Even though some fans are a little disgruntled by the fact that Team Sonic Racing isn’t the sequel to Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed, there’s still something of value within the game. It’s got the same developer as the 2012 release, Sumo Digital. And it still takes place in a lively Sonic universe, featuring a number of heroes and villains to choose from.
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But what’s more important is that it feels like its own entity. You can actually tell that there’s devotion to said Sonic universe, especially when it comes to team dynamic. We recently had a chance to find that out when we went hands-on with the game at E3 2018 this week.
First off, the course design, while limited to worlds based around Sonic, is pretty well done. You’ll find opportunities galore to get your power drift on; and the system is identical to Transformed, whereas you can do a drift for several seconds and come away with a boost to help give you the lead.
There’s also the returning trick system, which allows you to do flips coming off of jumps. Land one successfully (or even repeat a few in a row) and you’ll earn a quick boost. Crash and you’ll end up slowing down a bit, giving the opposition the chance to get the jump on you.
But there are some new dynamics here. With rings scattered across the track, you actually speed up a little bit, similar to what the coins did with Mario Kart 8. However, if you get hit by a power-up (which can happen once in a while), you’ll lose a few rings and need to pick them up again. Fortunately, you can find them in clusters on the track, as well as within crates.
Other things to watch out for include power-ups like rockets and other distractionary items that can turn back other cars; as well as boost pads that can give you a push, even if you don’t happen to be drifting at the time. They’re painted pink, so they’re really hard to miss.
But there’s talk about that devotion, and it’s with racing alongside your teammates. Along with being able to earn a special boost together that can give you an edge over your opponents, there’s also the ability to trade off items with your buddies. Sometimes you’ll get an offer to use a power-up or hand it off to someone who needs it. By doing this, you can help them get back into a formidable position within the race.
This is vital because the higher up you and your teammates are, the better you do in the race overall. It’s not necessarily about just giving you a first place win. It’s making sure they place rather well too. It’s a neat new twist to the usual racing theme that can also lend a hand with the game’s multiplayer, if you’ve got friends racing alongside you. That hasn’t been tested out yet, but we’re eager to give it a try.
We’ve still got some more of Team Sonic Racing to try out. But for now, this game is more fun than we originally thought, and it should do quite well when it revs up later this year for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
