Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Hands-On) (Wii U) Preview

The first thing played was the single player mode of the Wii U version of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Sonic was the only selectable character in this instance due to the game being early code. The level could be played in both normal control mode with the analogue sticks and motion control mode with the gyros on the Wii U GamePad. The game handled quite well in both modes although with the motion controls it took a while to get used to the sensitivity since the GamePad was very delicate and it resulted in driving straight into the first corner as soon as the first race started. Once getting used to them, they are actually very good. The level played was Seaside Hill, fitting for playing as Sonic, and the game played very much like the original, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, with twists, turns, obstacles, and varying paths all being a vital part of the level; choosing the right route can lead to victory.

Two new things added to the game, though, are the transforming levels and vehicles, and these add a ton of variation to the mix. On Seaside Hill, the last lap destroys the normal course and turns most of it into a lake with speed boost rings throughout, and, oh, it turns your vehicle into a boat! The boat does handle differently to the car but not by so much that it will suddenly leave players feeling lost, rather it simply makes for a more 'floaty' feel. The game also allows for the selection of a level of difficulty (easy, medium and hard) and there was indeed a noticeable difference between them.

Most of the items were available in the Wii U version, with the Twister (a little tornado) being the least common item to get, and the missiles and speed boosts being the most common. There were also other items that weren't in the Wii U version, such as the RC Car, which drives a mini version of your vehicle into the person in front, ending in a spectacular explosion. Graphically, the game looked nice; it was a bit choppy with the frame-rate but this was a very early version. The map on the screen was helpful at times but there was never a real need to look at it, but when the demo video was playing on the screen it looked very sharp.

The next thing played was the PlayStation 3 version of Sonic & All-Stars Racing's multiplayer, and it was obvious that it was a far more advanced version than the Wii U edition with multiple characters and courses to choose from. There was also a noticeable bump in image quality and frame-rate that will also be in the final version for the Wii U. There were eight players in the online mode with ten characters to choose from across various SEGA franchises, including Sonic, Ulala from Space Channel 5, B.D Joe from Crazy Taxi, and, of course, the new movie character Wreck-it-Ralph. Each of these characters was upgradable in the form of levelling up and the better players did in races, the more experience points were received for that specific character, leading to players using one character more than others and getting more out of the game with a sense of achievement.

During the hands-on play-test, several levels were tackled, with stages such as Dragon Castle from Panzer Dragoon, Galactic Parade that is a bit like Rainbow Road from the Mario Kart franchise, Samba Studios from Samba de Amigo, and a personal favourite, the After Burner course, which took place between a few aircraft carriers in the sea going to war. The course was a good opportunity to try transforming into the plane version of the vehicle, which was very fun and different, but it was easier to handle than the car and the boat. The stage also had the most variation with all three transformations being used. Another fun level was Skies of Arcadia's Rogues Landing, which also allowed for a lot of flying.

Other items available were the swarm that set off a swarm of wasps to block and sting opponents, as well as the engine boost block that boosted the engine for a certain amount of time. Pressing the 'use item' button again created an explosion with a pressure gauge on the back determining the level of the blast, but if left too long it blew up in the player's face, slowing them down. There was also the All-Star mode item that transformed the character into a character dependent vehicle and pretty much allowed for gliding past opponents with ease.