Sumo and Sonic reunited for today's title from my 532 game backlog - I'm playing one every day while furloughed from work...
I've said before that I never really intended these posts to be of the 'Review' format, but when you start to put your thoughts of a game down right after playing its seems to me that the writing can't help but go in that direction.
Today though, this is going to be much more of an 'early impressions' style entry, as I've had an uncharacteristically busy day and not had a chance to get properly stuck in to Team Sonic Racing. As such, it would feel disingenuous to offer a conclusive opinion at this stage.
A good chunk of the reason for my reticence to give this game the thumbs up, or down, is that it feels like I'm waiting for something 'click', and I want to give the game time for that to happen.
Team Sonic Racing for the Switch
Previous days' entries can be read HERE.I've said before that I never really intended these posts to be of the 'Review' format, but when you start to put your thoughts of a game down right after playing its seems to me that the writing can't help but go in that direction.
Today though, this is going to be much more of an 'early impressions' style entry, as I've had an uncharacteristically busy day and not had a chance to get properly stuck in to Team Sonic Racing. As such, it would feel disingenuous to offer a conclusive opinion at this stage.
A good chunk of the reason for my reticence to give this game the thumbs up, or down, is that it feels like I'm waiting for something 'click', and I want to give the game time for that to happen.
As is perhaps clear from the name, this kart racer differentiates itself by having you race in teams. You only control one car, but certain actions (providing a slipstream, gifting weapons, etc) allow you to assist your team mates to finish in better positions.
In the little I've played of the game so far, this mechanic is failing to deliver in any cohesive way. I burn around the track, offering power-ups to team mates as often as possible, but when the race finishes I have no idea if my contribution had anything to do with the end result. It doesn't help that the game, especially when shrunk down into handheld mode, can get extremely chaotic.
The difficultly of the game is a bit disconcerting too. I started the game on the default level and came home one-two-three in each of the first series' races. I bumped the challenge up a notch and came in the bottom three places for every subsequent race.
This unevenness is exacerbated in 'challenges', these are set apart from the campaign mode on their own spur of the overworld map, and even at default difficulty they are incredibly challenging. I've been so far from making the grade in every one that I'm left with the feeling that I must be doing something wrong.
And this is what I mean by 'waiting for something to click'. There has to a reason why I'm struggling with this game - maybe I'm not using the customisation options properly, maybe I need to learn the tracks more, maybe the nuances of the weapons haven't hit home yet... I'm convinced a fantastic developer like Sumo haven't made a game that's unbalanced, or even broken, and I hope that it's due to my very limited time with Team Sonic Racing that I'm yet to fully connect with what it's asking me to do.
There are other, more immediate areas where I'm comfortable offering an opinion, though.
The tracks, for example, are brilliantly designed - even if the air/sea/land elements of the previous game are a sad loss.
Cars, too, are various kinds of extreme madness; childlike imaginings in the best possible way, with the aforementioned customisations providing even wilder exaggerations of wing, wheel, and engine.
The story presentation, however, is utterly galling on every front. The saccharine characterisations, and pre-school TV level delivery would alienate all but the least cool four year old around.
Unfortunately this extends beyond easily skippable between race conversations to chatter between your team on track, making it much harder to ignore.
The fact that this game, unlike the previous two racers in the franchise, sticks exclusively to characters from the Sonic games, shows how keen Sega are to push this franchise - but if this is the kind of treatment they're offering then I can't see it ever being a success.
I am definitely looking forward to getting better acquainted with this game, the faith I have in the developers of 'Outrun 2' and 'Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed' will not be so easily shaken, but I have legitimate concerns that I hope will be quickly allayed.
In the little I've played of the game so far, this mechanic is failing to deliver in any cohesive way. I burn around the track, offering power-ups to team mates as often as possible, but when the race finishes I have no idea if my contribution had anything to do with the end result. It doesn't help that the game, especially when shrunk down into handheld mode, can get extremely chaotic.
The difficultly of the game is a bit disconcerting too. I started the game on the default level and came home one-two-three in each of the first series' races. I bumped the challenge up a notch and came in the bottom three places for every subsequent race.
This unevenness is exacerbated in 'challenges', these are set apart from the campaign mode on their own spur of the overworld map, and even at default difficulty they are incredibly challenging. I've been so far from making the grade in every one that I'm left with the feeling that I must be doing something wrong.
And this is what I mean by 'waiting for something to click'. There has to a reason why I'm struggling with this game - maybe I'm not using the customisation options properly, maybe I need to learn the tracks more, maybe the nuances of the weapons haven't hit home yet... I'm convinced a fantastic developer like Sumo haven't made a game that's unbalanced, or even broken, and I hope that it's due to my very limited time with Team Sonic Racing that I'm yet to fully connect with what it's asking me to do.
There are other, more immediate areas where I'm comfortable offering an opinion, though.
The tracks, for example, are brilliantly designed - even if the air/sea/land elements of the previous game are a sad loss.
Cars, too, are various kinds of extreme madness; childlike imaginings in the best possible way, with the aforementioned customisations providing even wilder exaggerations of wing, wheel, and engine.
The story presentation, however, is utterly galling on every front. The saccharine characterisations, and pre-school TV level delivery would alienate all but the least cool four year old around.
Unfortunately this extends beyond easily skippable between race conversations to chatter between your team on track, making it much harder to ignore.
The fact that this game, unlike the previous two racers in the franchise, sticks exclusively to characters from the Sonic games, shows how keen Sega are to push this franchise - but if this is the kind of treatment they're offering then I can't see it ever being a success.
I am definitely looking forward to getting better acquainted with this game, the faith I have in the developers of 'Outrun 2' and 'Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed' will not be so easily shaken, but I have legitimate concerns that I hope will be quickly allayed.
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