By Omar (@siegarettes)

I’m a SEGA kid. Despite never having owned a Genesis (or even played an actual unit in the flesh), SEGA’s catalog of esoteric characters and arcade legacy built itself a home in my heart. Because of that, the original Sega All Stars Racing, with its litany of references to classic SEGA franchises proved to be an unexpected joy from me. It helped that it was a decent (if absurdly unbalanced) racer as well.

All Stars Transformed proves to be an equally joyous celebration, while also sharpening up the racing mechanics and adding transforming vehicles to the mix. Yes, as the race goes on paths will change with events in the stage, adding an element of dynamism to the tracks. 

While I’m less excitable about Sonic and his gang these days, the rest of the tracks and characters draw from such a rich history that they easily fade into the background. While the characters aren’t as esoteric as last time (the Bonanza Brothers? the player characters from the House of the Dead date game?) and the All-Star moves not as amusing (Ryo’s forklift, anyone?) they still manage to jam pack the game with amusing touches for the fans and bring back some beloved favorites. The PC version even has some absurd inclusions with characters from Team Fortress 2, the Shogun from Shogun: Total War, and… the manager from Football Manager? Best of all the brought back Ryo, driving a machine that transforms into Hang On, Afterburner and Outrun cabinets, based in part on this.

As for the game itself, developer Sumo Digital have obviously learned something from their time working on the Outrun series, because this has some of the best feeling drift mechanics since the 2006 entry. Essentially a Mario Kart style powerslide mechanic, All Stars simplifies it to a single button press and demands that you master it to properly navigate the course. Basically if you’re not drifting at every opportunity your wrong. Seriously, the drifts in this game put Initial D to shame. Also, you can drift in a plane. All Stars manages to one up Mario Kart as well by actually being fair. While there are a mass of powerups, each one of them can be countered or avoided with skill, removing the slot machine 8th to 1st overtakes of the Mario Kart series. It also means brutal online competition. Seriously, if you think you can drive just wait until you see the online community. 

Interestingly, that part is most likely due to Sumo getting on board a staff from Bizarre Studios and Disney Interactive, two closed down studios whose credits include Project Gotham, Blur, and Split/second. The Blur legacy is most evident in the rebalancing of the powerups, with many providing direct analogues to those from Blur. So there you have it. A solid racer with colorful, dynamic tracks and absurd amounts of fan service for what are basically dead franchises. This is probably the best you’ll be getting from SEGA in a while, so give it a look.