News Article

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Races to Over 20 Characters

Posted by Thomas Whitehead

Number will vary per platform

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed hits 3DS in Europe on 16th November — we expect the North American release to be similar — and promises to offer a different experience from Nintendo's own Mario Kart 7, with flying and underwater stages having their own vibe. When it come to kart-racing style titles, however, one thing that always gets plenty of attention is the number of characters in the roster.

Sumo Digital’s Steve Lycett has taken to the official SEGA forums to tell fans that there are 29 characters across all platforms, but that the rosters will vary due to system-exclusive characters.

Over all the different platforms, this totals up to 29 actual playable choices. But that doesn’t mean that there are 29 playable choices in all platforms (in fact no single platform has all 29). Some drop down to the low 20′s, some instead have high 20′s.

Why is this? Well some platforms have characters that are unique to that platform. I’m not going to say which, that’s part of the fun of the reveals! Some are SEGA characters, some are not. Don’t bother asking.

Playable choices doesn’t necessarily equal drivers either. Not as we’re talking passengers or hood ornaments, counting those would indeed be cheap, but you know this is game all about transformation, we are doing things with the vehicles that we’ve not shown you, that are going to really surprise you.

So yes I get that it’s fun to debate who is right and who is wrong, but at the end of the day, you can measure what’s there in loads of different ways. Across all the playable vehicles, there are currently more than 90 different forms (as each vehicle has a land, air and sea mode + you’ve not seen anything on the All-Stars…) and who said each vehicle was limited to a single driver… Or indeed vehicle type per surface.

Wait and see. This is why whenever you ask us anywhere, we can’t give you a straight answer. Well that and the NDA’s.

Despite being in standard tease mode, the news that there are at least 20 characters is positive, while over 90 vehicle 'forms' sounds full of promise. As for 3DS-exclusive characters, let's all jump into the guessing game: who'll be included?

[via forums.sega.com, sonicstadium.org]

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Screenshot

User Comments (28)

Nardar

#1

Nardar said:

This wont compete with MK7 but it's something different if your tired of MK7.

Tate24

#2

Tate24 said:

Oooooo am looking forward to this!! mk7 is old hat now i bearly ever play it:D

what characters are in game am thinking Aiai from super monkey ball and blaze cat from sonic vers for sum reason lol

Takosuke

#5

Takosuke said:

I just hope this increase in the roster doesn't mean more of Sonic's horrible friends.

Joshers744

#6

Joshers744 said:

Here's hoping to Mario getting a cameo in this as an exclusive (just Mario though....getting too much into another non Sega series would kind of take away from it I think)

Barbiegurl777

#11

Barbiegurl777 said:

Nice hope it hit's the same day in NA because that's my b-day!

I love it! All the best games come out in my fave month Nov lol just kidding although Nov is my favorite month of the year half cause of my b-day half cause of thanksgiving! lol! :D

Happy Gaming! (^_^)

C-Olimar

#12

C-Olimar said:

Well, Mario was originally planned as a Nintendo exclusive for the first game, similar to Banjo and Kajooie for Xbox. However, he was removed to avoid cross-contamination with the Mario and Sonic Olympic games, so I'm not sure. Please, please just let NiGHTS be playable this time!

Miroku

#22

Miroku said:

Rip-off of Mario Kart. Not surprised after they ripped off Mario Party with...Sonic Shuffle.

AntiGuy

#23

AntiGuy said:

I really don't care about any other Sega character besides Sonic and the gang, and maybe Nights and Ristar.

LEGEND_MARIOID

#24

LEGEND_MARIOID said:

Thought the character roster in the first game was ok. Its the course variety that needed improving. Could've done with Banjo and Mario. Can't remember if the Wii/DS version gor Metal Sonic either. Just don't short change us SEGA

Kage_88

#25

Kage_88 said:

@Miroku - It's NOT a rip-off of Mario Kart...it's a rip-off of Diddy Kong Racing :D

Exclusive characters again? Jeez, now I'll have to really think about which version to get...for the Nintendo platforms, I think Mario would be a boring choice (though I wouldn't complain if it were the case). I'd go with someone like Captain Falcon or Fox McCloud (characters that are heavily associated with vehicles).

Onett

#27

Onett said:

Mario Kart 7 didn't set a very high benchmark for its ilk so it wouldn't be very difficult for 'Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed' to rival it.

Kyloctopus

#28

Kyloctopus said:

I was thinking this should have these 5 characters:
Mario
Toe Jam & Earl
CPt Falcon
Classic Sonic
SEGA San sanshiro

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