Lost Palace really sounds like something that I'd expect Ohtani to dish out, so I'm surprised that it's actually this Horita chap. At any rate it was blindingly obviously not Senoue. Ohtani's only credit is Sky Road, which was obviously him. It sounds like something I'd redirect from Lost World, except with use of the synths from Forces. I like the track but just wish it wasn't so repetitive. TSR had probably got one of the best Sonic soundtracks of all time. Granted that a considerable number of pieces are remixes, it's bloody solid and all the original tracks are fantastic. There's a diverse range of contributiors for a mix of styles. Funny how Tee Lopes got stuck with both of the spooky tracks, one a remix and one original, and knocked both of of the park. Audissi Studios are credited for the cutscene music, which makes perfect sense considering thst most of them are remixes from Boom RoL, SC and FI. They were also credited for the Boom games. The only question is... Why?
There is, in fact, a front page. And our Retro Review is up on it! Give it a read, myself, Nova, and Bartman all gave our perspectives on the game, a rare triple threat.
The Olympic Games are all filled with bangin' tunes. Being credited in any one of those games is a compliment.
Managed to grab the final achievement last night so thought I may as well share some thoughts now I've completed the game. Overall I really enjoyed it, I kept wishing it was a bit bigger (more new tracks/characters) but had to keep reminding myself that it was a budget game, and for the price it was still very good. It's also one of the very few Sonic games in recent memory I haven't had to Force myself to 100%. The team play made for some good couch coop, the music is unbelievable (the Cool Edge remix with bits of Reach for the Stars is catchy as hell) and I had quite a bit of fun with the mods (making Sonic's car as close to his Drift car as I could was the first thing I did). I was always more of a Sonic fan than a general Sega fan so the wider Sega cast not being there didn't really make a difference me, but I definitely missed the stage variety it brought - The Panzer Dragoon, After Burner and Skies of Arcadia tracks on Transformed are all incredible. Honestly, I think the toughest pill to swallow is that this comes after Transformed. Transformed was such a good game, with both the gameplay and track transformations being so brilliant that it definitely makes TSR feel like a step back. I can see myself going back to TSR every now and again, but presented with the choice Transformed would always win.
I've finished the game and unlocked most of the content so I think I can give my opinion readily now. The team mechanic is great. It helps solve a lot of balance issues that are present in games like this. Unfortunately, the other mechanics run counter to this. The ring mechanic made Mario Kart worse, and it makes this game worse. The player in first can collect rings before the players behind them have a chance, and therefore can guarantee going faster than anyone else, increasing their lead. Their attempt to implement the lightning and ghost from Mario Kart too only serves to add annoyance and highlight that this is an increasing problem that the grey quake would've been more than enough to solve were it not for the ring mechanic. Essentially they imported one mechanic from Mario Kart and had to import two more just to patch the mess it caused. This is especially prevalent in the single player mode where the team mechanic can no longer help to balance the game, and it becomes exactly the same as in Mario Kart where gaining the lead means you stay in the lead (which is why the blue shell has to exist). If you assume each player can be targeted by both the player in front and the player behind, then players 2-11 all have two opponents, whereas players 1 and 12 only have one. This helps player 12 stay in the pack, and player 1 break away from it. Again, the grey quake should've been the solution to this, but the ring mechanic counters it. Some of the track designs are shameless Mario Kart ripoffs too. Sky Road is just Cloudtop Cruise, and Hidden Volcano is just Bower's Castle (complete with giant magma monster attacking a split path). This is a massive step back from Transformed. Transformed had a great mechanic, with the ability to choose different playstyles through different routes on the track, and tracks that changed as the race went on, as well as tons of unique locations. It was a unique game that took a lot longer to get old than most of its competition. Team Sonic Racing throws all that out of the window with more generic, static tracks, and none of the variety, instead opting to become the Mario Kart clone it's always been accused of being. Get it if you really need more Sonic racing, but Transformed is just better in every way. EDIT: I remembered what I was going to say about the team mechanic. Slingshot and skimboost are great, as are transferring items. The Team Ultimate then goes and ruins it by being massively OP, to the point that the best tactic is to never use items and just swap them between players to build up the meter. This also means that a team that's ahead stays ahead because they can grind Team Ultimates more effectively. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the mechanics are really poorly thought out.
Just to add what I already wrote about for Retro's front page, I'd say that TSR seems to design itself around the flaws of Transformed. So you have tracks that are wider to accommodate for the player count, the physics problems are mitigated with the lack of obstacles and you can abuse the trick system or warp yourself halfway across the course but if you drive too far away from your team, especially with a CPU team, your lack of assistance will cause your team to suffer as you won't be able to charge the ultimate meter that trumps all of the power ups or skimboost teammates that got hit by an item or whatever else (Which also charges the ultimate meter) Oh and if you choose to race solo? Seems like the character types retain their specialty powers. So speed characters can deflect shots while technique types can drive over mud or dirt terrain (Which is not on every course) and power types can mash through barrier obstacles (and nothing else) making the character types not based on speed rather... limited in their usefulness. You can change car stats with the garage but it just feels like racing solo you'll be at a distinct disadvantage especially when playing online. Playing as the heavier characters like Big felt rather useless because of the slow acceleration and not really having much of anything to keep your speed up. I'm assuming the boost stat will be the most important one to have and if you have a character that's boost stats are low, you may as well as forget about them. At least they let you pick the same character this time around. I don't hate this game. In fact I commend them for hitting 60fps most of the time with one player on screen. (On PC the 4 player mode also runs at 60, not a surprise there.) There's a nice sense of speed and the teamplay mechanics can be interesting until it feels like you're just grinding for ultimates to hold onto until the last minute. This is still Mario Kart with a Sonic theme to it, but its as blatantly stated as such which kind of takes away what made the other games special with it's SEGA nostalgia. But you look at the UK top charts and understand why they decided to concentrate on Sonic only for this one. I absolutely get what they wanted to go for. There's plenty to like for Sonic fans in this one, especially Modern Sonic. This just isn't really for me in particular but I feel like people who want an item battle racer will have to see how Crash Team Racing fares, and I think that's some stiff competition.
Honestly this game was always going to have trouble standing up to its own predecessor, and it sounds like for $40 I could probably do better. Pretty much the only thing that interests me is the soundtrack, because nothing else leaps out at me at all.
Idk, maybe because I'm more of a Sonic fan than a Sega fan but I think this game is better for being Sonic focused. The other games just had random Sega shit thrown about. A lot of level 1s from different series and items that were incredibly generic (yes remember Sega items glove and snowball?). Losing the transformations sucks but overall I think it's a net gain.
The main issue I have with the game is that there's seemingly no way to do matchmaking with friends on Steam. Otherwise, it's a good game, bit of a downgrade from ASRT (the loss of the transforming mechanics and the changing tracks is a bit of a bummer), but I've enjoyed it so far. Edit: Oh, and there's some terrible dithering bug that I can only fix if I go into the Options menu at some point. Not too sure what's up with that, but it's a first :v:
I have to say, the fact that the online for TSR is dead on PC already, while I can get a full match in Transformed, is pretty sad. I hope they have something to get people back on the game in the pipeline at some point, because it's not looking good.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/uk_charts_team_sonic_racing_comes_in_third_as_a_vr_game_takes_pole_for_the_first_time Still charting at #3 in the UK. Whatever your opinion of the game, I think Mania, this, and social media engagement are rehabbing the brand which is showing itself with positive sales trends. I don't know why I'm being so optimistic.
I think the online is dead on the PC because the online for the PC version runs like dog shit. If they fix that maybe they'll come back but it's not worth playing if it's unplayable.
The Tyler remix made it easy to figure out the lyrics. I can feel it now. Together moving on, we've got the strength we need And we're feeling strong! We keep a heavy hand! We hold a leaded foot! Our eyes on the prize, as we're passing you. When there's no better feeling, than to be here with you... with you! Look out! Blast off! We're one together, on this green light ride! Blast off! Drive through forever, on this green light ride! Got the power we need. We're the fire you feed. It's in our heart and soul -- -- we stand for something! To the end we go. We know you had enough. Our inner strength will prove, you're not so tough! And there's no chance we're losing, When I'm right here with... you! Look out! Blast off! We're one together, on this green light ride! Blast off! Drive through forever, on this green light ride! Look out! Blast off! Woah-o-oh! (Keep a heavy hand!) Woah-o-oh! (Keep movin' on!) Green light ride You need a little more... a little push and fight! Can you feel our fuel, As we ignite! Woah-o-o-o-oh! (Yeah!) Look out! Blast off! Woah-o-o-o-oh-yeah! Woah-o-o-o-oh! (Yeah!) Look out! Blast off! ~Guitar Break~ I can feel it now Together moving on We've got the strength we need And we're feeling strong There's no better feeling Than to be here with... You! Look out! Blast off! We're one together, on this green light ride! Blast off! Drive through forever, on this green light ride We're one... Together! On this green light ride! Green light go!
Forgot to mention this last week, but TSR opening at number 1 was also the first time the series managed to take over the charts in the UK region in years. The last time that happened was with the first Mario & Sonic at the Olympics from eleven years ago. Meanwhile, PAL charts are coming in, so we can see how the game debuted in the rest of Europe and Australasia. Mostly good results. - Australia and New Zealand (iGEA) - in both AU and NZ, TSR was #1 in the Top Ten Boxed Retail charts overall. TSR was #1 across all three platform charts in AU (PS4/XBO/NSW), while in New Zealand TSR came in #2 for PS4 and XBO charts and #5 on Switch charts. - Switzerland (Hitparade.ch) - TSR opened at #1 in their top ten charts. - France (S.E.L.L.) - Switch version is the leading SKU, ranking #5 for the week overall. #1 on XBO, #3 on PS4 and Switch. - Germany (GfK) - TSR opened at #2 on XBO, #3 on PS4, and #8 on Switch. - Spain (Vandal) - Switch and PS4 came in at #4 and #5 in the overall top ten. Report however notes the sales results are pretty mum for a property as well-known as Sonic: TSR was the only new release for the week, yet the Switch and PS4 versions respectively only moved 1900 and 1800 units. - Italy (IlVideogioco) - TSR opened at #7 in their Overall Top 50 list. PS4 was #18 and Switch was #20 in their Top 200 individual charts (Xbox One was #163). TSR was #8 on Switch, #11 on XBO. (Unfortunately, PS4 charts aren't there last I checked.) (EDIT: Charts posted the following week showed the PS4 version debuting at #11.) Japan charts are also in. Not in Media Create Sales' general top ten charts. For Famitsu's individual charts, Switch version debuted at #13 (3,329 units), while PS4 version debuted a few spots behind it at #16 (2,432 units). No shocker there for Sonic, although this was reportedly one of the slowest week for videogame sales as a whole in the country. edit: NintendoEverything.com's Switch eShop charts also shows TSR debuting at #16 on the All Games list as of June 1st.
There was a tournament on Saturday for the PC version. The tournament went way past a couple of hours due to constant "Network Error" issues. A good chunk of people dropped out at the end because we couldn't get a match going. There's definitely people willing to try, but the PC version's online mode is in such a broken state that you can't even organized private lobbies without something messing up.
