Team Sonic Racing - Team Gameplay Spotlight

[Blue Blood]

1 hour ago, Fire-N-Space said:

It looks like people are pushing for a much higher stander with Team Sonic Racing then they did for Sonic Mania which didn't even add Amy. Sega said themselves that this isn't a sequel to Sega All Star Racing yet some are upset for the lack of Sega characters, there upset about only having fifteen playable characters when Mania only had five and like Sonic Riders Team Sonic Racing gets about fifteen playable characters. This game looks identical to Sonic Transformed but with a different way to race.

lol wat bro

Do you know what criticism is? You're spewing a load of nonsense. Like, what kind of a point are you even trying to make? You're just saying that people are wrong for having negative opinions. 

 

If you want a point-by-point response, there's one below. But it should all be obvious, not least of all because every point here has been made a thousand times already.

You can't compare a 3D kart racer to a 3D retro platformer on any level at all, so just forget about that entire comparison you made. The Riders games also didn't have big casts. And regardless of their cast sizes, it had no bearing on the fact that the TSR cast is small. With 15 character and 12 characters per race, there's hardly any variety in there.

It doesn't matter if this game isn't a sequel to ASRT. If you're going to use that as an excuse to tell people that they shouldn't be disappointed by the lack of SEGA characters, then instead recognise that people are disappointed that it's not a sequel to ASRT. (And anyway the game is just ASR3 without SEGA characters. The name is totally inconsequential.) And with the small cast, they aren't going to using any characters other than the most common ones. It's not an am exciting roster.

And no, it's not identical to ASRT at all. The cars seem to handle similarly, but the course design is very different to accommodate the team-based gimmicks, which frankly haven't gotten glowing reception yet.

[Your Vest Friend]

People have a right to be disappointed with the roster number...but to be honest I can't think of a single-franchise kart racer outside of Mario Kart (and even Mario Kart is a sort of weird circumstance, I'd argue) that isn't around the roster size TSR has. The All-Stars games had way more rope because it was covering several franchises. 

Besides, I didn't think they'd do deep cuts for the playable roster, that's reserved for the mobile games mostly. 

[Fire-N-Space]

Just now, Tracker_TD said:

No, they're pushing for a standard on par with at least All Stars Racing Transformed, which isn't happening. Comparing stuff like the character count to Mania and all that is absolutely bizarre when they're entirely different kinds of games where different playable characters entails a huge difference in development. All that's different about the characters in this game is their model, stats and voice, whereas in a platforming game like Mania their moveset needs to be tested and balanced against a slew of stages, moreso for Mighty and Ray who need to not break what it already established. 

It looks very unlike ASRT on anything but a surface level, due to the removal of dynamic track designs, a focus on flat, wide tracks to facilitate the dodgy team gimmicks, bizarre decisions such as items killing all of your momentum dead (again, just to push a relatively dodgy team gimmick), and weakened variety from having only Sonic characters - but more than that, from having the bare minimum of Sonic characters. This is a Sonic spin-off racing game from Sumo Digital - where are the deep cuts? The pleasant surprises? So far the most Sumo spirit I've seen from this game is the sodding Rad Mobile ad in Wisp Circuit. 

It's comparing apples and oranges. People aren't mad about this game because of Mania, they're mad about this game because it looks paltry compared to the last one, even putting aside the lack of SEGA characters. 

The dynamic track designs came with a whole lot of bugs that never got fix and were far to big for there own good especially the air parts Transformed water tracks are flat and buggy, there air parts are just to big, and the land tracks are flat with some hills. The items slowing you down is a good way to keep the skill gamer from winning all the time keeping the race fun for everyone and fifteen characters playable isn't bare minimum for a Sonic game Sonic Mania on the other hand...  Sonic Forces has been compared to Mania loads of times before and there difference games.   

[Tracker_TD]

27 minutes ago, Fire-N-Space said:

The dynamic track designs came with a whole lot of bugs that never got fix and were far to big for there own good especially the air parts Transformed water tracks are flat and buggy, there air parts are just to big, and the land tracks are flat with some hills. The items slowing you down is a good way to keep the skill gamer from winning all the time keeping the race fun for everyone and fifteen characters playable isn't bare minimum for a Sonic game Sonic Mania on the other hand...  Sonic Forces has been compared to Mania loads of times before and there difference games.   

AgaIn, you’re comparing apples and oranges for a cheap shot at Mania. I already explained the fundamental differences here, and they don’t apply to Mania and Forces as they’re in a far more similar genre (to the point Forces literally contains an attempt at what Mania was).

Even if Mania were some tragic affair, that doesn’t change that this looks naff. Mania is irrelevant to TSR’s failings.

Items slowing you down so much is a good way to kill the pace. Mario Kart and ASRT don’t have this issue. If flat tracks are your issue with ASRT, I’ve not the slightest idea what you see in TSR as so far the only time we’ve seen things get vertical is a drop at the end of Planet Wisp. 15 characters is bare minimum for a Racing spinoff in a series with as many potential characters as Sonic, and it’s nigh certainly going to lead to fan favourites such as Blaze and Silver being absent. The solution to buggy tracks is to test them better, not make them boring as hell.

I now wait for the response, in which we presumably learn how Mania is exerting an evil power forcing the Sumo devs to make the game worse. Or something. 

[Whatever the WhoCares]

I love the Jun Senoue style guitars. Here’s hoping the game gets a thick layer of polish before release. 

[Fire-N-Space]

Just now, Tracker_TD said:

AgaIn, you’re comparing apples and oranges for a cheap shot at Mania. I already explained the fundamental differences here, and they don’t apply to Mania and Forces as they’re in a far more similar genre (to the point Forces literally contains an attempt at what Mania was).

Even if Mania were some tragic affair, that doesn’t change that this looks naff. Mania is irrelevant to TSR’s failings.

Items slowing you down so much is a good way to kill the pace. Mario Kart and ASRT don’t have this issue. If flat tracks are your issue with ASRT, I’ve not the slightest idea what you see in TSR as so far the only time we’ve seen things get vertical is a drop at the end of Planet Wisp. 15 characters is bare minimum for a Racing spinoff in a series with as many potential characters as Sonic, and it’s nigh certainly going to lead to fan favourites such as Blaze and Silver being absent. The solution to buggy tracks is to test them better, not make them boring as hell.

I now wait for the response, in which we presumably learn how Mania is exerting an evil power forcing the Sumo devs to make the game worse. Or something. 

Mario Karts items do stop you on a dime when you get hit by them also making the player lose coins slowing them down even more in Transformed I can get hit by a Item and keep drifting around a turn like nothing happen or boost it off and good luck hitting someone when flying. They have only shown off two tracks one is the basic track and one is made of ice that can hinder handling with obstacles and tight roads with there being higher speed classes still coming. Sometimes fan favourites get left out like Amy in Mania. 

[Tracker_TD]

20 minutes ago, Fire-N-Space said:

Mario Karts items do stop you on a dime when you get hit by them also making the player lose coins slowing them down even more in Transformed I can get hit by a Item and keep drifting around a turn like nothing happen or boost it off and good luck hitting someone when flying. They have only shown off two tracks one is the basic track and one is made of ice that can hinder handling with obstacles and tight roads with there being higher speed classes still coming. Sometimes fan favourites get left out like Amy in Mania. 

Again with the Mania comparisons! They don’t work! For Amy to be in Mania (let’s say Mania Plus, because she was never going to be a given for the vanilla game) they’d likely have to cramp considerable elements of what made her unique in other titles, because it’s a platform game where every character has different skills and abilities that need to be balanced against with the pre-existing level design! 

TSR doesn’t have that excuse. As I said, every character is the same beyond model and stats. Tails can’t fly through the air freely to potentially break the stages, Amy can’t use her hammer to do whatever her hammer does, it’s just aesthetics and the like. Which is fine, it’s just a spinoff Racer, but it’s not comparable to Mania. And the lesser amount of effort that goes into implementing a character here is why it’s a problem compared to Mania (which actually ended up going beyond the character counts of the other Classic games anyway!)

Mario Kart does stop you, but not as harshly as TSR appears to, and it doesn’t nudge towards a largely RNG dependent gimmick to get back up to speed - the coins are the speed punishment, but even they’re much more subtle than this. ASRT gives you a considerable speed reduction, but it doesn’t kill you dead in your tracks. And “it’s a basic track” is a paltry excuse when the first track shown off for ASRT was the insane Panzer Dragoon level, where things constantly changed in a much grander environment. Even ASRT’s first track, Ocean Palace, had far more interesting design (and aesthetics for that matter.) 

 

When an all-new track (Ice Mountain) looks considerably more boring than SEASIDE HILL, a stage noted for being either an overused trope or just overused in of itself, there’s probably an issue there.

[Dr. Detective]

Like with Forces, a lot of the stuff being pointed out about the game is stuff I wouldn't have initially noticed or cared about first hand. The amount of time you're stopped when you get hit and how it compares to the past games isn't something I'd have paid careful attention to for example. Being on a forum has that effect on your perception of games as people who tend to be a lot more observant about this kind of stuff will often make observations that can seem like nitpicks to someone else whose just looking at it and seeing a racing game. It's just the nature of being in a discussion. As someone who cares more about atmosphere, characters, adventure, and narrative it's a lot harder for me to notice or be all that harsh about gameplay details but it's not like I'm one to ignore it if I don't agree or see it once it's pointed out.

These criticisms aren't coming about because people want to complain about it. At least I don't think that's the case. Everyone just has better stuff out there to compare it too. I mean we're getting info about this game at around the same time a game like Smash Bros. is flaunting how much it's bursting with content. We have past titles within this same series to compare it to that have admittedly managed some of these elements better because they didn't have to compromise for the Team gameplay gimmick. 

So, I get being disappointed. The wait and see argument has never really been one that's seen much success regarding Sonic so it's likely that the game will end up feeling like how these early perceptions are for some. Luckily, I'm not on the negative end of the spectrum but that's not the same as being okay with it being worse than what I know it can be. 

[Fire-N-Space]

Just now, Tracker_TD said:

Again with the Mania comparisons! They don’t work! For Amy to be in Mania (let’s say Mania Plus, because she was never going to be a given for the vanilla game) they’d likely have to cramp considerable elements of what made her unique in other titles, because it’s a platform game where every character has different skills and abilities that need to be balanced against with the pre-existing level design! 

TSR doesn’t have that excuse. As I said, every character is the same beyond model and stats. Tails can’t fly through the air freely to potentially break the stages, Amy can’t use her hammer to do whatever her hammer does, it’s just aesthetics and the like. Which is fine, it’s just a spinoff Racer, but it’s not comparable to Mania. And the lesser amount of effort that goes into implementing a character here is why it’s a problem compared to Mania (which actually ended up going beyond the character counts of the other Classic games anyway!)

Mario Kart does stop you, but not as harshly as TSR appears to, and it doesn’t nudge towards a largely RNG dependent gimmick to get back up to speed - the coins are the speed punishment, but even they’re much more subtle than this. ASRT gives you a considerable speed reduction, but it doesn’t kill you dead in your tracks. And “it’s a basic track” is a paltry excuse when the first track shown off for ASRT was the insane Panzer Dragoon level, where things constantly changed in a much grander environment. Even ASRT’s first track, Ocean Palace, had far more interesting design (and aesthetics for that matter.) 

 

When an all-new track (Ice Mountain) looks considerably more boring than SEASIDE HILL, a stage noted for being either an overused trope or just overused in of itself, there’s probably an issue there.

You just can't just slap a character in a racing game and call it a day otherwise F-Zero would have made a comeback by now there's story, background, and design all racing games have a story that the characters, items, weapons and etc. must fit in Mario Kart has 42 characters as it has been going on senses 1992 and only started out with 8 characters Team Sonic Racing is new type of racing game in HD which is not easy to make like SNES days. Sonic Mania is trying to be old and simple the characters jump, run and have a special action saying that this takes more work then making a racing game is upsetting. 

[Tracker_TD]

4 hours ago, Fire-N-Space said:

You just can't just slap a character in a racing game and call it a day otherwise F-Zero would have made a comeback by now there's story, background, and design all racing games have a story that the characters, items, weapons and etc. must fit in Mario Kart has 42 characters as it has been going on senses 1992 and only started out with 8 characters Team Sonic Racing is new type of racing game in HD which is not easy to make like SNES days. Sonic Mania is trying to be old and simple the characters jump, run and have a special action saying that this takes more work then making a racing game is upsetting. 

Adding a character to a racing game isn’t easy, but it’s easier than balancing a new character against pre-existing level design in a platform game designed like Sonic. Mario Kart 8 doesn’t just have 40 characters because it’s been going for ages - it’s not like there haven’t been cuts to the roster over the years. It’s got 40 characters because Nintendo give a shit (or at least, more of a shit). When adding someone like Mighty to Sonic Mania they would need to check that he interacted with the pre-existing objects correctly, or how his abilities react to hazards, etc. Or in say Knuckles’ case, how his nerfed jump allows him to progress in levels, and whether it could lead to any problem moments. This isn’t the case in a racing game as bog-standard as TSR. In Team Sonic Racing the only difference is stats and cosmetics. They don’t even have unique ultimate moves like the previous games, so you can’t factor that in!

You’re right that there’s more to a racing game than the characters, but that also goes for Mania. The only really solid comparison you can actually make between TSR and Mania (and even then it’s more of a contrast) is a general statement that TSR appears to be doing things badly and Mania didn’t.

Team Sonic Racing may be a “new type of racing game” but it’s a type of racing game that moreso looks pretty damn naff. And at the end of the day the only person actually trying to compare it to Mania here is ironically, you. Everyone else is just comparing it to ASRT, because that makes sense - as Blue Blood said, the game is very blatantly ASR3 in all but name. And all but variety. And all but quality. 

New challenge - respond to this without saying “but Sonic Mania!” Because trust me when I say Mania is irrelevant here - it’s a 3D Racing game and it’s being compared to the last 3D Racing game, not to the 2D platform game. It’s insulting to people’s intelligence to harp on about Mania, thinking *that* must be why TSR is getting bad reception. People aren’t blindly using Mania to cheapshot this game, and if you actually read the thread you’d realise that. You seem more pre-concerned with complaining about Mania than actually making points about this game that hold any water.

[Dr. Detective]

And I understand anyone whose frustrated that 3D Sonic isn't getting its due and 2D Sonic is, if thats the reason this person is championing this odd Mania comparison. The idea that not even Sumo Digital can pump out something wildly celebrated based around 3D Sonic, apparently, isn't a comforting thought. It goes towards thoughts of stuff being unfair and the cosmos being like "This part of the series you like and grew up with is being shat on while this other part that other people liked is flurishing" and that sucks because it does nothing to eleviate the serious devisive fanbase problem this series has. Sure, that sucks... but come on.

Things aren't like this because the 2D branch of Sonic's identity managed to crawl out of the darkness and found people who actually give a shit to work on games and online cartoons for it. Its like this because the people in charge of the 3D stuff either don't care, don't know what they're doing, or aren't allowed to do more for whatever reason.

We shouldn't be putting Mania down for being celebrated, we should want this game and the other 3D titles to reach a level of quality acceptible enough to deserve the reaction Mania is getting as well.  

I'm still not of the mindset that this is of extreme low quality but its nay impossible to deny that we've seen a lot better. Not just from other series, but from this one too.

 

 

[Red Hot Jack]

I thought it was fans who were making Mania comparisons for quality reasons, but I agree that those with ASRT are more fair, Transformed was a 40 bucks game too but it had a lot more content. As for gameplay... Transforming vehicles were cool but I'd rather keep it as a one time gimmick. Sorry though, I haven't been following this thread too much, because I'm not feeling the game much, and criticism only makes me sadder.

[Jango]

14 hours ago, VEDJ-F said:

People have a right to be disappointed with the roster number...but to be honest I can't think of a single-franchise kart racer outside of Mario Kart (and even Mario Kart is a sort of weird circumstance, I'd argue) that isn't around the roster size TSR has. The All-Stars games had way more rope because it was covering several franchises. 

Besides, I didn't think they'd do deep cuts for the playable roster, that's reserved for the mobile games mostly. 

From this day and age, me neither, but that's because the kart racing genre was kinda dead... What kept the ball running was Mario Kart and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. There are a few spits here and there, but most of them are very phony. Modnation Racers tried to be something, but it simply lacked any charm... Then came Little Big Planet Kart. To an extend Trackmania. Some lincesed garbage. None came close to be as solid, fun and livid as Mario or Sonic. It's like those Smash clones. They might be fun, but they don't hold a candle to the real deal. 

The All-Stars Racing was never a mere Mario Kart clone, it was actually the ONLY game to ever come close to be equaly as good, sometimes even  better.

And now we have Team Sonic Racing, which felt right at home with those cheapy licensed kart racing games. Like or not, the All-Stars Racing set a bar, and a high one. And still has "Sonic" and "Racing" on the tittle. It should look better, have more characters, cooler tracks, with or without the SEGA IPs, there's like 30 Sonic characters, where are those guys now? Why we're stuck with Sonic Heroes' cast minus poor Cream? Just take a look at Sonic Runners. That's some Sonic fan service done right. What the hell happened here? 

But hey, at least it has more characters than Sonic R, eh guys??

 

[Multikaris]

18 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Because he wasn't on the moon--he was on the Lost Hex?

 

Trying to understand what you're getting at here.

Are you saying he and Tails should've split up?

1) The Lost Hex is a moon. I did not mean the moon.

2) Yes. Sonic should remind Tails of him being independent before, and that these are the same goons he smushed for a year or two. 

 

I also wonder about that one new Wisp.

[Dr. Detective]

4 hours ago, Jango said:

And now we have Team Sonic Racing, which felt right at home with those cheapy licensed kart racing games. Like or not, the All-Stars Racing set a bar, and a high one. And still has "Sonic" and "Racing" on the tittle. It should look better, have more characters, cooler tracks, with or without the SEGA IPs, there's like 30 Sonic characters, where are those guys now? Why we're stuck with Sonic Heroes' cast minus poor Cream? Just take a look at Sonic Runners. That's some Sonic fan service done right. What the hell happened here? 

But hey, at least it has more characters than Sonic R, eh guys??

The characters I consider to be the main and secondary cast are all the heroes and villains who appeared in Sonic Heroes + Silver and Blaze. Total, that's 16 characters and the game falls just short of it. Not to mention, they included the Chao racers, which despite being a neat idea, is something that should have come only after they got that group together. 

Sonic Runners and Sonic Forces: Speed Battle aren't surprises when it comes to how well they dull out fan service correctly. They seem to be okay with doing that when it comes to their mobile titles. I remember how excited I got when I saw the playable line-up of characters for Runners coupled with some screen-shots of a possessed Omega and a Metal Eggman. It looked like some cool, freaky shit was going down in that game. Speed Battle not only lets you play as all the heroes in Forces, but all the boss characters sans Infinite and Eggman, and it just kept adding people like Cream, Big, Blaze, Jet, and now Zazz. It'll probably add more. It's great that they do it at all but I do hope that one day we see someone prioritize this for the bigger games that the majority most likely care a lot more about.

And about the roster having more characters than Sonic R... honestly, I was expecting about that much when this was announced. I was so incredibly pessimistic about the roster at the start that I thought they were just gonna stop at Team Sonic and then include, Amy, Shadow, Eggman, and Metal Sonic and then stop. That's mostly because we just got off Forces and positivity wasn't in the cards right then but what we got still isn't very all that acceptable. 

You say the Sonic Heroes cast minus Cream but I'm still not entirely convinced they won't fuck the Chaotix over. Again. 

[Fire-N-Space]

Just now, Tracker_TD said:

Adding a character to a racing game isn’t easy, but it’s easier than balancing a new character against pre-existing level design in a platform game designed like Sonic. Mario Kart 8 doesn’t just have 40 characters because it’s been going for ages - it’s not like there haven’t been cuts to the roster over the years. It’s got 40 characters because Nintendo give a shit (or at least, more of a shit). When adding someone like Mighty to Sonic Mania they would need to check that he interacted with the pre-existing objects correctly, or how his abilities react to hazards, etc. Or in say Knuckles’ case, how his nerfed jump allows him to progress in levels, and whether it could lead to any problem moments. This isn’t the case in a racing game as bog-standard as TSR. In Team Sonic Racing the only difference is stats and cosmetics. They don’t even have unique ultimate moves like the previous games, so you can’t factor that in!

You’re right that there’s more to a racing game than the characters, but that also goes for Mania. The only really solid comparison you can actually make between TSR and Mania (and even then it’s more of a contrast) is a general statement that TSR appears to be doing things badly and Mania didn’t.

Team Sonic Racing may be a “new type of racing game” but it’s a type of racing game that moreso looks pretty damn naff. And at the end of the day the only person actually trying to compare it to Mania here is ironically, you. Everyone else is just comparing it to ASRT, because that makes sense - as Blue Blood said, the game is very blatantly ASR3 in all but name. And all but variety. And all but quality. 

New challenge - respond to this without saying “but Sonic Mania!” Because trust me when I say Mania is irrelevant here - it’s a 3D Racing game and it’s being compared to the last 3D Racing game, not to the 2D platform game. It’s insulting to people’s intelligence to harp on about Mania, thinking *that* must be why TSR is getting bad reception. People aren’t blindly using Mania to cheapshot this game, and if you actually read the thread you’d realise that. You seem more pre-concerned with complaining about Mania than actually making points about this game that hold any water.

What do you mean by pre-existing level design? As every game has to deal with that Nintendo has always put love in to there Mario Kart games but with each new one they added more characters this new Sonic Racing isn't following the older games which also gain characters as it progress.  The comparison I was making with Sonic Mania was that in Team Sonic Racing you can now play as other characters but apparently that's just me saying “but Sonic Mania!” I was hardly harping on about Mania.  

I don't see the variety or quality lost when I see the bugs of the last game being fixed and the creativity of the tracks and characters and last time I checked Transformed didn't have unique ultimate moves either.

 

 

[DabigRG]

2 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

1) The Lost Hex is a moon. I did not mean the moon.

 

...I mean, I suppose that is an easy way to look at it, yes. 

2 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

 

2) Yes. Sonic should remind Tails of him being independent before, and that these are the same goons he smushed for a year or two. 

Hm.

I wonder how Tails would've fared against the Zeti.

2 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

 

I also wonder about that one new Wisp.

What, the Black Bomb? Who knows.

There was also the Eagle, Asteroid, Lightning, and Rhythm.

[Bobnik]

2 minutes ago, Fire-N-Space said:

I don't see the variety or quality lost when I see the bugs of the last game being fixed and the creativity of the tracks and characters and last time I checked Transformed didn't have unique ultimate moves either.

Um, Transformed did have unique ultimate moves, they're called "All-Star moves", so this statement falls flat on its face.

And I still don't fully understand what Mania has to do with any of this. The standarts this game should've followed was ASRT, if not in transformation aspect, then at least in more dynamic level design and roster aspect. Instead the game to me just looks like it's being cheaply made (which, granted, has been a problem with the series for several years), the 2 environments look somewhat boring compared to even ASRT's Seaside Hill level.

That said, again, I'm not saying the game is going to be bad. Hell, I don't think anyone here thinks so (maybe except for some that think everything less than great is garbage). It's just compared to the game that came out 6 years ago it looks a bit lackluster. Though some new stuff I'm interested in, for example, the customization sounds like it's going to be more robust, and I want to know how the team mechanics are going to work in multiplayer.

[Fire-N-Space]

Just now, Bobnik said:

Um, Transformed did have unique ultimate moves, they're called "All-Star moves", so this statement falls flat on its face.

And I still don't fully understand what Mania has to do with any of this. The standarts this game should've followed was ASRT, if not in transformation aspect, then at least in more dynamic level design and roster aspect. Instead the game to me just looks like it's being cheaply made (which, granted, has been a problem with the series for several years), the 2 environments look somewhat boring compared to even ASRT's Seaside Hill level.

That said, again, I'm not saying the game is going to be bad. Hell, I don't think anyone here thinks so (maybe except for some that think everything less than great is garbage). It's just compared to the game that came out 6 years ago it looks a bit lackluster. Though some new stuff I'm interested in, for example, the customization sounds like it's going to be more robust, and I want to know how the team mechanics are going to work in multiplayer.

In Transformed the cars just fly and shoot while some didn't even shoot when using there All-Star moves its the same as Team Sonic Racing All-Star moves how does that make this statement fall flat on its face in anyway.... It has more character then Mania don't read it so deeply this is a Sonic game now and Transformed wasn't just about Sonic.

 

[Dr. Detective]

Both the original All-Stars Racing and Transformed have things about them that one does better than the other. Personally, I've always preferred the first one since it has a better character roster, cooler and more unique All-Star moves, the SEGA-Miles system for unlocking things, and that crazy announcer.

The sequel had every track be its own level rather than have 3 versions of the same location to fill out the selection and the stages would terraform itself each lap in order to make the race feel like a cool mini-adventure you were going on. Not to mention, the stages themselves were designed a bit better. It was mostly the stages I felt they improved upon. I wasn't as big a fan of the character select. The All-Star moves were made less impressive so that it'd be easier to get the game online. The music was great but we couldn't choose the music tracks we wanted anymore. The SEGA-Miles system was replaced with unlocking characters through challenge modes and getting enough stars through ranked difficulty challenges. I wasn't a fan of that. Plus, the announcer was barely present to the point I was surprised there was an option to turn him off. 

I was hoping for a sequel that combined these two elements and made them all work but now the roster is even smaller, the ultimates are just "Hey! Let's speed up!", the stage design is wider and less complex to accomodate for the team gimmick, and the music so far, while not bad, isn't as bumping as I feel it should be. Perhaps the game will find a way to make the team stuff feel like it can make up for some of that loss but at the moment it's hard not to notice all of these shortcomings. The one thing I feel like it has over the others is the fact that it's bothering with a story campaign at the very least. Even if it's a bad one, I'll at least be able to appreciate that it's there. 

 

[Mad Convoy]

I've had some more time to think on the team-based moves, and I quite like them more as a result. I like the idea of having moves that can replicate the effect of items without having to pray to the RNG gods. Slipstream in particular reminds me of a cool mechanic Sonic Riders had that other racing games for whatever reason wouldn't really let you do-- riding on the airstream being released by the player in front of you. Even realistic racers avoid it for some reason despite drafting being a real thing (basically you go right behind a car so that that car in front of you takes most of the wind resistance and channels it away from you, letting you accelerate quicker than usual). Being able to shove players out the way with a well executed smackdown is also quite cool, not to mention that its a good way to regulate heavyweights by giving non-heavies some way of defending themselves and avoiding getting smacked around like a Smash Bros. character (which is a real problem in Mario Kart games, or at least ones where bumping into another player isn't punished somehow). And because there's more ways to defend oneself and aid teammates available, its justified to be a bit harder on players when they do get hit with an item/move (at least in team mode).

I just wish a lot of these features were available in individual racing in some form. It'd be very satisfying to pull off a good slipstream in individual racing against an opponent, or even better get to mess with everybody's item (with the right moves and skills, of course). Its not perfect, but I think it does enough to differentiate itself from Mario Kart and ASRT (which I don't really see as associated with TSR really-- TSR has much different priorities and gameplay focuses. IMO, its like complaining that Sonic Generations is bad because its not enough like Sonic Adventure 1. Beyond being 3D platformers with the basics that come with the genre and having the word "Sonic" in the name, they're very clearly not trying to be the same thing, and both have merits and downsides as a result)

At this point my biggest concern is that TSR will include Denovu, but even that's nothing to do with any of the game's concepts or execution thereof, and more to do with Denovu being a terrible anti-piracy system.

[Plasme]

I think the ultimates have suffered terribly. They were better in SEGA All Stars Racing, were downgraded somewhat for online play in Transformed, and now they are utterly boring and look unimpressive.

[MegasonicZX]

19 hours ago, Fire-N-Space said:

Mario Karts items do stop you on a dime when you get hit by them also making the player lose coins slowing them down even more in Transformed I can get hit by a Item and keep drifting around a turn like nothing happen or boost it off and good luck hitting someone when flying. They have only shown off two tracks one is the basic track and one is made of ice that can hinder handling with obstacles and tight roads with there being higher speed classes still coming. Sometimes fan favourites get left out like Amy in Mania. 

I have a request for you. Boot up transformed whenever you get a chance too. Do a race in the game (whether it be online or offline, doesn't matter) on either expert or hard. When you do and when you get hit by an item, I never want you to say this again because it is the most blatant lie i've ever heard in an argument against this game because unless you hit a boost pad or get boosted by someone tailing behind you, you will always lose position when you get hit by an item unless your far enough off from the pack (and even if you are, they still catch up real quick) no matter what the circumstance. 

Stopping on a dime from item hits is them trying to over correct on something that wasn't even an issue in the first place and it just seems silly to defend it.

[Multikaris]

7 hours ago, DabigRG said:

...I mean, I suppose that is an easy way to look at it, yes. 

Hm.

I wonder how Tails would've fared against the Zeti.

What, the Black Bomb? Who knows.

There was also the Eagle, Asteroid, Lightning, and Rhythm.

1. Indeed. 

2. Egg Walker? Taken down. Tails helped fight off the Black Arms and Iblis monsters. The Six will end up a cakewalk.

3. I meant that green ghostly one introduced in this very game.

[Lamperouge]

I feel like they should try showing a bit more if they want to hype people up for this game. Not really feeling this one at the moment, and the exclusion of classic SEGA characters really diminishes a lot of the appeal for me. So much for ever seeing Ristar or Vectorman in one of these games...