Sonic: Sega All-Stars Racing - DS
Rating: E - Everyone

All-Stars is filled with characters and environments from Sega's store of games. Besides Sonic, there is Amy, Tail, Shadow, Billy Hatcher, Amigo, AiAi, even Dr. Eggman - each with their own all-star moves and vehicles. Sega has translated much of the game down to the DS - characters, weapons, tracks. It's a big game on a little machine, well done, but it lacks the expansiveness of the Wii version.

The action is so fast that you wish for a wider range of view. On-screen maps are only minimally helpful since it requires players to take their eyes off the driving screen, but it does give players some idea of what to expect. I tried the game on the DSiXL - larger, but still not the wide screen feel of the Wii.

There are three options for controller customization - A, B or C. I preferred C because it uses the shoulder buttons to control the drift and acceleration. Controls are strategically limited to four commands, allowing players to focus on the racing.

Besides your character, you can customize your license plate - a word of caution if you expect to play on-line. Single cart multiplayer mode will allow a single race and then shut down, multi-cart can have up to four players and offers three different types of games.

Fun Factor: Good colorful racing
Female Factor: Finally - you can play as Amy
Player Friendly: Good options for modifying controls.

Reviewed by: Editor - Mar/10