Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed (PC) review "Pretty good."

Sumo Digital's previous offing of a Sonic Racing game left us with an unfortunate mix of Segabucks unlockables, possibly the most annoying announcer of the 0'ghties, and the stumbling assumption that Sonic in a car might be more fun than him on foot. It was undeniably the best racing game to grace the Wii after Mario Kart, and that comparison persists even though this sequel learned from all of its mistakes. Revitalized with smoother, tweaked physics and new mechanics, Sumo can't let its past create drag in its new, streamlined product.

Transformed is bright, colourful, and alive with moving creatures, scenery and activity that could be horribly distracting. Thankfully, beginners have a chance to acclimate to these features, and you'll need them as they directly impact vehicular transformation. Sometimes, the track will give way as a ledge drops to a lake, underground water channel, or lava, so you're quickly sporting a boat.

Transformations seem innocuous and don't distract visually or affect steering much. Usually, when transforming from a car to a boat or back, you can easily maintain a drift. On the other hand, becoming an air-worthy vehicle introduces new physics and has an irritating learning curve. Sega, or Sumo, knew this and either restricted changes to the last lap of a race or dedicated the entire race to this mode.

Sega doesn't hesitate to support the PC, and for players demanding the Kart experience, there aren't quite as many options as other titles sport. What's more, most of those are contained in a launcher. However, you will be satisfied with the attention to detail given to its most important features. Both controller and keyboard configuration settings are easily assigned for up to four players on a single PC.

There are a few graphic settings, but the presets of "Low" to "High" should give you the frame rate you need to succeed, and in this case, more is certainly better. Playing while in the 30fps range had me losing more races than winning. The game physics is tied into the frame rate, which isn't unheard of but makes for very poor responsiveness below 60fps. When in doubt, sacrifice some detail, even though this title is well-optimized for performance.

Single-player and multiplayer modes are presented with just one button press on the main screen. After the main menu, you'll see if your Steam friends are online and playing Transformed, a smooth bid to kick start some friendly competition. Microtransactions, even for Sega's funbucks, have been disposed of and replaced by a more traditional unlocking scheme.

Career Mode, World Tour and Time Trials provide useful practice for multiplayer sessions against friends or strangers in Transformed. You'll first notice the short list of racers, as just a handful of the available twenty are rarin' to ride until you spend time in Career Mode, earning stars and unlocking tracks, racers and more.

As in its predecessor, as you spend time with your preferred racer, they will gain levels which unlock "mods" that alter their performance statistics. You'll be granted "Ultimate" at level five, which heavily emphasizes their highest stat and boosts the rest. For instance, Sonic gets a boost above the maximum of five in Speed, giving him an advantage in the stretch.

Racing against AI opponents gets tiring soon enough, but the meticulously themed levels will keep your interest for a while. Earning rare racers like Gum, Nights or Lala for multiplayer exhibition adds a brief Pokemon collect-a-thon element to the game. Unfortunately, the Transformed community has stagnated since its launch, which leaves the question of its playability largely on local multiplayer and single-player.

Vehicular transformations are more than a gimmick; massive level changes like an attack on the environment from forces representative of the attributed world make for some exciting moments. Drifting provides crucial boosts in addition to pads littered throughout the tracks and in the air. Tricks performed after a healthy jump also give you a tidy boost. Discovering and acquiring hard-to-reach gold item boxes can give you a momentary advantage and brief satisfaction. Unfortunately, this has led to the stagnation of Transformed as a multiplayer game.

Who dropped the transformation bomb? Ultimately, Nintendo's infant propeller/glider innovations first seen in Mario Kart 9 clearly indicated the next big trend, and its next iteration on the Wii U overshadowed Sega's flashy approach to the concept. Transformed delivers some truly spectacular showcases of action and tributes to the glories of games of Ages past. However, Nintendo knows better: Let the players shine in the spotlight. Thankfully, in the long and winding road of tried and true friendly competitive racers, Transformed is a solid representative of the genre.

This racer has the odd accompaniment of Downloadable Content in the form of full-fledged racers. Metal Sonic, Outrun, Yogscast, and Ryo Hazuki can all be purchased with mods unlocked in their polygonal greatness. However, there needs to be more satisfaction in racing a purchased racer, as you don't experience their growth curve, and they give you no substantial advantage over any other character.

Transformed races as good as it looks, and its forgiving drift and trick mechanics ensure it is deep enough for career drivers. Controller options are plentiful, as are multi and single-player modes. New racers and tracks are unlocked with practice and hard work, giving you a good sense of achievement and increasing the game's longevity. The soundtrack is a standout exploration of classic themes that would have fit in as a DLC package.

Earning stars against AI alone is harder than it needs to be, and with an overall difficulty setting, more skilled players will be able to gain the completion bonuses to show off and share with friends. Racing can sometimes feel item-dependent, and All-Star Mode is all flare but no advantage. Transformed isn't fun without other players to race, and that's that.

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Community review by hastypixels (January 02, 2017) Wisdom comes from effort and mistakes.