This holiday season saw the release of three fairly high-profile kart racing games, and not a single one of them had anything to do with Mario. But which one is worth your limited holiday money, and how do they stack up against each other? GamesBeat put F1 Race Stars, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and LittleBigPlanet Karting through their paces to find out.

Presentation

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

As with the original, courses in Sonic Transformed are inspired by games across the entire library of Sega franchises. With courses from sources such as Panzer Dragoon to Nights into Dreams, this has plenty of nostalgic magic to bask in. It’s also interesting to see some of those worlds re-created (in race track form, of course) in modern, high-definition graphics. Sonic Transformed isn’t exactly rocking the latest in Unreal Engine technology or anything like that, but the colorful, cartoonish approach fits this well. Likewise, the expansive soundtrack by longtime game industry composer Richard Jacques revives some of the greatest tunes to ever accompany pixels and polygons on-screen, and even throws in some subtle dubstep on the main menu for good measure.

LittleBigPlanet Karting

Even in kart form, Sackboy and the LittleBigPlanet universe retain their wholly unique audiovisual stylings. The game is not so fast or frantic that you can’t still enjoy the pieced-together locales, and the soundtrack is as an eclectic medley as you’d expect from the series. Longtime fans will find the identical user interface immediately accessible, but, just as in the main games, I feel like the weird, forced story elements are mere nuisances just begging to be skipped. 

F1 Race Stars

F1 games are typically rather dull as far as visuals goes. No matter how impressive the graphics engine behind them are, basing a game around real-world locations doesn’t always make for the greatest eye candy. But F1 Race Stars doesn’t have any such “realism” holding it back, and so the cartoonish tracks are very imaginative, complete with loops, river rapids, and huge jumps. The track design is definitely the key to F1 Race Stars appeal, as its audio presentation is forgettable (seriously, I can’t even remember it, at all).

Wreck It Ralph’s Sugar Rush course recreated in LittleBigPlanet Karting.

Gameplay

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Building off of the strengths of the original Sonic & All-Stars Racing, developer Sumo Digital has taken a page out of Nintendo 64 classic Diddy Kong Racing’s playbook: In specific stages, your vehicle transforms between a kart, a boat, and a plane.

The core racing is what you’d expect, especially if you’ve played any other kart racing game ever (drift long enough to build up a speed boost and so on). Aerial sequences are decent. The controls are not as precise as they probably could have been, making it unnecessarily difficult to navigate tight spaces. The water sequences add some nice variety, at least visually, but the water physics themselves seem intentionally flat. This was probably to even the playing field for all racers, and that’s not a bad thing, but don’t expect any impressive water effects like what you’d find in Hydro Thunder or Assassin’s Creed III.

Unfortunately, Sonic Transformed is surprisingly difficult, and this comes from someone who mastered notoriously frustrating games like Crash Nitro Racing, Diddy Kong Racing, and Demon’s Souls. Each Grand Prix or World Tour event has four different difficulty settings, from Easy to Expert. The Normal setting will give you a run for your money, but the difficulties beyond that will be downright insurmountable for most players. This is its biggest fault — and a surprising design decision for a kid-friendly kart racer.

LittleBigPlanet Karting

Powersliding so that you can boost out of turns seems to be a mainstay of kart racing games, and LittleBigPlanet is no different. You can also pick up power-ups to attack fellow racers, but this system is much more pedestrian than the bullet hell-esque upgrade system in ModNation.

Sadly, the stunt mechanic in LittleBigPlanet Karting is terrible, in my opinion. You hold a button to rotate Sackboy in mid-air, but if you don’t land perfectly, and I mean perfectly, you’ll end up facing the wrong way or losing speed. It just doesn’t seem worth the trouble.

F1 Race Stars

Touted as being developed by the same company behind technical racers such as Grid and Dirt, F1 Race Stars makes two rookie mistakes, the first of which is completely unbalanced enemy A.I. who will constantly spam you with heat-seeking attacks. I have no problem maintaining first place in a race and blocking the occasional attacker looking to dethrone me, but when you’re overwhelmed every few seconds by incoming missiles, it’s impossible to dodge them all. One successful hit can set you back several race positions, and this killed the game for me pretty much immediately. It’s just not fun.

To compound matters, F1 Race Stars also tries to introduce some Formula 1-racing staples such as repairing your car at the pit, which really has no place in an allegedly exciting fantasy kart racing game. It slows the pace of every match down and ties into my first complaint, which is being bombarded with attacks. These will not only make you lose positions and momentum but damage will quickly slow your kart down until you repair. No thanks.

Hitting the waves in Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Multiplayer

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

You can either race or battle online in Sonic Transformed. Racing tends to get somewhat manic, as players all bunch up on the same places on the track, firing off weapons and running into each other. For some reason bumping another player in multiplayer causes you to lose speed and control over your vehicle, which doesn’t happen in single-player. It’s actually really annoying, as are all the weird glitches that seem to be provoked by playing against other players.

You can also play with up to four players locally in any of the game’s modes, including arena-style battle matches. If you have some friends willing to sit through the career with you, they can help level up your characters and combat the A.I. so you don’t have as many unfair enemies to deal with.

LittleBigPlanet Karting

There currently seems to be an issue with the servers that are preventing me from updating the game, so I couldn’t play online. We have a rule at GamesBeat that we write what we experienced (as opposed to saying what should have happened). However, just from playing the campaign and reading the trophy descriptions, Karting looks to sport all the same multiplayer options as the platforming versions, and of course the user-created levels and sharing play a massive role in the online portion of the game.

F1 Race Stars

F1 Race Stars offers a few team-based or solo multiplayer modes online, but you should consider them nonexistent since that’s what the community for this game is. If you’re looking to hop in a random match, you’ll be sitting in a lobby all by yourself for a long time. Up to four players can play split-screen locally, and this is probably the only good way to enjoy the game, as it reduces the A.I.’s presence to be a little more bearable.

Sackboy’s about to have a bad day.

Extras

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

The career campaign offers a handful of unique challenges aside from standard races. Getting as many stars as you can and unlocking all the characters will act as your primary goal in the game, but the Hard and Expert difficulties will test your patience and sanity. Time Trials and a Grand Prix mode round out the single-player offerings for those looking to eventually get all the Achievements/trophies.

LittleBigPlanet Karting

LittleBigPlanet games are known for their virtually limitless community-driven content, and Karting is no different. The story mode provides plenty of minigame races to whet your appetite with possibilities, and for newcomers it’s a bit easier to produce results with the creation tools here than in standard LBP titles. You can also import your Sackpeople and outfits from previous games.

F1 Race Stars

F1 doesn’t come with nearly as many bells and whistles as the other games. You won’t find much outside of the main Grand Prix mode.

Sonic and Amy having a romantic spat on one of Transformed’s Sonic the Hedgehog-themed courses.

Conclusion

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Racing your Xbox Live Avatar against Ulala and Nights in a Panzer Dragoon-themed course is worth the $40 asking price alone. The steep difficulty curve can be an insurmountable frustration in an otherwise great game, but there is still a ton of varied content and some solid racing to be had. Its transforming gimmick, multiplayer options and nostalgic soundtrack help liven the package, making this a must-buy for old-school Sega fans or younger players waiting for an introduction to some of gaming’s greatest franchises. GET!

LittleBigPlanet Karting

You could argue this is essentially a reskinned ModNation Racers, but LittleBigPlanet Karting is hands-down my preferred method for consuming this series. I never really felt like Media Molecule provided good enough controls or fun enough level design, but Sleeping Dogs developer United Front Games seems to have circumvented that. It’s not without its faults, and the standard retail price seems high for what’s essentially a side mode, but LittleBigPlanet’s signature user-created tools provide endless replay value and unique style make this a worthwhile purchase for most interested PlayStation 3 owners. GET!

F1 Race Stars 

While the concept was worth a shot, the execution fails in a few very vital ways. Even if this had been a budget-priced downloadable, which is what it looks and feels like, the annoying kart damage, pit stops, and relentless assault of enemy attacks suck any would-be enjoyment from this promising title. SKIP

Super-deformed F1 race stars waving goodbye to their short-lived kart-racing careers.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing was the best game no one expected. Not just the best kart racing game in years, but also the best Sonic game in recent memory. It was polished, imaginative, and most importantly, it was just plain fun. Now Sonic and company are back in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

A few slight changes have been made to the formula this time around. You may have noticed “All-Stars” no longer has the publisher’s name before it, and that’s presumably because real-life Nascar driver Danica Patrick has joined the virtual roster of racers. The “Transformed” part of the title also alludes to the gameplay’s biggest departure from the original’s strictly four-wheeled affair. Now karts will dynamically morph into water or airborne vehicles during certain sections of each map.

Things have obviously gotten kinda crazy, and we nabbed Sega of America associate brand manager Aaron Webber to chat about Diddy Kong Racing, Panzer Dragoon courses, and fan-favorite Nights joining the playable racers!

GamesBeat: What exactly does an associate brand manager do on a title like this?

Aaron Webber: So translated, that means I work on games from the very beginning stages; sometimes — in Racing’s case, it’s the very early concept stage — all the way until the game finally releases on store shelves. Everything in between. All the marketing and messaging is stuff that I’m involved with, and my team.

GamesBeat: What was some of the most standout feedback Sega got on the original All-Stars Racing?

Webber: It’s kind of funny, but I think most people went, “Oh, wow, this is a lot better than I expected it to be.”

GamesBeat: I had that very same reaction.

Webber: Yeah. On the one hand, it’s fair. With a lot of people, you look at the kart racing genre, and there’s not been a lot of change over the last 10-15 years. Even Mario Kart changes here and there, but not a lot of differences. When people looked at Sonic last time, they probably thought, “Oh, it’s just a Mario Kart clone. It’s just the same old, same old.” Then they played it, and they said, “Wow, it’s unique, and it’s really fun to play. The multiplayer’s fantastic.” I think that’s what it was. People thought it was really good.

GamesBeat: What are the core pillars of the game that make it unique?

Webber: This time around we’ve shifted things up on our end a bit. With Transformed, as the name suggests. … The game is called Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, which is kind of a mouthful, I know. The vehicles transform from cars to boats to planes as you go across the different terrain: land, sea, and air. For us, it was a case where we wanted to take and improve upon it and do stuff that people had never done before. When you get into the water, you’re not just underwater on the ocean floor. You’re actually on the water, riding the waves. There are wave physics that are totally separate from the rest of the game. When you’re in the air, you have full control over your vehicle. You’re not just hang-gliding down. You can go anywhere you want and fly anywhere you want. That kind of freedom is what we wanted to use to distinguish Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed from the other kart-racing games out there.

GamesBeat: By adding new features, you’re actually kind of throwing back to an older kart racing game. …

Webber: Yes, Diddy Kong Racing. Yeah.

GamesBeat: That obviously had to be some kind of inspiration for you guys.

Webber: A lot of kart racing games were inspirations for the devs at Sumo over in England. They did the first game, as well. They looked at a lot of games and said, “Okay, what are the best parts of these games? Likewise, though, there was a lot of creativity from their side. One difference from Diddy Kong Racing, where you could pick your vehicle at the beginning and you would be in the plane or the hovercraft or the car. … Certain vehicles were naturally just better at certain tracks. That’s just how it went. With Racing Transformed, we tried to make it so that every vehicle is kind of similar in terms of fairness and balance. When everyone’s on the water, everyone’s on the water. Everyone’s going to have to be going through that same challenge. No type of vehicle — no plane or boat or car — is necessarily going to be dominating the race the whole time just because of the track you’re on. Now, that said, there are some tracks where you’ll get a clear choice. You can go left and become a car. You can go right and become a boat. What do you want to do? Those moments will happen, but they’re very strategic, and everybody in a race has the option to choose one or the other, so it’s fair.

GamesBeat: I have to ask. … Danica Patrick.

Webber: Yeah? [smiles]

GamesBeat: How does she fit into this universe?

Webber: She fits in the same way as any other character from a more serious game would fit in. You’ve got Joe Musashi in these kiddie levels from Monkey Ball, right? So the game is a celebration of Sega history. At the same time, it’s really important for Sega to go out there and do things to expand and grab people and get them to look at the game and say, “Wow, this is a cool game, and I might not have looked at it otherwise.” Danica Patrick is a Nascar superstar. She’s one of the first and only female drivers out there. Danica was a perfect fit for us because she’s someone who’s very fast. Obviously, that’s what she does. Sonic is very fast.

We got the partnership going to where Danica’s in the game, and then likewise, Danica’s helping promote Sonic to an audience that might not otherwise have seen Sonic Racing — might not know about it. But clearly they’re people who love racing, so that first connection is already there. I know a lot of fans have looked at it and said, “Why is Danica here? She took somebody else’s spot.” That’s not the case, to just get that on the record. Danica was added in. So her being in the game didn’t take away anyone’s chance of seeing their favorite character in the game. I should state that clearly because I know some fans felt like that. That’s not the case, though. Neither is Wreck-It Ralph, from the Disney movie, which I think fans are actually pretty excited about. Wreck-It Ralph is going to be there. And likewise, Sonic is going to be in the Wreck-It Ralph movie.

GamesBeat: What were some of the most requested characters from the original that are now in the sequel?

Webber: One of the biggest ones was Vyse. There was a whole thread on the Sega forums for Vyse. Secretly, I’m a huge Skies of Arcadia fan … or that’s not actually a secret. Anyway. When the initial list went around, we all get to pitch in some characters and say, “Maybe this would be a good fit.” I put Vyse’s name on the list, and apparently other people agreed. I certainly didn’t make the final call. I just put the name there, and Vyse ended up making it into the game. Knowing that Vyse was in there was great when we read that thread. Everyone was saying, “Please put Vyse in!” By this point, we knew Vyse was in for months. I just smiled when I saw that. Vyse is one of them. Another one of the biggest ones was Nights. There was a whole campaign for the first game: the “Don’t Forget Nights” campaign. Even though Sumo was awesome and they put Nights in as the sort of flag-bearer at the beginning, in this game we have Nights returning as a fully playable character. In fact, as a sort of homage back to the original game, Nightswill transform into the vehicles. Just as Nights used to transform in the snow level — he’d transform into the sled for Eliot. Now he’ll transform into the car, the boat, and the plane. There’s a little Nightopian on top riding him.

GamesBeat: Is Reala in the game?

Webber: Yeah, Reala’s here, too.

GamesBeat: Cool, cool. I also saw a Panzer Dragoon level. …

Webber: Yeah, you saw a Panzer Dragoon level that references almost all of the Panzer Dragoon games, which is pretty cool. We’ve got references to the first Panzer and every Panzer after that. When you get to the flying section, you’ll see these plants hanging down. Those planets are a direct reference to Panzer Dragoon Orta. So from the very beginning to the Xbox Orta, we’ve got references to everything. Every level is like that. Skies of Arcadia has its own level. You’re gonna see the Delphinus in that level. There’s some really cool stuff. If you pause and freeze-frame our trailers, you’ll see the things I’m talking about. None of this is technically new information there, but it’s really cool the amount of stuff we’ve hidden in these levels as Easter eggs for fans.

GamesBeat: Anything else we should know about?

Webber: I’d say a special thanks to all the fans out there who pick up and get all the Sonic games and the racing games. Likewise to Sumo. They’re doing a great job getting the game together. We’re almost there. We’re out November 20. We’ve got versions across pretty much every platform, so whether you own a 3DS, a PC, a 360, a PS3, a Vita, or a Wii U, whenever that comes out … you’ll be able to pick up the game. We’re pretty excited for that.

GamesBeat: Did you say iOS? [The first game was later released for iOS -- Sebastian]

Webber: I did not say iOS. I’m just talking consoles today. Now, that said, there was DLC in the last game: Metal Sonic and all that. We got a lot of good feedback on that. So anyone who picks up the game in its first release — like if you go in the first day or the first week, it’s going to say “Bonus Edition” on the top. That’s going to get you all the DLC for free, just packed in there as a thank you. You get Metal Sonic. You get the Out Run track, which is pretty good. And then also you get some free stickers for your in-game driver’s license. It’s a really nice package as a special thanks for anyone who’s out there supporting the game in the first initial launch.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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The answer: Yes. All of these make great games, and the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad will play them.

Apple’s iOS devices and operating system have proven to be a popular and disruptive force in gaming. Games of all stripe compete in the same marketplace; there are games for just about every type of gamer – and non-gamer – out there. From simple to complex, intuitive to intelligent, iOS games are the next big thing to happen in the gaming world. Since there are more than 100,000 titles to choose from, we thought it might be fun to take a moment here to look at our picks for the top ten iOS games from 2011.

Dead Space for iPad
Released: Jan 24, 2011
Platforms: iPad & iPhone
Seller: Electronic Arts
The idea that mobile gaming is not competition for dedicated handhelds like the DS or the Sony PSP continues to become more and more outdated, as can be seen with this early 2011 release for the iPhone and the iPad, Dead Space, from game publishing titan Electronic Arts (EA). It’s not a port of the console game, but a sequel set three years after the events in the original. This was the first game that found us just as terrified as we were in the original, with a touch-based combat system that, while initially clunky, does its job and gets out of the way. A fully immersive console-quality game like Dead Space available on your smartphone? Sign us up! The best platform to play this on, however, is the iPad – with the faster processor and bigger screen, Dead Space for iPad shines. Well, as much as a game set in the dark scary vastness of space and the dark stay claustrophobic corridors of a destroyed spaceship can shine. And that’s just the thing. This game scared the crap out of us, both in the creepy settings and jump out at you monsters as well as in the sound design alone. The little creaks, not-quite-far-enough-away scuttling sounds, and distant roars of unknown horrors really take this from third person shooter port to something approaching gaming nirvana.

Jetpack Joyride
Released: Sept 1, 2011
Platform: Universal App
Seller: Halfbrick Studios
Canabalt may have been the indie darling that popularized the endless running genre, but Jetpack Joyride, from industry veterans Halfbrick Studios, is the current ruler of the roost. With so much to do, see, and play in this well designed and just darn fun to play game, it’s easy to get spoiled and just forget there are other endless runners out there. They’re all left in the dust, though, as Jetpack Joyride continues to ride the top of the iOS charts. Halfbrick’s mascot hero Barry Steakfries gets a jetpack in this game, and he uses it to fly through a scientist-filled corridor, full of randomly generated and placed obstacles, like missiles, lasers, and electric wires. Like all endless runners, the sheer speed built up over time becomes its own hazard. Lucky for us, there are other vehicles Barry can pick up along the way, including the motorcycle from Halfbrick’s earlier Steakfries feature, Monster Dash, a cleverly named wing-folding avian, Profit Bird, and a giant mechanical dragon named Mr. Cuddles. There’s an in game marketplace where players can upgrade the jetpack and other vehicles along with purchasing clothing, heads & body styles for the perfect sartorial elegance as well as power ups, known as utilities. These are earned in slot machine mini games played after each level, which are themselves powered by chips picked up within the levels. Players are also presented with challenges, called missions, that include things like getting 500M without collecting coins, or slide a total of 50M on your face. These each earn stars, which then become player levels (“beginner,” “rookie,” etc.). Did I mention there’s a lot to do here? That, the offbeat humor and the simple one touch control system make this a game to return to again and again, if only to see what’s next down the corridor.

Tiny Wings
Released: Feb 18, 2011
Platform: iPhone
Seller: Andreas Illiger
Here’s one of the big success stories of the App Store – one guy, Andreas Illiger, the sole developer of an iOS game, hits it big on his own. Tiny Wings is the pinnacle of the one tap game. Players start the game and the day itself as a sleeping bird, waking it up with a tap. The sun comes up and the bird begins to move, relying on a single tap from the player to fold the little bird’s wings in, reducing drag and causing it to fall, timing each fall with a dip in the wavy rolling hills of each level, or island. When timed right, the bird gains a burst of speed and height, even soaring above the clouds at times. The resulting game play is a fine dance between perfect timing and rhythm, with the aim being to get the bird as far as possible within one day. There are coins and other special items to pick up along the way, as well as achievements for distance and/or perfect timing. It’s precisely this simplicity and nuanced game play that critics and consumers alike keep coming back to again and again, the former as a rallying cry for (or against) the simplicity of the iOS platform, and the latter laying their money down in ever-increasing numbers. It’s a perfect example of the disruptive power of the App Store, allowing one designer/developer to refine an idea to a high gloss, then actually profit from the hard work put into the game.

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Released: March 23, 2011
Platform: Universal
Seller: Capybara Games
Developed by Independent Game Finalists, Superbrothers, and published by Capybara Games Studio (Critter Crunch, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes), Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP is a beautiful looking and sounding adventure game with a distinct story, retro-odd art direction and fabulous soundtrack by Jim Guthrie of Pink Floyd’s The Wall fame (he co-produced and sound engineered the concept album). What makes this one of the best games on the platform? The story is captivating, subtle, non linear, and fairly incomprehensible. The artwork is blocky, pixellated, yet somehow beautiful. The music is ambient and moody, supporting every moonlit path, every momentary pause, every significant story beat. The characters – Girl, Logfella, The Archetype – are all both less and more than the sum of their dialogue and visual design. There’s something happening here, but we’re never really sure what it is, or, at least, what it means. Combat is achieved by rotating the iOS device and tapping the shield or sword icon. Three-eyed wolf beasts are typical foes, though there are others. The player analogue – The Scythian – wonders aloud at many of the scenes and the half-familiar items within it, while also hearing the voices of the other characters. This though dialogue rounds out the divine absurdity of the game, like a dream only partially remembered after waking. Yes, all of that makes this game special and unique, sure to earn a place on every gamer’s device.

World of Goo HD
Released: April 13, 2011
Platform: Universal
Seller: 2D BOY
Yes, World of Goo originally appeared on the Wii and the PC, way back in 2008. The 2D physics puzzler received tons of accolades, but it wasn’t until it appeared on iOS devices that the tactile theme was fully realized. As any fan of the game knows, solving the puzzles of each level requires picking up “goo balls” of various physical composition and arranging them to get to the end of the level, where they are sucked into a large collection container. Using the Wii remote could be more frustrating than solving any particular level, but even the precision abstraction of a computer mouse doesn’t quite get the same level of tactile joy there is in actually grabbing the goo balls with a tap and drag on the iPad, our preferred gaming device for this game. World of Goo is the same gameplay, the same 48 levels as the console and PC versions, but it feels ever so much better to play on our mobile device. The soundtrack is as full of whimsy as the art direction, and is available as a free download by developer and composer Kyle Gabler. Again, this is one of those must-have apps. We show it off all the time, and play it almost as often.

Gem Keeper
Released: October 13, 2011
Platform: Universal
Seller: NCsoft
Tower Defense games are a dime a dozen on the App Store, and there are quite a few good ones, to boot. Gem Keeper, by well-known massively multiplayer online game developer NCSoft (Lineage, Guild Wars I & II), manages to stand above the crowd of solidly good Tower Defense games this year by offering high quality production values, solid gameplay and mechanics, and just the right blend of genre staples to keep players coming back for more. Games of this type of Tower Defense typically include wave after wave of baddies, or creeps, who come in from one side of the screen and follow a fixed path to the goal (generically known as the tower) while the player must place defensive structures (towers) along that path to keep the baddies from reaching the goal. In Gem Keepers, some towers can be placed on movable platforms, which can then be slid back and forth along finite rails, adding another level of strategy to the game. The creeps aim to get to the end goal, steal gems from the tower or towers there, and head back to the entrance of the maze, a game element borrowed from some other dungeon defense titles but polished to a high sheen here, with several strategic elements taking into account this entry and exit strategy.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
Released: June 22, 2011
Platform: Universal
Seller: SEGA
While we won’t see Nintendo’s flagship mascot on iOS any time soon, Sega has jumped into the world of the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with abandon. Their main man, Sonic, is present on no fewer than three titles from the gaming giant, including a port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, a remake of the original game (Sonic The Hedgehog 4, episode 1) and our current game of discussion, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. This kart racer features the speedy blue hedgehog and many other beloved Sega characters – including Tails, Dr. Robotnik, the Chu Chu Rocket mouse, Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue, and many others – racing along tracks inspired by the selfsame classic Sega games. This game makes all other kart racing type games on iOS in the dust, with solid controls, a nice drifting mechanic and vibrantly fun visuals optimized for the Retina Display on devices that support it. With online play and Game Center support, it’s easy to jump into a kart race with friends or random strangers. Kart racing is here on iOS, brought to you courtesy of the big blue guy with the huge shoes – why does he need a race car, anyway?

Star Legends
Released: August 25, 2011
Platform: Universal
Seller: Spacetime Studios
We’re adding this one to the list because it’s the first original massively multiplayer online game (MMO) that got things right. Well, that’s not quite it. Spacetime Studios used the MMO engine in an earlier game, Pocket Legends, which blew us all away with the online real-time synchronous fantasy themed role-playing game. The problem was one of depth, as they built it up from what seemed originally to be a tech demo. While Pocket Legends is now fun in its own right, Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles sprang forth fully formed, unleashed upon iOS and Android gamers alike, allowing both platforms to play together on the same servers, a coup by any measure. Originally created for the PC, The Blackstar Chronicles got stuck in development for many years due to lack of funding support, until the team was able to buy the rights to the intellectual property (IP) and begin work on it for iOS. While this is an MMO, it’s designed for mobile platforms, allowing gamers to hop in, complete a quest or two, and hop out; it never feels to demanding. The controls are solid, the visuals and user interface is easy to figure out, and there are tons of quests and story lines to follow, some of which truly push the boundaries of iOS MMO storytelling. We’re enamored, and think you will be, too.

Real Racing 2 HD
Released: March 11, 2011
Platform: iPad
Seller: Firemint
Firemint has truly created the simulation racer above all others for the iOS platform with Real Racing 2 HD. It looks simply stunning: full of lens flares, reflective surfaces and the sensation of speed. It’s like the Forza of iOS, truly, including 30 licensed cars like the BMW z4 M Coupe, the Chevrolet Corvette c6 Zr1 and Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, just to name a few. The game is made to run on the iPad 2, using the extra horsepower to run the CPU heavy game. The ability to wirelessly stream the game from the iPad 2 to an AppleTV connected high def television set brings the game to a new level of cool, showing many of us the future of iOS gaming. We prefer this game on the small screen, however, as we’re mobile gamers at heart. Regardless, the racing is classic – purchase a car, win races, then buy better cars and enhancements with the proceeds. Fans of less-arcade, more-realistic racing – as well as those wishing to experience the state of the art in iOS games – should definitely try this one out.

Casey’s Contraptions HD
Released: May 18, 2011
Platform: Universal
Seller: Snappy Touch
With the success of Angry Birds, physics puzzle games are all the rage. Thankfully, this indie gem doesn’t copy, rather, it innovates in an already crowded genre space on the iOS platform. Gamers must use eight year old Casey’s 30 different toys across 72 levels to solve the deceivingly simple puzzles. Similar to Scribblenauts, there are many different ways to achieve the outcome of each level, with no specific way being the “correct” one. Players will find joy in the simple pleasures of playing, experimenting, and finding ever more interesting and unique ways to get from point a to point b. much like the PC game, The Incredible Machine. Supporting this “try it and see” ethos is the ability to see shared level solutions from Game Center friends as well as Casey’s own three star solution. Get stuck? See what other gamers and friends have done. An included Level Editor feature kicks it up another notch, as well. Bright, vibrant colors and solid physics modeling keep us coming back time and again to the game, showing folks new to the platform one of the must-have titles in the iOS gaming space.

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