In video games, cooperation is such a tricky exercise that studios think twice before venturing into it. To tell you the truth, we feared that Sumo Digital would be satisfied with a banal racing game, that is to say add up the points gleaned by each driver to determine the winning team. A basic mathematical formula that we already had fun putting down on paper at the time of Mario Kart 64. No, the developers really went to the end of their approach by offering gameplay mechanics that encourage team play, to put the interests of our friends before our own. For example, teammates have the ability to pass items to each other, knowing that the quality of the latter will be boosted during transmission. Thus, if we throw a single turbo at one of our partners, he will end up with a triple boost. In the same spirit, there is a way to take the aspiration of our comrade to scrape an acceleration, a maneuver which obviously does not work with the pilot of a rival team. We can also evoke the Turboraz which consists in passing very close to an ally when it is in slow motion or when it has been ejected from the circuit; he can then benefit from a more or less powerful turbo depending on the speed difference between the two karts. Keen to provide maximum clarity on the track, Sumo Digital came up with the idea of highlighting our direct competitors in the standings. Suddenly, hurting them serves not only to improve the position of our team, but also and above all to fill the Superturbo gauge. Once activated, this allows you to enjoy continuous acceleration for a few seconds during which you are invulnerable.
No, the developers have really gone all the way by offering gameplay mechanics that encourage us to play it collectively, to put the interests of our friends before ours.
Always with the aim of encouraging the pilots to perfectly coordinate their actions, all the operations carried out for the good of the team immediately inflate the Superturbo gauge. And given the advantage it provides (especially when the three friends engage it at the same time, which increases its duration), we can guarantee that we avoid playing it solo as much as possible. Team Sonic Racing sweats cooperation from every pore, and you can clearly feel it by taking a look at the game's cast. Instead of foolishly aligning the pilots, the developers have divided them into three types of classes: Technique, Power and Speed . The technical characters (Tails, Chao, Silver, Rouge, Dr. Eggman) are the only ones able to roll on any surface without suffering the slightest slowdown, while the powerful protagonists (Knuckles, Big, Vector, Omega, Zavon) can pulverize an obstacle without flinching; practical to discover shortcuts when you have the eye. The fast pilots (Sonic, Amy, Blaze, Shadow, Metal Sonic), for their part, neutralize any missile that approaches them a little too close, provided they skid properly. Although the categories tend to complement each other, nothing prevents you from betting everything on one. Exclusively favoring fast characters implies squatting the first places and not getting involved in the battle, their ability to withstand enemy attacks being weak. A team made up of Tails, Silver and Red gets to know all the parts of the circuit where you can chew on corners. As for a trio based solely on power, it guarantees good robustness, of course, but at the expense of speed and maneuverability.
LA DREAM TEAM
Personally, we prefer to vary the pleasures with different profiles: depending on the course of the race, we then have greater flexibility to adapt the team's strategy and score precious points in the final moments. Essential in Team Sonic Racing, the communication system has been particularly neat via indicators that allow you to know at all times where you are in relation to the rest of the team. A window that appears when a friend wants to give us a Wisp, dialogues that activate when a partner takes our suction, or even a gauge that appears to better synchronize the Superturbo; here is an example of the tools present in the interface which largely does the job. Of course, budding mechanics can go for a walk in the garage to tamper with the vehicles. This is also the main use of the credits given at the end of each race, namely to buy spare parts to modify the behavior of the racing car. If the class of the pilot does not change therefore, it is however possible to touch the handling, the turbo, or even the defense to be more comfortable behind the wheel. That's not all, because the capsules also contain bonus boxes. Basically, these are perks granting various advantages on the track – the turbo which charges faster during a slide, showing up on the starting grid with a Wisp directly in your pocket, increasing the chances of falling on such and such item, benefit from an automatic turbo start, etc. Put end to end, these finesses make that we end up with an oiled gameplay; this should reassure those who feared yet another tasteless ersatz. Afterwards, we regret that the game is not as demanding as its illustrious model: if we surround ourselves with two acolytes experienced in Mario Kart-Like, the case can be folded easily, including with an AI set to Expert .
Essential in Team Sonic Racing, the communication system has been particularly neat via indicators that allow you to know at all times where you are in relation to the rest of the team.
This is where we touch on the major flaw of Team Sonic Racing, that is to say its great leniency towards the less gifted. It is enough to scrutinize each circuit to understand that beyond their width which allows some approximations, there is not really a tense zone likely to skim the pilots. Even sectors without safety rails are not scary, just the opposite of Mario Kart which, we remind you, requires players to use objects with accuracy or risk taking them in the face. In Team Sonic Racing, and unless we're mistaken, if you have fun dropping a bomb at random and you're caught in the explosion, you won't suffer any damage; same for partners. It's a shame, because it would have favored turnarounds and required a little more skill on the part of the pilots. To be confirmed, because it is not impossible that the hitbox played tricks on us. Be that as it may, the developers have integrated around twenty Wisps to animate the debates. Unsurprisingly, we find the equivalent of the green shell (alternate fire), the red shell (the purple eagle), the star (invincibility), the ghost (Jade ghost), the Bill Ball (yellow tendril ), or Bloops (magenta rhythm). Teamwork obliges, certain Wisps only appear when the pilots refourguent the boxes with object, knowing that there still, the contents depend on the class of the character. In all of this, we fell in love with the red brilliance that breaks them severely in the winding portions, and for the purple void from which the black hole sucks everything in without pity. Ah yes, there is also the gray earthquake whose stone pillars are particularly difficult to dodge but not indestructible.
HEDGEHOG
On the content side, if you have probably already understood that the game allows you to embody 15 characters, note that 21 circuits are available (42 if we count the "Mirror" mode), without forgetting the main campaign which does not happen at the toe of that of Diddy Kong Racing. Anecdotal in terms of scriptwriting, repetitive as possible, it actually boils down to a succession of races with different objectives. We are not going to go over each type of event, but there is something for everyone: collect as many rings as possible, be the last driver to stay on the track, destroy as many Egg Pawns as possible, slalom in skimming the star terminals, passing between cars, winning a series of four races with his team, etc. Not everything is accessible from the start, and it is therefore essential to collect stars to progress through the seven chapters. If there are 142 stars in all and for all, about sixty are enough to complete the “Story” mode in solo or three. Precisely, as far as multiplayer is concerned, the split screen is essential, whether for a Grand Prix or a simple race; only the time trial is exclusively solo. Although the menus would have benefited from being more ergonomic, we still appreciate the possibility of adding/removing participants with a simple press of Options (PS4). Well seen, too, the fact of being able to pilot each for himself and not as a team; ideal to demonstrate that you are not the burden of the team.
The same cannot be said for circuits that lack inspiration (a little) and technique (a lot) to give chills to purists of the genre.
As for online play, we haven't had the opportunity to test the solidity of the servers, but according to Sumo Digital, outside of Grand Prix and classic races, there is nothing else to see. However, it would have been wise to slip in a few tests of the “Story” mode – a valid observation for local multiplayer games, by the way. Finally, in terms of production, Team Sonic Racing is clean even if there are some inequalities in the circuits. We immediately hooked on Hidden Volcano, Whale Lagoon and Turbine Loop, a little less on Haunted Castle, Sand Road and Ocean View. They are not bogus, let us be clear, but they do not mark the spirits. In fact, the most annoying thing remains the framerate which gnaws as soon as the screen is split (the test was carried out on a standard PS4). We suspected it, and we imagine the damage on Nintendo Switch where the game runs at 30fps (against 60fps on other media). Anyway, the modeling of vehicles and characters is impeccable, and the more “aggressive” design contrasts with the chubby look that we are used to seeing in the mustachioed neighbor. Pure Sonic juice, what.
