Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed disscussion

[Radrappy]

You know, as much of a buzzkill as the current roster is, what's really going to make or break this game is the gameplay.  At this point I'm a little turned off by the boating sequences(visually it's really annoying how the vehicles don't really look like they're in. . .water) and the lame, lame items.  Snow balls?  Race cars?  Cartoon Puffer fish(has there even been a puffer fish of that sort in any sega game)?  It's as if they're specifically avoiding sega themed items. 

And then there's the frame rate.

[Kori-Maru]

I want to know how much the budget for this game is?

@Nameless 24
Two that I know so far is Sega Superstars for the Eyetoy & Sega Splash Golf featuring the likes of Sonic, NiGHTS, Bonanza Bros, and Sakura Shinguji.

[Happy Cat]

You know, as much of a buzzkill as the current roster is, what's really going to make or break this game is the gameplay.  At this point I'm a little turned off by the boating sequences(visually it's really annoying how the vehicles don't really look like they're in. . .water) and the lame, lame items.  Snow balls?  Race cars?  Cartoon Puffer fish(has there even been a puffer fish of that sort in any sega game)?  It's as if they're specifically avoiding sega themed items. 

And then there's the frame rate.

I remember S0L saying something in the past along the lines of they can't use SEGA themed items, because then stuff would clash with the guidelines they are given by the IP owners or something like that.

The boats don't look like they are in water to you? I see splashing water and everything when looking at gameplay. Sumo is always bragging about how advanced and complex the water physics are in this game too.

[Radrappy]

I remember S0L saying something in the past along the lines of they can't use SEGA themed items, because then stuff would clash with the guidelines they are given by the IP owners or something like that.

wait wait hold the phone.  What madness is this?  Isn't the IP owner just. . .Sega?  Don't they own all of these franchises through and through?  And what crazy guideline would prevent the use of items that come from franchises ALREADY represented in the game?  I'm tired of reading crazy excuses as to why bad design decisions were made.

And as for the water, it doesn't look like the boats are cutting deeply enough into the surface.  I'll wait for some HD gameplay footage before I dive into this issue though.  Pun intended!

[Kori-Maru]

Now that we have 3 monkeys, who's up for some monkey cheese?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c411FX3H--Y[/youtube]

[Nameless 24]

Two that I know so far is Sega Superstars for the Eyetoy & Sega Splash Golf featuring the likes of Sonic, NiGHTS, Bonanza Bros, and Sakura Shinguji.

Ah, fair enough then. Although SEGA were in a better position to change things around.

S0L's answered your question regarding the Japanese characters though...it seems that it'll be very unlikely on their part.

wait wait hold the phone.  What madness is this?  Isn't the IP owner just. . .Sega?  Don't they own all of these franchises through and through?  And what crazy guideline would prevent the use of items that come from franchises ALREADY represented in the game?  I'm tired of reading crazy excuses as to why bad design decisions were made.

And as for the water, it doesn't look like the boats are cutting deeply enough into the surface.  I'll wait for some HD gameplay footage before I dive into this issue though.  Pun intended!

I do think it's strange that SEGA can't use each of their IPs for the items...but after reading how picky Sonic Team are with Sonic in general (it took 6 months to just get Sonic's vehicle done)...this doesn't surprise me.

As for the water section...it looks a hell of a lot more realistic then most water based racing games. As long as the vehicles control smoothly, I couldn't care less about how the boats rest on the surface.

No offence to you of course as I respect your opinion on the matter and I somewhat agree to what you are saying, but the physics in this game appears to be much more improved over ASR.

I found the trick system to be pretty hard in the game however...it's set on the right analogue stick...so there's more freedom in doing tricks you want to do...but knowing when to do them and what direction to do them in can be pretty hard when you are racing, boosting and using items as well as pulling off tricks.

I am also unsure how flipping upwards/downwards works for the flying sections...it seems to me that you lose a lot of speed doing them because you want to...but the boat section seems to be really good at these stunts (I managed to do one back flip and two front flips in a very quick succession...so it's very responsive at the least!)

The boat sections to me were actually very exciting to play! Too bad the sections in the game so far to be much more shorter then the air or road sections. (I took into consideration PD's second lap and SMB's water section...but they felt like they only lasted a minute at most due to how short those sections were vs flying).

I guess providing us a small section would make us appreciate it more!

My only concern of this game is how spaced out everyone is during the flying segments (I felt like most of the racers were too far away to hit)...and given that the items shoot straight ahead and the mines expand...there's a lot of space to avoid these items really easily.

The boosting however was really good...and doing it for too long kind of stalls the controls, lol.

[ROJM]

Also, I don't get the "They'll make a Japanese version that caters to them" posts...since when have Japan even had a Superstars game?

Since the moment Yuji Naka and Sonic Team launched the game that this title was based on in japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GQOKJ_0RCA

If they were going to have one, it'd be back on the first All Stars Racing...but it seems the game only did decent numbers here...putting the extra effort in for the Japanese audience would be asking for trouble/asking for losses asthey prefer to buy Yakuza/Sakura Wars over a cross over game, it'll sell...but not as much as we'd think.

And unfortunatly that's the way things have always been in Japan, many companies including Sega give them an extra incentive to buy the game or changes of a game to cater for that specific market and they usually aren't available for western gamers. As for the numbers, the reason it didn't get released was because Sega japan wasn't releasing any of the Sega West titles in Japan during that period of SAASR release.They've only started to release Sega West titles in Japan very recently. Nothing to do with the third Superstars game numbers being low or high, because it sold very well which is why you are seeing a sequel with a bigger budget.

@Nameless 24
Two that I know so far is Sega Superstars for the Eyetoy & Sega Splash Golf featuring the likes of Sonic, NiGHTS, Bonanza Bros, and Sakura Shinguji.

Sega Splash Golf isn't a Sega Superstars game, only one got released in japan and everywhere else, the rest have been done, so far by Sumo Digital which altogether makes up four in the "Sega Superstars" series.

[Nameless 24]

Since the moment Yuji Naka and Sonic Team launched the game that this title was based on in japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GQOKJ_0RCA

Kori beat you to it I'm afraid. I accept that's a different title.

And unfortunatly that's the way things have always been in Japan, many companies including Sega give them an extra incentive to buy the game or changes of a game to cater for that specific market and they usually aren't available for western gamers. As for the numbers, the reason it didn't get released was because Sega japan wasn't releasing any of the Sega West titles in Japan during that period of SAASR release.They've only started to release Sega West titles in Japan very recently. Nothing to do with the third Superstars game numbers being low or high, because it sold very well which is why you are seeing a sequel with a bigger budget.

Eh? Not even Football Manager and Total War? I bet they'd buy Shogun 2.

It sold well, yes...because it showed some potential...in this case it must have shown it to make a sequel.

It seems S0L's mentioned that the changes for the Japanese audience would be unlikely due to the cost of adding them. I don't doubt that they want to release it over there to get some more sales...but the Japanese audience will probably buy the game for Jet Set Radio, Skies of Arcadia and Shinobi if there's no franchise that caters to Japanese audiences being added, we'll have to wait and see whether they'll buy the game really whatever happens with the release.

[Barry the Nomad]

Regarding the weapons, I'm pretty sure a big reason why they are not IP specific is because Sumo wanted to make them unique to the All-Stars brand, which I think is a valid reason. While I'd love to see goofy SEGA themed weapons, I can understand Sumo wanted something to claim as their own. A majority of the game are appropriated elements from other games, so I think Sumo has the right to do their own thing in one area. Since the release of the first game, I've found that I have a bit of fondness for items like the Confusion Star, Mega Horn and the Pocket Rainbow.

Already, Transformed items like the Puffer Fish and the Snowballs are looking pretty cool. I mean, all Mario Kart did was take Mario power-ups and reuse them as weapons. I'd imagine if All-Stars did the same, it would just lead to more Mario Kart comparisons.

[ROJM]

Kori beat you to it I'm afraid. I accept that's a different title.

Then he won that competition but actually i was gonna correct him since i dont have the heart to tell him that Sakura isn't in Sega Splash golf in the initial post. aww well,

Eh? Not even Football Manager and Total War? I bet they'd buy Shogun 2.

Mainly talking about consoles But they have released those games on and off for PC. Its just titles like VIKING and a few others that never came out. Maybe now VIKING will be released via Sega PC in Japan.

It sold well, yes...because it showed some potential...in this case it must have shown it to make a sequel.

Naw it sold well, they ported the game to enough platforms as well including arcade, way after the originals were released on consoles and the arcade thing never usually happens to a game made in the west by Sega. The game wasn't that big budget to begin with, slightly more than SST and sold better than that title. if anything SASASR was made because of the potential of SST even though that had sluggish but respectable sales.

It seems S0L's mentioned that the changes for the Japanese audience would be unlikely due to the cost of adding them. I don't doubt that they want to release it over there to get some more sales...but the Japanese audience will probably buy the game for Jet Set Radio, Skies of Arcadia and Shinobi if there's no franchise that caters to Japanese audiences being added, we'll have to wait and see whether they'll buy the game really whatever happens with the release.

Yes but there is a difference between new characters and replacement characters. They would have known before development or initially after pre development where this game was going to be released. So speculation is whether they have the license for the Wreck it Ralph character to appear in Japan. The next thing is the Nascar character and whether they feel that the game would be a factor in japan with her in it. it may serve well in middle america where this game is really targetted at considering it did better in europe then it did in the States. Now if those were a no no for the japanese market then they would have managed to get the substitute characters that would aim towards the japanese during the games development. JSR and Eternal Arcadia were never big games in japan, only among Sega fans. I reckon they would need something to pull beyond the intial Sega audience with a Sega character or even personality that is popular with the wider japanese public, especially since Sonic himself isn't a great seller in that market. You guys are thinking along the lines of new stuff being added but im saying that they alreadly must know what and who and how which they haven't revealed yet. I mean lets look at the DLC it wont be like it was with the first game it has to be bigger but the DLC has not been fully revealed yet. Are people going to say its new and just added when to the prespective of the developers that was done ages ago? Anyway we have to wait and see.

[Kori-Maru]

@ROJM
Yep she's in Sega Splash Golf in her original attire and her battle suit.

http://61.215.215.34/games/039/G003925/20081119055/

[ROJM]

@ROJM
Yep she's in Sega Splash Golf in her original attire and her battle suit.

http://61.215.215.34/games/039/G003925/20081119055/

Stand corrected.
Pretty sure that was the female main character dressed up as her for some reason. Oh, well no doubt now.

[Aki-at]

Kori is like... The unofficial encyclopedia for all things Sakura Shinguji.

Anyway, I doubt this game will be released in Japan without additional characters. Cannot see SEGA Japan letting this title fly into retail spaces with flops like Sonic, AiAi, Beat and Vyse being the major characters. Game would probably struggle 50k across all platforms, if that, with it's current roster in Japan.

[Kori-Maru]

More like the unofficial encyclopedia for all things Sega IPs. I like looking up never before seen stuff like HotD. It's a hobby lol.

With so many Sega crossovers going on this year, I have to say I prefer the Project X Zone's Sega cast. The game brought back so many Sega characters that haven't been seen since the Saturn days. In fact, I grew up with those franchises. I mean Bahn is even in it and good lordy that's one of my favorite Sega characters of all time. Same goes for Sakura and I can see why Sakura Wars was super popular in Japan after beating the first game. Best Sega SRPG game I have ever played since Shining Force on the Genesis.

Transformed on the other hand so far has a great variety of tracks and a great gameplay mechanics, but the character roster is meh.

[Radrappy]

I mean, all Mario Kart did was take Mario power-ups and reuse them as weapons. I'd imagine if All-Stars did the same, it would just lead to more Mario Kart comparisons.

Yes, and they are some of the most memorable and well-loved power ups of all time.  Partially in part thanks to the Mario Kart franchise in general.  Sumo's need to express themselves has resulted in generic and forgettable items/weapons that feel like they're in the wrong game. 

I'll concede that the puffer fish at least looks cute but what in lord's name is cool or interesting about the snowball?  It's a tiny white sphere that shoots out fast?  Also why a snow ball?  NONE of these franchises even spend much time in the snow.  It's just all so poorly coordinated.