Team Sonic Racing is not doing so well in terms of reviews. Critics are flaming the game for being both a disappointing and mediocre kart racing game.
Perhaps what makes the title a frustrating one is the fact that Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, its predecessor, became one of the best kart racing video games of all time. And considering its success, fans’ expectations were absolutely too high.
While Team Sonic Racing is not only a bad game, it tried to reinvent the genre and failed miserably. To better understand the narrative, let’s try to understand what actually makes a kart racing game fun and acceptable.
To delve into this topic, it is important to note the existence of Mario Kart. It is, after all, hailed as the pinnacle of the genre. Mario Kart's smooth controls, fun items, and varied courses are just some of the many elements that helped the game reach success.
For instance, Mario Kart 8 brings a fantastic set of tracks, not to mention the great music included. There is also the vehicle handling, which is fluid and intuitive. The kart handling is perhaps the best feature out there, even as courses tend to dip underwater or twist upside down. Even more so, racers can really feel the intensity when soaring through the air.
When Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed was released in 2012, the game introduced a more polished feel and variety that Mario Kart was known for. It seems to have found the secret formula for developing its own imaginative courses. From endless flying and boating, to smooth controls and driving, the game is undoubtedly worthy of being called spectacular.
Now, enter Team Sonic Racing – a game believed to meet expectations and surpass its predecessor. Alas, it went the other way. It just took everything wonderful the first game did and shredded it into pieces.
The game’s only go-to selling pitch is its team-based racing. Basically, you can choose a single racer (e.g. Blaze, Eggman, Sonic, etc.) and hit tracks with two other players at your side (be it NPCs or human racers). Teammates have the ability to trade items and boost each other.
It can be fun until you realize you really have no control over how the entire team works as a whole. This unnecessary element can even cost you a race. Of course, if you are not a team player, you are always welcome to play solo. Unfortunately, without teammates boosting and sharing items with you, your chances of winning are low. And if anything, the race just loses the excitement, and it can sometimes feel dull.
As for the more technical stuff, Team Sonic Racing fails in providing smooth handling. For a racing game with “Sonic” in the name, it feels like you are just walking. Calling it a bummer is an understatement.
The most uninteresting thing the developers did to the game is the way tracks are designed. You see, with Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, the experience is almost as if you are playing in a real-life kart racing tournament. And, boy, the tracks in that game are a work of art. With Team Sonic Racing, however, the tracks are unimaginative and quite standard. Seriously, they kind of feel exactly the same.
A good kart racing game is one that makes your heart pump. And even after playing several hours, you just cannot get enough of it. So, as a result, you tend to go back and race again. With Team Sonic Racing, these elements are not there. It just gives you a disappointing experience, something you do not want to have in a kart racing game.
