SSASR - Issues to Fix in the Sequel - May 5 12 A

There may have been massive layoffs at SEGA, but one project that hasn't been affected is Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, the sequel coming out later this year. I've mentioned many times that SSASR is a game in need of a sequel. It's a great first effort, but there are a lot of things that don't become apparent until some time later. First, lets' begin with things that have been fixed: COURSE VARIETY. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has 8 themes done 3 times. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will have a different theme for every course. ALL-STAR MOVES ONLINE. Transformed will now have All-Star Moves usable online. This was important for balance and to allow players falling behind to catch up. And now for things that I would like fixed: 0. CHARACTER BALANCE. Some characters have identical stats to another character, only with some stat lowered. Why? Of course, Shadow is the biggest issue with balance; he has the odd combination of excellent handling and excellent top speed. If you can't shut Shadow down in the first half of the first lap, he will often win the race. He has bad acceleration, but that's trivial if you can't hit him. 1. ENLARGE TEXT. Do you see where it says "Change Racer," "Back," and "Select" at the corner? How easy is it to read a foot (30 cm) from the computer monitor? Now, how easy is it to read from 3 to 9 feet (1 to 3 meters) away? 2. FIX DISCONNECTIONS. This is one I'm sure has been worked on a bunch, because this is something that'd be a problem for everybody. 3. MAKE IT EASY TO DECIDE COURSES. You may have noticed I race on Whale Lagoon a lot. That's because this is the default. It's not obvious on what you're supposed to do to change courses. From the lobby, how long did it take you to see it was under Settings? This wouldn't be as big of an issue as it is if OTHER PEOPLE CAN SELECT COURSES. I know how to select them, but that does no good when the host can't. Race #1 Icicle Valley Big the Cat Song: Volcanic Orchestra 4. OFFROAD. Boundaries are marked only by walls or cliffs. Offroad would allow for more strategy and make the Speed Shoes more useful than just a defensive item (which I'll get into later) or at designated shortcuts. These guys have made racing games before. There's offroad in them, right? 5. INTEGRATE THE HAZARDS. The hazards in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing don't really fit in very well, both in theme (like the bananas falling out of the sky) and in placement (like the Crows in this race). How would Dry Dry Desert be like without the whirlwind and the sand pit, or Waluigi Pinball without the bumpers, pinballs, and flippers? 6. TIME LIMIT FOR CHARACTER SELECTION. One person can hold up a room by not picking a character. Here, zacre does not pick a character, and it went on for a few more minutes. (I had cut out a bunch.) When this happens, there isn't much anyone else in the room can do except leave, and if the host leaves, the room is forcibly disbanded. Race #2 Whale Lagoon Ulala Song: Seaside Hill Zone 7. RACE DOESN'T STOP IF HOST QUITS. The host can shut down a race if they feel like it, putting everyone back in the lobby. Basically, you have to hope the host is kind enough not to ragequit. Perhaps this was to address griefers or hackers, but you can grief before a race even begins (see issue 6), and there's not much one can do against hackers anyway. Race #3 Roulette Road Beat Song: Back 2 Back 8. FIX MINI-TURBOS. Some mini-turbo boosts are longer than the time needed to charge. This causes some players to snake, essentially keeping themselves in perpetual boost. When you're snaking, you don't do anything else, which is boring. Mario Kart Wii and 7 went to great lengths to stop people from snaking. This shouldn't be difficult: Simply make every mini-turbo boost shorter than the charging time. 9. REDUCE ITEM DEFENSIVENESS. Once I took 1st place, I never relinquished it. Anyone in 2nd or below need to use items to attack in order to advance, which leaves them vulnerable, but the racer in 1st only needs to defend. This means that 1st place is the safest spot, even though this is the spot everyone is supposed to want to get. Which leads me to: 10. SHOTS FIRED BACK SHOULDN'T HOME IN. Any projectile that homes in on a player when shot forward will also home in backwards. Because the player in 1st doesn't need to shoot forward, they can launch everything at the player in 2nd. Each time it hits, it causes the player in 1st to get a bigger lead, and it strikes so well that nearly all races end in a landslide for the player in the lead. Race #4 Outer Forest Ryo Hazuki Song: Into the Dark 11. BLUE SHELL EQUIVALENT. Those item-based issues combine to turn the racer in the lead into a fortress, difficult to penetrate while safely tossing out projectiles. Nintendo knows of this issue. As controversial as it is, this is why the Blue Shell exists (also known as the Spiny Shell or the Winged Shell): To keep the player in 1st in check.