General Gameplay

Take kart racing, SEGA all star cast of characters and team 3 team-based racing and you have this gem of a kart racing. The Game Visuals for Sonic Team Racing are very detailed and vivid. The game is more in its design nature more animated and the graphics showcase this. Everything from the racecourse to characters, backgrounds and even the racing karts are done in vivid detail. The game is just gorgeous to see running and SEGA and Sumo Digital did a fantastic job of showcasing the game in this detail. The game colors are very vivid and bright and easy to see; however, the game does not support a colorblind mode. In our play testing we did not have any issues seeing colors in the game, and for those that suffer from a colorblind issue should not have any problems seeing the colors in the game. Audio in Sonic Team Racing is also done very well. The game sounds are done with very much detail. The game background music, sound effects and in game sounds are done very clear and easy to hear. The game does have a spoken dialog a lot of it in the game, but it is easily heard in the game. The game is very family friendly in its nature and the spoken dialog is also very friendly for all ages to hear. The game is presented in 5.1 surround sound and it sounds great. The game is also presented in a stereo 2.0 and also sounds well while using a gaming headset. If possible, we highly recommend playing the game in a surround sound audio environment or even using a headset. In our play testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game audio or spoken dialog. Controls for Sonic Team Racing are very tight and responsive. As you would expect in a racing game there is the accelerate, brake and special item buttons to use and trade your power ups. There is a group power up button to use during the race once the meter is powered up. The buttons are lay out in a very easy and responsive way to make the game easy to control and play. The controller layout is very easy for racing and non racing fans to play the game. In our play testing we did not have any issues with the game controller setup, or even any gameplay controls in the game, if anything the game is very easy control the kart and racers in the game. The game does not need a special controller and can be played with the standard controller. Now as the game is a racing game, we did not at the time of this review try a racing wheel or racing controller with Sonic Team Racing.

“With great controls, audio and graphics, Sonic Team Racing is a fantastic kart racing game for racer fans. A must have game for those that love both online and offline kart racing games.”

Family Friendly

When it comes to kart style of racing games in the current market today it makes it hard to see something that takes a kart style racing and make it even more fun. Most kart racers are all about just racing and getting your power ups a just placing in first, with Sonic Team Racing it is a lot more. The game has racing teams of 3 racers per race. Now this adds more dynamic as your teammates help you with a lot of things during the race. Your teammates will offer streaks where you can go faster, offer their power ups to you and vice versa and also help take out racers so your team can do better. At the end of the race it is more of a team effort vs. a solo race against others. This is a new and refreshing way to play the game as it makes it more feel like a team racing game vs a solo racing game. Also this adds more of a dynamic way to play the game as you play as a team vs. a solo gamer. Most game offer cosmetic changes and some power ups that you can apply to your racer and their kart, where in this game allows you to build your kart and racer to your style of racing. Earn enough in game currency and you can use it to get both cosmetic and powers up that help you. Even though this is random, but it add more replay value to go back an replay levels to get enough currency to get power ups. Another great aspect of the game is that the game is very easy on the controls. A lot of kart racing games can at times get a little complex with controls and Sonic Team Racing makes the controls very easy to pick up and play the game. Some of our gaming family are not racing fans and they were able to pick up the controller and play the game without any effort. This is a big plus for older gamers that want to play with their younger gamers, and it allows more ease to get into the game. Sonic Team Racing is just a overall fun game. Every one of our testers and gaming family members loved playing the game. The characters and fun and diverse, the gaming modes are easy to learn and play and there is a difference variance in racing course design to keep gameplay fun and fresh throughout the game. This is a great family game a up to 4 gamers can play on the same screen, which makes it a fun, party game. We highly recommend this game as a fun family game to have in your digital library for family gaming nights. As far as online play, we were only at the time of this review were only able to go into a handful of online matches and they were fun and fast paced to play. The game was very balanced and easy to play online. The only complaint that we had was that some of the gamer modes do take time to master such as the drifting and more objective based racing modes. These were not game breakers but will take more time to master over the course of the game. In our special needs game testing, we did not run into any issues with the game graphics, audio or even controls. The game is very special needs gaming friendly.

Closing

Sonic Team Racing is a very fun, fast paced kart racing game that has a lot of fun racing modes for any kart racing fans. With the ability to race as a team and the many tracks, modes and powers ups to to obtain, this easily is a must have game for your digital library.