Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing | Nintendo Wii

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Race across the world of Sega

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing brings Sonic together with characters from across Sega's game library for a kart-style racing competition. Familiar faces include Tails, Knuckles and Dr. Eggman alongside racers such as AiAi, Ulala and Ryo. The Wii version also lets a Mii join the lineup. Characters have their own vehicles and distinctive All-Star moves, while tracks borrow settings and visual themes from the games they represent. The objective in an ordinary race is straightforward: outdrive and outmaneuver the seven other competitors to reach the finish first.

Steer, drift and turn corners into speed

The driving combines racing lines with deliberate drifting. Holding a drift through a turn builds a boost that can be released to gain speed, so a corner is more than an obstacle to negotiate. Learning when to begin the slide and where to point the vehicle when it ends helps you turn track knowledge into faster laps. Tricks supply another route to a turbo boost. These systems give you reasons to practice a course even after you have seen its scenery and know where the finish lies.

That emphasis on boosting makes the race active between item pickups. You are continually judging the next bend, the space around nearby vehicles and the moment to commit to a maneuver. A clean route lets a boost carry you into the next stretch, while an awkward exit can waste the advantage you just built. The result is approachable arcade driving with room to improve through repetition, particularly when you begin linking successful corners instead of treating each one as a separate problem.

Use items and character-specific All-Star moves

Track pickups add another layer of competition. Offensive and defensive tools include boxing gloves and mines, with other weapons and boosts available to disrupt a rival or change your own pace. The position of the racers matters to how you use them: an attack directed ahead serves a different purpose from a hazard left for the vehicles behind. Keeping an item until it suits the situation can be as meaningful as collecting it in the first place.

All-Star moves turn that item-driven rivalry into a celebration of the character you selected. Sonic can become Super Sonic for a burst of speed, while Billy Hatcher leaves eggshell obstacles for racers following him. These powers are obtained through pickups rather than being freely available whenever you want them. They give the drivers identities beyond their appearance and provide an additional reason to try different members of the roster. An All-Star opportunity can change the race, but the ordinary work of steering, drifting and choosing a route continues around it.

Choose a race, a championship or a time trial

Single Race gives you an individual event when you want a quick contest. Grand Prix supplies a series of races, making consistency over a run of courses part of the challenge. Time Trials concentrate on your own pace and encourage repeated attempts to improve a route. These options let you choose whether a session is about facing the pack, completing a larger competition or studying how efficiently you can drive a particular track.

The settings span colorful Sega locations, with themes drawn from Sonic, Super Monkey Ball, Jet Set Radio, Billy Hatcher and other represented games. The changing scenery gives each group of courses a distinct identity while the same central racing skills carry between them. Sega music, character voices and commentary reinforce the crossover atmosphere. Trying another course consequently changes the backdrop and turns you need to learn without requiring a completely different driving system.

Complete missions and spend Sega Miles

Mission mode gives you objectives that extend beyond winning a conventional race. Challenges can ask you to maintain a long drift, collect objects, hit a specified opponent or finish while avoiding particular breakable scenery. Because the target changes, a mission can shift your attention from raw finishing position to one mechanic or section of the course. It is a useful complement to the championships: you practice an individual skill and work toward a clearly defined task rather than simply run another standard lap.

Racing and mission progress earn Sega Miles, the game's own shop currency. You use these to open further characters and tracks, so the roster and available choices grow as you play. Earning the next purchase creates a longer-term goal alongside your immediate race result. The game also tracks challenges such as trying the different racers' All-Star attacks, encouraging you to explore more of the lineup. These are in-game accomplishments and unlocks rather than purchases that change the physical merchandise supplied.

Share the Wii in local multiplayer

Up to four players can compete locally in split screen. Alongside regular races, multiplayer includes battle formats and objectives such as King of the Hill. These shift the purpose from reaching a finish line to fighting for position or control, giving pickups another use outside a championship. Sharing the screen makes it a natural choice for players in the same room, and the unlock system means it is worth opening additional tracks before arranging a longer multiplayer session.

Controls and the exact Wii version

Supported setups include Wii Remote steering, Remote with Nunchuk and the Classic Controller; a Wii Wheel can hold the Remote for the motion-control option. GameCube controllers are not supported. This North American Wii release was developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega on February 23, 2010. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ended May 20, 2014, so historical online competition is unavailable. Plan multiplayer sessions around the local modes and consult the selected condition for supplied accessories.