Sonic Racing Rumors - "It's happening, FOOLS!"

[GentlemanX]

It was stated in the other thread that the number of characters is determined more by how long it takes to program them rather than limits in terms of space. Would this mean more characters would be possible if the game were a standard kart racer like the 2010 game rather than the multi-form gameplay seen in Transformed?

[Pawn]

It would be very disappointing to drop so much of what made ASR and ASRT so special (gameplay aside). Seeing the likes of Opa-Opa, Beat, Amigo, NiGHTS and AGES brought to life in beautiful HD worlds was a dream come true. That said, I didn't think after so much time that they would continue the series anyway so I don't feel like I'd be losing out quite so much.

I'm not sure how onboard I'd be with a Sonic only racer at this point. It's Sumo, so it will be awesome (as long as SEGA don't interfere too much) but for me to get excited there'd have to at least be some pretty interesting level choices).

One concern I have is if someone at SEGA thinks that following Mario Kart's direction in terms of roster would be a good idea. Classic versions of the same characters as separate racers is something I could do without.

It would be cool to see the new Mania levels in 3D though. Imagine Studiopolis or Press Garden.

[Your Vest Friend]

28 minutes ago, GentlemanX said:

It was stated in the other thread that the number of characters is determined more by how long it takes to program them rather than limits in terms of space. Would this mean more characters would be possible if the game were a standard kart racer like the 2010 game rather than the multi-form gameplay seen in Transformed?

Probably. I remember them having more clone characters in ASRT in ratio to roster size compared to SASR, and that's probably because they had to program all those different vehicles for one character. 

[GentlemanX]

As someone who hasn't played Transformed but did enjoy the original game, and only has slight memories of playing Diddy Kong Racing when I was younger, would you (plural, I'm looking for anyone's thoughts) rather have more characters or the transformation gimmick? I wasn't opposed to it, but unless it was a real highlight to Transformed I'd rather have more racers as just a standard racer like Mario Kart or Cruis'n already appeals to me a lot.

[Red Hot Jack]

Just now, GentlemanX said:

As someone who hasn't played Transformed but did enjoy the original game, and only has slight memories of playing Diddy Kong Racing when I was younger, would you (plural, I'm looking for anyone's thoughts) rather have more characters or the transformation gimmick? I wasn't opposed to it, but unless it was a real highlight to Transformed I'd rather have more racers as just a standard racer like Mario Kart or Cruis'n already appeals to me a lot.

It's not as simple as that, but not even complicated: I did enjoy the transforming gimmick, but it's been done, I would love to see either a more traditional game again with variety in vehicles (cars, off-roads, bikes and hovercrafts) or another, different twist. Surprise me, Sumo Digital!

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

I'm all for it. Adored the ASR games and if this continues the trend of fast, addictive arcade racers, then I'm sure I'll love it regardless of who or what's in it. (Especially if the tracks are as insanely cool as the ones in ASRT.) Plus, the increased focus on Sonic means we might see some more interesting character pulls from the franchise like possibly the Chaotix that I know I saw a lot of different takes on leading up to the releases of both previous games. There's also the possibility of a Story Mode, which I think Sumo would have an easier time including with just one franchise to keep track of. So yeah, very excited by this.

[McGroose]

I'd be very disappointed but I know the game will be fun regardless. Sumo are fantastic developers and the quality of their potential game is not at question here. It's just that, as a fan of several of Sega's older and newer franchises, to see them waste an entire game with only Sonic and crew driving cars shows just how questionable Sega's priorities are if they go from a game filled with all sorts of Sega characters to just Sanic, Sanic and more Sanic.

If it's going to be a Sonic only racer, I've got a pretty good feeling that the Avatar will return in some way, a customizable character to drive as to make up for there being less characters. Classic Sonic would probably return, too. If it's Sonic only, Sumo's really going to have to reach the bottom of the barrel to have a roster as big as Transformed (including DLC). 

[Your Vest Friend]

55 minutes ago, GentlemanX said:

As someone who hasn't played Transformed but did enjoy the original game, and only has slight memories of playing Diddy Kong Racing when I was younger, would you (plural, I'm looking for anyone's thoughts) rather have more characters or the transformation gimmick? I wasn't opposed to it, but unless it was a real highlight to Transformed I'd rather have more racers as just a standard racer like Mario Kart or Cruis'n already appeals to me a lot.

I wouldn't care how many characters it had as long as it didn't have the Transformation gimmick. 

[Splash the Otter]

I enjoyed the transformation gimmick, but I can do without it, especially if it means more characters.

[Jango]

As it is now, I'm on the fence with @Blue Blood. Of all the SEGA franchises, Sonic is still my favorite, no doubt, but like @Thigolf beautifully explained, it's a huge waste of potential. Which isn't anything new coming from SEGA... While giving other Sonic characters a bit of spotlight isn't bad per se, many of them will only appeal to already Sonic fans, and just them. While during the Racing Transformed cycle, I recall a bunch of people going crazy every time an old SEGA classic was announced. Nostalgia is a powerfull tool, and seeing the characters and worlds from the games that you used to play on the Genesis, Saturn or Dreamcast completely remade with gorgeous visuals and music, is totally amazing. So amazing that even the original creator of Skies of Arcadia cried when he saw the track Sumo developed based on his game. It goes without saying that every track in Transformed is jaw dropping, no matter if you know the game it's representing or not, which is another great thing about the All-Star series, it opens your mind to something besides Sonic.

But then I ask you: we already saw all these Sonic characters in 3D, we know how they look in HD and we see them all the time. Then there's this: basically every character outside the main 4 is considered a joke, or came from bad/average Sonic games and yeah, I'm sorry, but this affects how people will look at the game. And frankly? Wanting Infinite, Sticks or Blaze to be playable is just a shallow visual affair you have with these characters right now.

Unless Sumo pull off tracks based on zones we've never seen in 3D/HD and not the same tired zones, my hype is close to none. Guys, imagine a level based on a Sonic CD level, where each lap is a different time period? Or a track based on an original zone from Mania? Something from Rush, maybe? There's potential, the Sonic franchise have GREAT zones to work with. I just don't wanna see THIS potential getting wasted too! 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

I'm not too angry about the loss of SEGA characters. The only ones I cared about were the Jet Set Radio characters, and honestly I'd rather not be reminded that I'm never seeing them again. That said, if it is just Sonic Kart, I understand disappointment. It's not a reason to actively call the game bad for something the devs more than likely didn't have control over, but I wouldn't be totally happy regardless. In honesty though the only thing we really know about this game is that it exists, so I don't see any real reason to get emotional over it.

[Iko]

I prefer more characters and no transformed gimmick; one of the reasons why I skipped Transformed was because of the gimmick, I only played the original game because I prefer simple racing games, switching gameplay in the middle of the race is not for me.

Anyway I think that being Sonic-only could benefit the reputation of the Sonic franchise, since Sumo Digital is a good developer and the game has high chances of being good; probably that's why they decided to make it all about Sonic.

I also want older zones remade in HD, possibly ones that aren't already remastered in other games, but I also think that Green Hill will be in the game, you can't make a Sonic party game and exclude the most iconic zone from it... so expect another Green Hill remake (I'm fine with that, honestly I like Green Hill, as long as the track will look good).

and BTW the rumor may still be fake as far as we know.

[Swing]

This will be such a boring game. Even the tracks will probably just rehashes once again. Unless they go the Riders route and just create new race tracks. But I highly doubt that their will take inspirations from Secret Rings, Black Knight, Chronicles or some of the more unknown levels from Unleashed like Jungle Joy Ride. I'm sick and tired of Green Hill.... so tired. Chemical Plant will be probably also reused once again. I'm sick of it.

After all the Nostalgia pandering over the last 6 years I highly doubt they will ever, ever go back to the more risky ideas they had over the year. Just play it safe. Play it safe because, yeah, remember how good Sonic was? Remember Green Hill? Remember City Escape?  

[MegasonicZX]

If i'm being honest here,  and I may come off as a bit elitist here so apologies for that, but i'm less worried about the characters they decide to put into the game (though it will be disappointing not to have my boy ages or shinobi) and moreso worried on whether they'll dumb it down for more casual audiences both in terms of difficulty and mechanics. The main thing that I loved about transformed was just how good it felt to get to the point where I could seamlessly chain different tricks together, get those picture perfect drifts, being able to laugh at the expert AI after initially getting bullied by them, and the speed and frantic-ness of it all. Basically, i'm just worried that they might bend the knee after the complaints from last time and i'm hoping this won't be the case if this game turns out to be true.

[Kuzu]

I'm not going to pretend like I care much about Sega's other franchises, but it really does kind of suck how they're being sacrificed for the sake of focusing only on Sonic. Most of these franchises will likely never get another sequel or any type of representation because of so much focus on Sonic, and All-Stars was really the last place they'd get any kind of promotion, and now that has been nixed too.

It just sucks man. I'm sure a Modern Sonic racer will be fine for those that want it, but eh...

[Your Vest Friend]

You know, I have just had a little something come over my mind; what if the Sonic kart racer isn't something being done instead of an ASR game? Bear with the idea a sec. So here's how this alternate timeline theory plays out. 

-Transformed comes out and does its thing.

-Not long after, SEGA decide to put the kibosh on the All Stars series altogether.

-Years later, SoJ want to venture back into Sonic doing a racing game, something that hasn't happened in a while. 

-Because of the past pedigree with ASR, SoE or SoA recommend outsourcing the project to Sumo Digital.

In this case, the Sonic racer wouldn't be instead of an ASR sequel, it'd be "if the Sonic racer wasn't being made, no racer would be made". 

Just throwing out a thought. 

[Polkadi~☆]

Take this as you will.

EDIT: nevermind

[Your Vest Friend]

I take it as related to Sonic Dash. 

Because it's related to Sonic Dash. Hardlight Twitter confirms it. 

[Polkadi~☆]

2 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

I take it as related to Sonic Dash. 

Because it's related to Sonic Dash. Hardlight Twitter confirms it. 

Yeah, I quickly found out.

Sorry.

:\

[expansivelovestories]

It is unique that this year is still a 20th anniversary for Sonic R, in that the PC version was released in 1998.     I would be surprised if there are not foot race courses as a game mode; with the same situation for specific characters still having vehicles to allow them to reach higher speeds!!

I feel like this is intended to be a superb game as far as, that it will be the first Sonic racing game for Switch, a platform on which it may become very popular, so it would need to make a major impression!

[blueblur98]

if this is truly another sonic-only racer, please let it be riders. granted, ASR and ASRT played more like mario kart than anything, but it would be nice to see this sub-series even mentioned after the kinect massacre of 2010.

if it's a sonic-only kart racer, then it'll still likely be good. i can't wait to see whatever sumo's working on.

[A sonic fan]

Can't wait for green hill seaside hill and chemical plant again.

[EmmBee]

I think the unfortunate truth is that Sega's properties just aren't a big enough draw these days. They've pretty much been kept alive by games like these, so it's a shame, but not surprising. A big issue with Sega properties I feel is the fact that not a lot of them have readily available assets for use in a game. Sumo would have to create a lot of new models and environments from scratch and the cost of that may not be seen as worth it. With Sonic it may be easier to repurpose stuff.

I mean I guess that's all under the assumption that models from ASRT aren't seen as too outdated for use in a game these days. I feel like asset creation was always a big point when the game devs would talk about adding so and so series to the game.

As for me, I could go either way with a kart racer. I'd prefer another Sega All-Stars, but I wouldn't mind a new Sonic-focused one.

[Sean]

My disappointment in the lack of Sega characters could be offset by appearances and references to obscure characters and games (like Nack, or areas from Chaotix or even the GG games) or at least tracks based on Sonic Mania zones. So, if nothing else I'm hoping that Sumo can get as much freedom in their references as possible. If it's restricted to the modern cast and settings, it'd be a pretty hard sell for me.

[Milo]

On 2/16/2018 at 11:27 AM, Blue Blood said:

I'm totally on the fence about it. I'm more of a Sonic fan than a wider SEGA fan (but would give anything for JSR3 or a decent Monkey Ball), so in that regard I'd be happy with Sonic only. But it's the fact that it would feel like such a regression to go from all from all of these varied and otherwise forgotten franchises to just one that's always being milked. And it's not like I dislike the SEGA IPs at all. I just don't hold the biggest affinity for them. I appreciate them, but they aren't top of my list.

At this stage, we just know too little. I'm hoping that this being a Sonic only game would be used to its advantage, by offering something different that wouldn't work for other IPs (e.g. racing on foot). But if it's literally just SEGA All Stars without the SEGA, there's no defending that.

Agreed with this. Don't really have an opinion one way or another, but I do think that if it's a Sonic-centric racing game, it should be providing a unique experience; whether it be a revival of Riders, going back to the on-foot gameplay of Sonic R, adapting the Boost gameplay into a spinoff racing series (which would IMO be the most ideal outcome), or doing a new racing experience. Effectively making yet another ASR kart racer, except with that series' title big selling points (giving a spotlight to Sega's other IPs / non-Sonic classic history) surgically replaced with more Sonic characters would IMO have a harder time convincing people its worth their time to check out.