Try before you buy
If you haven’t read our Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed 3DS review, you probably should. I really did not like the 3DS version of the game for a multitude of reasons that are explained in the review itself. For those of you who are curious as to how bad the game is, but not curious enough to drop the $30 on buying it, today the Nintendo 3DS eShop updated to include a demo (along side demos for Monster Hunter and Naruto).
The ASRT 3DS demo clocks in at just over 1000 blocks and affords you the ability to try out two events in World Tour mode as Sonic: A race in Dragon Canyon, and a boost challenge in Adder’s Lair. A third event is teased for getting 8 stars in World Tour mode, but only six can be acquired. Neither of the two included demo events showcase the worst of the game’s problems, though you can trigger the bug that prevents you from executing stunts after using an All-Star move.
While I personally can’t blame you if you think the demo makes this version of the game seem enticing, just keep in mind what could be, and how much better it is on other platforms.
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Great. Now I have no choice but MK7. Maybe some day I’ll pick up this game just to add it to my collection…
ASRT (3DS) < MK7
Tried it out, and yes, the framerate is downright awful. However, that never bothers me too much, and I still found it enjoyable, so I’ll probably grab this sometime in the future.
Horrible frame rate, crappy visuals, no tricks……..yeah, my copy of the game on my 360 is WAY better than this piece of manure.
@James.
You do tricks with the D-PAD.
Also what? The visuals are VERY impressive for a 3DS port (except the water textures yuck). Sumo didn’t do a perfect job but they put a lot of effort porting this version. You don’t see this much effort into many ports. Everything has been downsized almost flawlessly for the 3DS version and most animations in the courses have been kept intact. It’s very unfortunate about the framerate though. They were having framerate issues since the beginning; the reason the game got delayed.
Having the 360, Steam and 3DS ports. I can tell you now when it comes to the car collision physics in this game, it’s MUCH better than the console versions. When I collide into another car/player and vice-versa in the console/pc versions, my car tends to bounce off them like a superball and it really sucks… especially in courses that are tight or have no barricade on the side like Starlight carnival. However, this doesn’t happen in the 3DS version which is an improvement in my opinion.
Biggest complaint is the online. You can’t host or search lobbies from the get-go. You have to randomly join a lobby and it’s incredibly frustrating to have a friend join along while worrying about the host closing the lobby at any moment.
I could kinda look past the poor framerate, but the game actually stopped for a quarter-second when approaching the boat and plane transform rings on Dragon Canyon.
“For those of you who are curious as to how bad the game is” – Implying everyone will think that.
I used to not be bothered by framerate in games until I started playing PC games a lot. I read your review, and it was like any that complains about framerate. Sonic Classic Collection for the DS was treated in the same aspect, yet that stands to be one of my most played DS games. To each his own, so please, instead of saying something like that, you should say something along the lines of “I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether you like it or not”, instead of “curious as to how bad the game is”.
I tried it, and I did notice the framerate drops. I also noticed a brief pause when laps started. But I was able to not let that bother me, and I didn’t feel like I wasn’t entertained. I probably won’t pick this up until price drops to be sure, but I will get it. Framerate or not, its a portable version of a great console game, and it’ll be nice to play on-the-go.
Everyone: (Plays demo, discovers how poor the framerate. Either goes back to whatever verison of Sonic and All-Stars racing transformed they have, or Mario Kart 7)
@RGX and MightytheArmadillo
I agree with every single one of your points.
Problem is for me, the review ruined it. I went into the demo, knowing that the game was terrible, and now, all I can think about is how terrible it is. And you know what, I haven’t been too impressed with the game so far anyway.
I think I’ll play it a few more times, and then come up with a final verdict for it.
Tried out the demo just to see what it was like. It was less painful than I thought it would be, although the water does look absolutely dreadful. Outside of just general graphical quality, I did encounter a few odd things.
-The water in the Panzer Dragoon stage DOESN’T RIPPLE! It stays still as a board, which eliminates most of the fun in the boating section as well as making them feel longer and more tedious.
-I encountered the glitch where a failed stunt makes you grind to a halt. It wasn’t very fun
-I encountered another glitch in the boost challenge. During my first run on the track, I accidentally slipped onto the rear view button during the flying section. For whatever reason I cannot figure out, that quick snap through the views ERASED THE GEOMETRY IN THE TRACK! It popped back in roughly a second later, but that’s still a pretty disgusting glitch for such a common and insignificant slip.