In single player at the very least.
Mario Kart 8, whilst visually beautiful, with a great soundtrack, funs tracks to race on and great gameplay, is a bit long in the tooth now when it comes to that classic Mario Kart gameplay.
Sonic Transformed on the other hand offers such a wealth of content that Mario Kart seems lacking. Firstly you have the brilliant world tour mode that gives you a single player progression system to unlock new content, tackle tracks in different ways (normal races, rival challenges, drift challenges, boost etc) that keeps just giving more and more and helps you get familiar with the tracks. It even helps you progress from beginner to expert by allowing you to up the difficulty as and when you feel ready for it. You'll certainly need to as well to unlock it all.
Whilst mario does feature water and air racing now, it doesn't feel any different to being on a track, compared to Sonic Transformed where the three modes of travel not only all feel unique, are changed up not just on a per track basis but per lap to where one minute you are driving but the next the track has gone and you've got to take to the boat to finish the lap and the race.
There's also your standard Mario Kart GP mode, where this differs though is not only the tracks and gameplay but the difficulty. Lets be honest, Mario Kart is only fun at 150cc in GP mode and even then it's a bit of a slog, the other modes are slow and boring and often races involve a lot more luck than you'd certainly like. Whilst a skilled Mario Kart player can generally be 1st for most races the cheating AI makes it frustrating. Sonic Transformed on the other hand is difficult but fair. You lose a race because you did bad, not because you got every CPU character aiming for you. The game actually has the racers take each other out and not just aim for you all the time. Add in multiple routes, shortcuts and unlocks and you have a reason to play this.
The tracks require skill too, especially on the higher levels. Not only do you have to manage to track line much more then loose Mario Kart, but you'll need to trick and boost your way ahead of the pack. Talking about the tracks, each one is totally unique. Mario Kart also has a lot of unique brilliant tracks but theres a lot that feel samey, with wide corners and short layouts. Whilst they are more visually polished than Sonic's which can be a little bit too busy at times they do feel a little safe at times where as Sonic's are much more edge of your seat type stuff.
The nostalgia value is through the roof too with Sonic, so many little touches and details many of which you'll miss as you zoom by. From playing as the unlockable Daytona Car/Dreamcast Boat/ Harrier plane to the music and sound effects used in each track. Of course Mario Kart 8 has experimented with this a tiny bit with the DLC but it's never a visual overload and generally keeps the themeing very obvious with little in the way of easter eggs or details.
Add in time trials against staff ghosts, multiplayer and tracks which range widely from open and easy to tight and difficult it makes Sonic All Star Racing Transformed the better racing games especially for single player. Where as Mario has a barely thrown in GP mode which is just bot multiplayer if you ask me.
Multiplayer whilst still great is geared at the more hardcore gamer, weapons take a bit of a back seat compared to the free for all in Mario Kart but are still useful. But you need to know the tracks and skill to win, this is not a casual party game. That's probably where Sonic falls down, it's not a game three other friends can just jump on, win and have a great time. It requires players of equal skill and is more like a traditional racer in that regard.
Of course Sonic does have its share of problems just like MK but if it does one thing well it's a proper single player experience than a throw away multiplayer game. I only wish Mario took note of this game so we'd have the best of both worlds. Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed certainly needs a bit more love and now it's backwards compatible on Xbox One theres little excuse.
Mario Kart 8, whilst visually beautiful, with a great soundtrack, funs tracks to race on and great gameplay, is a bit long in the tooth now when it comes to that classic Mario Kart gameplay.
Sonic Transformed on the other hand offers such a wealth of content that Mario Kart seems lacking. Firstly you have the brilliant world tour mode that gives you a single player progression system to unlock new content, tackle tracks in different ways (normal races, rival challenges, drift challenges, boost etc) that keeps just giving more and more and helps you get familiar with the tracks. It even helps you progress from beginner to expert by allowing you to up the difficulty as and when you feel ready for it. You'll certainly need to as well to unlock it all.
Whilst mario does feature water and air racing now, it doesn't feel any different to being on a track, compared to Sonic Transformed where the three modes of travel not only all feel unique, are changed up not just on a per track basis but per lap to where one minute you are driving but the next the track has gone and you've got to take to the boat to finish the lap and the race.
There's also your standard Mario Kart GP mode, where this differs though is not only the tracks and gameplay but the difficulty. Lets be honest, Mario Kart is only fun at 150cc in GP mode and even then it's a bit of a slog, the other modes are slow and boring and often races involve a lot more luck than you'd certainly like. Whilst a skilled Mario Kart player can generally be 1st for most races the cheating AI makes it frustrating. Sonic Transformed on the other hand is difficult but fair. You lose a race because you did bad, not because you got every CPU character aiming for you. The game actually has the racers take each other out and not just aim for you all the time. Add in multiple routes, shortcuts and unlocks and you have a reason to play this.
The tracks require skill too, especially on the higher levels. Not only do you have to manage to track line much more then loose Mario Kart, but you'll need to trick and boost your way ahead of the pack. Talking about the tracks, each one is totally unique. Mario Kart also has a lot of unique brilliant tracks but theres a lot that feel samey, with wide corners and short layouts. Whilst they are more visually polished than Sonic's which can be a little bit too busy at times they do feel a little safe at times where as Sonic's are much more edge of your seat type stuff.
The nostalgia value is through the roof too with Sonic, so many little touches and details many of which you'll miss as you zoom by. From playing as the unlockable Daytona Car/Dreamcast Boat/ Harrier plane to the music and sound effects used in each track. Of course Mario Kart 8 has experimented with this a tiny bit with the DLC but it's never a visual overload and generally keeps the themeing very obvious with little in the way of easter eggs or details.
Add in time trials against staff ghosts, multiplayer and tracks which range widely from open and easy to tight and difficult it makes Sonic All Star Racing Transformed the better racing games especially for single player. Where as Mario has a barely thrown in GP mode which is just bot multiplayer if you ask me.
Multiplayer whilst still great is geared at the more hardcore gamer, weapons take a bit of a back seat compared to the free for all in Mario Kart but are still useful. But you need to know the tracks and skill to win, this is not a casual party game. That's probably where Sonic falls down, it's not a game three other friends can just jump on, win and have a great time. It requires players of equal skill and is more like a traditional racer in that regard.
Of course Sonic does have its share of problems just like MK but if it does one thing well it's a proper single player experience than a throw away multiplayer game. I only wish Mario took note of this game so we'd have the best of both worlds. Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed certainly needs a bit more love and now it's backwards compatible on Xbox One theres little excuse.
