Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

"It's not just racing, it's racing transformed!"

- Tagline

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the sequel for the first racing game of the Sega Superstars series. The game was leaked by Kotaku at the New York Toy Fair by revealing, according to Kotaku, "Sega's Sequel to Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing".

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

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 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, launching along with the console on 18 November in North America, on 30 November in Europe/Australia and on 8 December in Japan. 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 January 1st 2014 with Ryo Hazuki as an additional character.

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

Gameplay
Gameplay is similar to the game's prequel, in which players choose different settings and characters before a race, including World Tour, Single Race, Challenges and Multiplayer. The most noticeable addition to the game is the three different modes of racing: land, sea, and air, a concept previously used in three earlier games (see Trivia). 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 originally they were to have a meter that would fill up upon collecting All-Star Tokens during the race, but they are collected in capsules like in 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 17 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 5 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 obtainable as Xbox 360 Achievements, PlayStation 3 and Vita Trophies and Steam Trophies/Achievements after completing a certain challenge. 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 30 playable characters (including three third-party characters). The game features specific platform rosters and no single platform has all 30 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 missions 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 3rd 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)
 * Gillus 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 boat, while the boat transformation is inspired with 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 3rd 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)
 * 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.

Possible DLC Characters
Before the games release, S0L posted an official voting poll to let the fans decide which character they want to see as DLC in the game by getting 1,000 votes and try to get at least 3 of them in the game. The ones that got more than 1,000 votes are Ryo Hazuki, Hatsune Miku, Segata Sanshiro, Vectorman ToeJam and Eral, Bayonetta, and Ristar. Ryo was confirmed to be DLC, while Vectorman was denied because SUMO is unable to get the rights to the character. It is also unlikely for Bayonetta to be added due to themes in her series. It is unknown what the other 2 characters will be.

Stages
There are a total of 21 tracks, with 17 new ones (one exclusive to the Limited/Bonus Edition) and 4 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 throught the 3 laps. Some tracks change during the last lap Example: Ocean View and other tracks. Although some will change every lap, for Example: Dream valley, Burning Depths and others. Some will not change, they will stay the same track for 3 laps, Example Carrier Zone, Samba Studios and others. 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.

World Tour

 * Sunshine Coast
 * Frozen Valley
 * Scorching Skies
 * Twilight Engine
 * Moonlight Park
 * Superstar Showdown

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
 * Rogues' 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.

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.

Trivia

 * All 16 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 will feature an online multiplayer mode.
 * There is a minor change in the title from the first 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 are not Sega characters. (General Winter Was a THQ Characters Until SEGA Claim 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.
 * This makes 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 Doctor 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 Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing cover.
 * Similarly, Aiai is the only non-Sonic character on Transformed's cover.
 * 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 on 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 Issue 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 re-used 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.
 * 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.
 * In Sonic Universe Issue 45, Danica's car has Sonic's icon on the front.
 * Similar to its prequel, Silver is the only hedgehog in the main-console series to not have an appearance in this game.
 * 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. He is voiced by Roger Craig Smith, who is also Sonic's voice actor in this game.
 * This the first Sonic game to have Steam Trading Cards on Steam.
 * Team Fortress 2 is the first Valve game to have characters appear in a sonic game.