, AiAi is the only non-Sonic character on the game's boxart.
 * This is the first Sonic game to have a guest character that is not a video game character.
 * This is also the first Sonic game to feature a real-life celebrity as a playable character.
 * It is noticeable that Danica Patrick has the Hot Wheels and GoDaddy logos on her car.
 * Just like its prequel, this game uses recycled voice clips from previous Sonic games, notably from Sonic Generations.
 * Again, none of the Sonic voice actors were credited in the credits.
 * Ocean View is the only new stage in the game that has been based off a stage (that stage being Seaside Hill) previous used in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing tracks, which are Whale Lagoon, Lost Palace and Ocean Ruin.
 * Similar to its prequel, the PS3 version does not get an exclusive character.
 * Sonic Universe #45 ties in to this game, making it the first stand-alone issue of the series to crossover with a video game. It also marks the first appearance of non-Sonic characters in the comic series, such as Beat and Vyse.
 * This is the first game in the Sega Superstars/Sega All-Stars series to have an RPG series represented.
 * If one fails an event multiple times, a quiet mocking laughter can be heard.
 * If the player attempts to turn down the audio for the voices or audience, the announcer will attempt to stop the player and ridicule them or boo them, respectively.
 * Some reused sound files are from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Sumo Digital Start-Up) and Star Fox Assault (Pressing A/X whilst on the slot machine with no tokens).
 * Amigo is the only mute character in the game, only communicating via whistle blows.
 * This is not counting Metal Sonic in the Bonus Edition.
 * This game and its original both have Seaside Hill as their background on the cover.
 * Unlike the first game which had three female characters counting the player's Mii/Avatar, this time there are six, counting the player's Mii/Avatar if it's a girl or seven if you view NiGHTS as female.
 * The announcer does not say "Final Lap" in the console/PC versions when the player is on his/her final lap of the race.
 * Unlike Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, the Xbox Live Avatars and Miis are given voices.
 * Several tracks and even background music sound similar to a real-world or another game track:
 * Samba Studios has a part and reuses the "Hey!" from Back 2 Back, which was on Water Palace from Sonic Rush.
 * Race of Ages has a track design similar to Crash Nitro Kart's Android Alley, as both of the tracks are yellow, have very slick turns and have narrow paths.
 * World Tour mode is labeled as having you travel from island to island while saving characters that you unlock.
 * The "Takes AGES" achievement features an image of Tarō Sega, the main protagonist of the Japan-exclusive game Segagaga.
 * It is possible to bypass the transformation gates in courses as a glitch. The character needs to move as close to the gate as possible and then face the opposite direction until the 'Wrong Way' sign appears. After the 'Wrong Way' sign appears for a while (the character will be respawned), the character will respawn in front of the transformation gate without going through it, which means the player could attempt to drive as a boat at car sections or drive a plane on boat sections etc.
 * This, however, may be fixed in some of the versions due to patches.
 * Vyse is the only character who does not use recycled voice clips from his own game, as his original voice actor, Christopher Sullivan, provided new voice clips for him for the game.
 * This the first Sonic game to have Steam Trading Cards on Steam.
 * Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the only Sonic game that appear in 3 Humble Bundles . The first one being Yogscast's Dwarven Dairy Drive, and the second one is being Humble Weekly Sale SEGA. In Germany only, it's because The House of The Dead: Overkill is banned in that country, the game is replaced. And the third one being Humble SEGA Bundle.
 * Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is confirmed to be the announcer of the game in the Japanese version.
 * Via this proxy, several characters gain and/or reprise their original Japanese voices in this game, while the prior All-Stars Racing game did not have any Japanese dub.
 * This is the most recent Sonic game to have a total of 7 Non-Sega or Sonic-related characters.
 * The Japanese version of this game is the only version to have the original The House of the Dead logo for Graveyard Gig course.

Trailers
Teaser Trailer = E3 Trailer= Comic-Con Trailer= Gameplay Trailer= Ways To Play Trailer= Danica Patrick Trailer= Wreck-It-Ralph Trailer= Wii U Trailer= Danica Patrick TV commercial= Release Trailer= PC Trailer= iOS/Android Gameplay Trailer= iOS/Android Release Trailer=