The kart racer has long been a favourite with game publishers looking to squeeze extra cash out of family-friendly characters. Since the ur-example of Mario Kart, we’ve seen Crash Team Racing, LittleBigPlanet Karting. And who could forget Konami Krazy Racing, on the Game Boy Color console, which featured super-deformed versions of Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid and Dracula from Castlevania and is as good as it sounds.
Following the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing titles, Team Sonic Racing is the latest motorised caper for Sega’s blue hedgehog, who still commands cachet, especially with under-12s, despite the dubious quality of most games he has appeared in since the 1990s. Here, players get into teams of up to three racers and cooperate their way through a range of dazzlingly bright, dizzyingly labyrinthine circuits.
As in Mario Kart, tracks are littered with weapon pickups, but the quirk here is that players can choose to send them to a teammate who might be in more dire need of a missile or two. It is also possible to drive into a friend’s slipstream to get a speed boost or nudge their car if it goes into a spin, bringing them back into the pack. Races become a test of group strategy as well as raw driving skills, and it’s a lot of hectic fun trying to keep an eye on the circuit, rival drivers and your own team at the same time.
The story mode puts your squad through dozens of races as well as ring-collecting and target-smashing challenges. The circuits aren’t graphically astonishing, but they are busy and brash and full of visual callbacks to classic Sonic moments – from pinball machines to casinos to diving whales. They’re also riddled with shortcuts and alternate routes; finding new ways to squeeze a few extra seconds off your best times is a rewarding challenge. Importantly, for children who may want to play this for weeks on end, there are online and time attack modes and unlockable vehicle upgrades, letting you go back and perfect your times on the early courses.
UK developer Sumo Digital has been making lovingly crafted Sega sequels since the brilliant OutRun 2 on Xbox, and this is a delightful piece of fan service. Its smooth vehicle-handling prioritises speed and fluidity, even when you’ve been hit by a missile. There are still moments when you unfairly plummet from first to sixth in three seconds, but that frustration is as much a part of this genre as cartoonish platforming heroes looking for a lucrative side gig. Just go with the flow.
Team Sonic Racing is out now; £29.99.
