Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing

[Brianzilla2004]

Hey S0L, I've got some questions for you, as well as a complaint I'd appreciate you to get back to me on. I'll get the complaint out of the way first:

* I'm having lots of trouble with the Achievements in this game. After unlocking the "Working Man" Achievement, I went to the in-game Achievement menu and found that it hadn't given me credit for obtaining it. Another more annoying problem is the Fighters Mega Mix Achievement, which WILL NOT give me my final point toward unlocking it. I've been struggling against this Achievement from the start, with my All-Star moves not getting credited toward the Achievement, despite clearly connecting with enemies (in most cases, multiple enemies). I know that it's either Alex Kidd or the Bonanza Bros that I need to get the point with, but after about an hour of nonstop All-Star spamming with both vehicles, I've had no luck. Are you planning on addressing this problem? Do you know of any ways to work around it?

* On the Xbox 360 version, I've noticed that both Banjo & Kazooie and the Avatar do not spawn as computer players. Are there any plans to add them as potential AI-controlled opponents? I'd love it if you would!

* While it's not a big deal, is there any possibility that you guys could patch in a Random option for selecting tracks, characters, cups, etc.? I love the surprise of it all. Who will I be? Where will I be racing? Makes for some fun games with friends.

* Are there any plans to add more Cups? There's a lot of cups from the Mission Mode that I'd like to have the option to race in as any character, on any difficulty. The AI leaves something to be desired in the Mission Mode, so it would be nice to race in, say, the Horrible Cup with the difficulty set to Expert.

* Is there any chance that the various multiplayer modes will be made available over Xbox Live? Races are fun, but I'd like to be able to play some of the splitscreen-only modes with my friends online. Also, is there a possibility that you guys could make these available as single-player modes, with AI-controlled opponents?

* Is it likely that Cups will be added to local and/or online multiplayer modes? It would be great to be able to take on a friend in a full Cup without having to exit to the multiplayer menu and select each level separately.

Thanks for interacting with us, S0L. Despite a few minor complaints and glitches, I really love the game. I hope you continue your SEGA Superstars/All-stars series! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next.

By the way, one last question: Why did you change the name from SEGA Superstars to SEGA All-stars?

[Glenn]

I thought I'd use the Chu Chus alot but their vehicle feels too floaty.

Gah, absolutely! I was really excited to unlock 'em, but then took them to one of the Casino Park courses and was soooo disappointed! I'll never use 'em again (except to get their All-Star Move, which I'll need to do for that Trophy I've been eyeing).

Oh, and good to see another few acknowledge the announcer's dirty mouth: definitely not just me now! "It's reeeeeeeaal!"

My biggest question (pun semi-intended) is why Big the Cat?! I've yet to unlock him out of protest, he'll be the last thing I buy from the shop. I mean, okay, I have issues with Amy Rose but she's like swearing at the thunderstorm on the horizon... it'll still come and piss all over your barbecue. So she annoys me, but I can live with her (I'll just never use her outside of unlocking Trophies). But who's idea, with only a limited amount of Sonic characters, was it to put that retarded, overweight cat on some child's toy bike? And I know he's utterly rubbish because all I ever hear during races is "Big's got the All-Star!" and then the low, haunting moan of his stupid voice wailing something about Froggy. With so many excellent characters to choose from, why put him in?!

- Silver the Hedgehog

- Team Chaotix (Espio, Vector and Charmy)

- Jet the Hawk

- Sonic the Werehog

Hell, I'd even let Rouge the Bat or Blaze the Cat in the door before freakin' Big! *facepalm*

My best choice for a future DLC character, though? Professor Pickle! He could ride around in an old 1914 Stutz Bearcat going "Oh my...!" whenever somebody shot somebody else, and his All-Star could be to eat a cucumber sandwich and cloud people's vision with epically-thick eyebrows!

[-Mark-]

Actually, I'm curious: For Wii and PS3 players, are you generally using the motion controls or buttons?

I've used nothing but the wheel since I got the game, here.

[Brianzilla2004]

Gah, absolutely! I was really excited to unlock 'em, but then took them to one of the Casino Park courses and was soooo disappointed! I'll never use 'em again (except to get their All-Star Move, which I'll need to do for that Trophy I've been eyeing).

Oh, and good to see another few acknowledge the announcer's dirty mouth: definitely not just me now! "It's reeeeeeeaal!"

My biggest question (pun semi-intended) is why Big the Cat?! I've yet to unlock him out of protest, he'll be the last thing I buy from the shop. I mean, okay, I have issues with Amy Rose but she's like swearing at the thunderstorm on the horizon... it'll still come and piss all over your barbecue. So she annoys me, but I can live with her (I'll just never use her outside of unlocking Trophies). But who's idea, with only a limited amount of Sonic characters, was it to put that retarded, overweight cat on some child's toy bike? And I know he's utterly rubbish because all I ever hear during races is "Big's got the All-Star!" and then the low, haunting moan of his stupid voice wailing something about Froggy. With so many excellent characters to choose from, why put him in?!

- Silver the Hedgehog

- Team Chaotix (Espio, Vector and Charmy)

- Jet the Hawk

- Sonic the Werehog

Hell, I'd even let Rouge the Bat or Blaze the Cat in the door before freakin' Big! *facepalm*

My best choice for a future DLC character, though? Professor Pickle! He could ride around in an old 1914 Stutz Bearcat going "Oh my...!" whenever somebody shot somebody else, and his All-Star could be to eat a cucumber sandwich and cloud people's vision with epically-thick eyebrows!

I like Big the Cat. I was happy that he made it in before some of the more popular characters. He hasn't really fit into the Sonic series too well (the sole exceptions being his involvement in the story of Sonic Adventure (not the gameplay mechanics, just the story) and his role in Sonic Chronicles, which was essentially a comic relief position), but I think there's plenty of potential for Big the Cat, and a spin-off like this is the perfect place to put him. He may not be as speed-oriented as Espio, Blaze or Jet, but I think his personality is much more interesting, and that's the important thing when making a game like this. He's really quite the charming secondary character. I suspect that's why the incredibly obscure Zobio & Zobiko made it into the game, over characters such as G or Goldman, who are certainly more recognizable.

Sadly, as you said, he is definitely one of the weaker characters to race as. He, Robotnik and Zobio/Zobiko are the first three characters that come to mind when I think of the worst racers in the game.

[Dreadknux]

So I've been playing this all weekend. Then I got a promo for another game that should really be dominating my time... but I've barely touched that and have been going back to ASR the last couple of days.

Thoughts? Well... it's better than Mario Kart. Maybe not the original SNES one, and on a par with 64 (but probably for nostalgia purposes only), but otherwise yes - better than Mario Kart. There, I said it.

[Frobman]

Too much hate for Big the Cat. Sure, his fishing game wasn't stellar, and he might not be the brightest bulb in the series, but he's still a lovable guy. And it makes sense to add him in for more variety (especially when you think about having a giant person on a small vehicle sounds somewhat amusing). Plus, he needs some better screen time, too.

For DLCs, a mix of popular and obscure characters would do very nicely. I'm always too keen to find out about the more obscure stuff (like Bonanza Bros or HOTD EX, to name a few). And any other modes you've got in mind would be nice.

And I agree with Dreadknux about liking it on par with Mario Kart 64 and DS. And I have to say that I prefer the drifting in this game. Was never that great at drifting in some of the Mario Kart games.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Frobman

[Detective Shadzter]

@ Dreadknux

I think its better than Mario Kar too, I've never really played the SNES one apart from 1 time at a friends due to me not having a SNES back then. I've never felt this addicted to a game since Mario Kart 64 which I completed in all modes. Its great to see the online so busy on the 3 home console versions, DS version needs more online love as all I ever find is 1 person to play with

Some people here have pointed out glitches and I see what you guys mean now as I've experienced a couple this morning on the Wii version.

1. One of the guys I was playing against on Pirate Ocean: Monkey Target I saw drift straight through one of the barriers resulting in him/her falling off the track and they disconnected(probably out of rage).

2. I also played some people online on the Casino Park: Bingo Party track, I drove down that first dip holding first place and went straight through the floor instead of up out of the dip which knocked me back to 8th place when i respawned. Wasn't so bothersome as it was in the first lap but was still odd and slightly annoying.

I havent experienced any glitches in the DS, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions though.

[Veritech Guardian]

In the First Casino level right at the start after the part with 2 paths to 2 item boxes each.

Going up Hill there I went so fast that instead of following the track I flew up onto the "Upside down" Track on the ceiling, my car flipped around and then was reset a few seconds later.

[Glenn]

Actually, I'm curious: For Wii and PS3 players, are you generally using the motion controls or buttons?

I've used nothing but the wheel since I got the game, here.

Buttons. As I said earlier, I tried switching to the SIXAXIS out of curiosity and it was an utter disaster... you've got to stick with one or t'other from the start, methinks.

RE: Big the Cat, I appreciate he's got to have some fans out there, and that's cool. My rant was somewhat more of a personal perspective on character tastes, s'all (but hey, I don't make the games, do I?). Just a quick note to Brianzilla2004, though: you list Dr. Eggman as one of the weaker characters, but I've been scoring major SEGA Miles as him! I think he's awesome!

"Let's see how well you do against THIS!!"

[CNash]

I'm wondering if S0L can tell us what these weapons from the early early demos are:

grappling hook??

erm... Gobstoppers in a toy capsule?

They don't resemble any of the current weapons :-/ ???

The first one I think was used for the Confusing Star screen-flip. The second is the old icon for what became the Rainbow.

* I'm having lots of trouble with the Achievements in this game. After unlocking the "Working Man" Achievement, I went to the in-game Achievement menu and found that it hadn't given me credit for obtaining it. Another more annoying problem is the Fighters Mega Mix Achievement, which WILL NOT give me my final point toward unlocking it. I've been struggling against this Achievement from the start, with my All-Star moves not getting credited toward the Achievement, despite clearly connecting with enemies (in most cases, multiple enemies). I know that it's either Alex Kidd or the Bonanza Bros that I need to get the point with, but after about an hour of nonstop All-Star spamming with both vehicles, I've had no luck. Are you planning on addressing this problem? Do you know of any ways to work around it?

Lots of people have been reporting problems with this achievement, and I think that it's because some of the characters are very specific when it comes to what counts as a "hit". Some of the ones that aren't immediately obvious:

* Amigo: you must get at least one other racer to follow you. This won't happen if you're a lap behind the rest of the pack, which might be the case if you've stayed behind to hunt for the All-Star item.

* Knuckles: you need to charge his shockwave and release it, not just blast through people like Sonic.

* Shadow: I've had conflicting reports - some people say only hitting people with the Chaos Spears count, but others say only blasting through people counts. I've just gotten credit for it by blasting through people, so either the latter is correct, or they both work. Do both, just to be sure!

Many of the initial achievement problems (like with Ghost Master, which has been giving people trouble) should have been fixed with the day-one patch - obviously, if you're not online, you wouldn't have got it, hence why some people have problems and others are fine. If you're still having problems, don't worry - another patch is in the works, and it should (hopefully) fix remaining issues.

[Vic Boss]

Okay I mentioned earlier in the topic about being overtaken by a non-existant CPU in an online race when I was really ahead. The other day I had the same thing happen but with an online player.

We were playing 5 laps of Whale Lagoon. All players were human. I was Ryo. I was out in front and I passed the person who was in last place on the final lap (Amigo, I lapped him). Not long after, the announcer suddenly says Amigo just became the racer leader. I looked at the indicator and I was now second, and Amigo suddenly appeared in front as if he teleported.

As I passed the finish line the indicator told me I was in second place, but when the results appeared I had won the race in first place. The Amigo player did not actually finish the race.

This is a glitch that has happened to me twice now, and I think it needs some attention. The last time this happened I lost the race, despite being in first place and never getting overtaken.

[Barry the Nomad]

The first one I think was used for the Confusing Star screen-flip. The second is the old icon for what became the Rainbow.

Thanks for the answer! Wow, I can see why they changed the icons. I do NOT see "screen flip" and "rainbow" when looking at those.

[Detective Shadzter]

SonicRacing10 over at the SEGA Forums has posted a camera recoring of the U.S. commercial -

I've still not seen the UK one.

[CNash]

Thanks for the answer! Wow, I can see why they changed the icons. I do NOT see "screen flip" and "rainbow" when looking at those.

Well, the Rainbow wasn't always a rainbow, being described in early materials as just a "screen distortion" or something like that, until it turned into a random splodge of colours (for which the old icon sort of makes sense - it's a ball containing many colours, which splat on your opponent's screen), and then became the Rainbow item.

[Detective Shadzter]

Teletext GameCentral give the Xbox 360 version a 5/10 -

IN SHORT: Sega's legacy deserves a better celebration than this competent but unremarkable Mario Kart clone.

PROS: Fast and accessible racing with plenty of characters, including some endearingly obscure has-beens.

CONS: Far too exact a copy of Mario Kart, except with worse course design. Unnecessarily limited online options.

SCORE: 5/10 Out: Now (UK)

Full 1 page review here -

http://www.teletext.co.uk/gamecentral/features-reviews/52127c7b699dbeb7bca54955ea00b678/Sega+All-Stars+Racing+(360).aspx

Some of these reviewers annoy me with their quick 1 page glance through the game reviews >_<

EDIT:

IS THIS REALLY RELEVANT? -

Despite assumptions to the contrary this is not the first time Sega has tried to make a Mario Kart clone.

The two Sonic Drift games on the Game Gear were the most blatant but you could also argue Sonic R and Sonic Riders were aiming for the same thing.

This though is the first time they've put a proper effort in, even if Mario has little to worry about just yet.

The word clone does get thrown around a touch too freely nowadays but this is old school copycatting of the most blatant kind.

Its a 1 page review and half of it isnt speaking about the game at hand

EDIT 2:

The words Mario Kart appear in this review: 7 times

The word clone: 4 times

[Barry the Nomad]

IN SHORT: Sega's legacy deserves a better celebration than this competent but unremarkable Mario Kart clone.

Oh come on!

It's a Sega franchise racer, not some golden anniversary celebration of all things Sega! If you want that, just revisit the library of games from the Dreamcast's heyday or play your favorite Sega game.

If we really are holding SASAR to the heights of "Sega legacy celebration", of course it won't meet expectations as that's not what it is supposed to be. Stupid reviewers.

You want a Sega legacy celebration? Learn Japanese (or print out the 50 page walkthrough) and play Segagaga.

[AAUK]

Im really stuck on a misson with Big The Cat misson 62 Every Second Counts i cant seem to do it has anyone else having problems with that misson ?

Boost from the start (Tricky as Big) or bike trick if you fail to boost. You need to drift/boost all the way around the ramp to get the time gate at the end of it.

I never thought i'd like the comentator so much. At first I really thought it was stupid, but i think i was drawing conclusions too soon. Because when I switched it off, I was actually kind of missing it

Comentator is awesome, I like how the guy does it, also he doesn't shout that often. It has been well thought out.

The commentator voice was at one stage incredibly annoying - think a sort of Heroes Tails/American Football Commentator cross over, luckily in one of those incredibly rare moments where I'm actually allowed input into a game early on I was able to point this out! Those that are still annoyed by him can of course turn him off. Is this though the first competant announcer in a race game... like... ever?

[JezMM]

Actually, I'm curious: For Wii and PS3 players, are you generally using the motion controls or buttons?

I've used nothing but the wheel since I got the game, here.

I've used motion control on PS3 since I started. Handles like a charm. At first I wished I could set the item button to square (equivilant to X on 360 and Y on classic controller), since X (equivilant to A on 360 and B on CC) was a little more awkward on my thumb to rest upon for some reason. But I've gotten used to it now.

I'm really glad they put in motion control. I wanted it for PS3 but damn, I hate PS3 control sticks with a passion.

In the First Casino level right at the start after the part with 2 paths to 2 item boxes each.

Going up Hill there I went so fast that instead of following the track I flew up onto the "Upside down" Track on the ceiling, my car flipped around and then was reset a few seconds later.

This has happened to me twice. Where you fly off as if it's a jump, straight into the slot machine decoration above? Happened to me the first time I played, and hilariously during a split-screen game in which the both of us flew off at the same time.

No such problem on the DS version, but gravity is a lot more stingy with air-time on that anyway.

Oh, my thoughts on the announcer: I think I've already heard everything he has to say, but I don't hear each thing often so it's not too bad. Is it weird that for some reason in my mind I feel like there's two guys with the exact same voice up there? It kinda feels like he's back and forthing with someone sometimes, lol. He definately is one of the better announcers I've heard in a game. Haven't turned him off yet and the DS version is curiously laid-back without him.

Edited March 1, 2010 by JezMM

[Barry the Nomad]

Oh yes!

I unlocked Opa Opa last night. Best flying character! Handles well and takes corners much better than Tails, Ulala or the Chuchus. Bonus points for Opa Opa's animations and acceleration.

[-Mark-]

Wait, what's this about bike tricks?

I noticed I can do a wheelie on bikes on the DS version my pressing down on the D-Pad, but can you do them on the Wii version as well?

[AAUK]

Remember... Super Opa-Opa is the way forward people.

[DaBatGuy]

Wait, what's this about bike tricks?

I noticed I can do a wheelie on bikes on the DS version my pressing down on the D-Pad, but can you do them on the Wii version as well?

Moving the control stick up and down on straight-aways works on HD versions so it should be the same.

[-Mark-]

I'm using the wheel. D:

[Detective Shadzter]

I'm having the same trouble with bike wheelies. On DS I can do it pressing down on the d-pad but the other 3 versions I've tried everything. I'll give it another go then what happens and I too would like to know how you do it using motion controls on the Wii and PS3 please if anyone knows.

[-Mark-]

Do they even mention how to do wheelies in the manuals?

Admittedly I've not exactly had a thorough look, but still...