Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed - behind-the-...

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Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed - behind-the-game interview
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Get More: GameTrailers.com, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - Behind the Game Interview, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

[TheBitBlock]

"So we basically saw that Nintendo made a Mario Kart game where your kart transforms and lets you race on land, water and in the sky.... and we decided to rip that off less than a year later."

[Chosenoneknuckles]

@TheBitBlock If they pull it off better than MK7 [not hard] and it's fun, then who cares if a gimmick [now akin to a curse word this gen, for some stupid reason] has been done before?

MK7 took the idea from DKR, after all [though it didn't surpass it, in my eyes]

[mariomaniac45213]

@TheBitBlock

WHAT? This looks a thousand times better than MK7. Instead of gliding for a short amount of time you're actually flying around. The boat also actually acts like a boat in this game and not just "lol I can drive underwater now"

Anyway I like the part at the end where he says "potentially unannounced hardware" because he knows it's heading to Wii U but if he says anything the Nintendo ninjas will have his ass!

[SpecterM91]

"So we basically saw that Nintendo made a Mario Kart game where your kart transforms and lets you race on land, water and in the sky.... and we decided to rip that off less than a year later."

I don't think you understand how dumb the sentence "we decided to rip it off a year later" sounds. Do you have any idea how games work? They didn't just crap this thing out in a week, they've been working on it for some time.

[MoldyClay]

"And potentially other platforms that we haven't announced yet"

Sounds like more Wii U hope, as if it isn't almost obvious. DUN DUN DUN.

Also, just found out that some of the people formerly from Bizarre Creations (Blur) are working on this. OH MAN.

The development team also mentioned Hydro Thunder and Wave Race as inspiration for the water parts.

@TheBitBlock

It's taking a good idea and making it better. It's not ripping it off.

It's not "Sonic can now drive underwater and glide a bit". It's "Sonic can now transform into a boat and ride around like Wave Race or Hydro Thunder, or turn into a plane and play like Diddy Kong Racing".

It's taking a bunch of good ideas and combining them and making them better.

It also looks like a significantly better game than what MK7 was. And presumably a better roster too.

Yeah, the idea came from Mario Kart 7, but it's not a rip off if it. Sony All-Star Battle Royale is an SSB rip-off (of sorts), but this is completely different.

If the game's fun, I don't even see what difference it makes what it is based on or 'copying'.

[Leon2457]

Pretty much every game comes from an idea.
Look at hack n' slash games, JRPGs, even free roaming games like GTA or Saints Row.

Just because it comes from an idea that's already been done doesn't mean it's "a rip-off" besides, who knows how long this game has been in production for.

[YoshiUnity]

"So we basically saw that Nintendo made a Mario Kart game where your kart transforms and lets you race on land, water and in the sky.... and we decided to rip that off less than a year later."

Dude... It was confirmed in a preview that the game was in development for 18 months. See, this is why the developers wanted to scream "FUCK!" when Mario Kart 7 was revealed in entirety. They saw this coming.

Heck, the mechanics aren't even the same as Mario Kart 7. This has actual flying, not gliding. And boating, not underwater karts. Heck, it's cars, not karts. And the games don't even control the same.

[HammerGalladeBro]

@TheBitBlock
If anything, it looks more like a Diddy Kong Racing rip-off, which isn't a bad thing, and really, that idea of cars/karts, boats/hovercrafts and planes needs to be done more often.

[patjuan32]

YoshiUnity,

Just because a game has been in development for a while does not mean that the developers did not draw inspiration from Mario Kart 7, which they have. It can also be inferred from the CGI cut scene that the developers also took inspiration from Diddy Kong Racing as well. To what extent they were inspired by those games will only be revealed by actual gameplay.

[terryxlr]

First game was great. I'm looking forward to getting this. Can't wait to see what they do with NiGHTS.

[Sgt Scyther]

@TheBitBlock
I guess Mario Kart 7 is a rip-off of Diddy Kong Racing then because DKR was doing that long before MK7.

Not to mention in MK7 you can't even race in air or by sea. Gliding for a few seconds doesn't count as flying and you drive underwater, not on it.

This game is taking those ideas in MK7 and expanding upon them.

[YoshiUnity]

YoshiUnity,

Just because a game has been in development for a while does not mean that the developers did not draw inspiration from Mario Kart 7, which they have. It can also be inferred from the CGI cut scene that the developers also took inspiration from Diddy Kong Racing as well. To what extent they were inspired by those games will only be revealed by actual gameplay.

Inspiration isn't the problem. what I'm pointing out is the term "Rip-off". Yes, I understand that they're were inspiration here and there from other mascot racing titles. This was actually made clear even with the first game. But that's all they are -- inspiration. As for it being Mario Kart 7, as I said. They confirmed in the preview that they were experimenting with the idea beforehand, but were beaten to the punch. So if anything, then as you said, they could have possibly have some inspiration from Diddy Kong racing or any other arcade racing game beforehand. (Can't say I know for sure on that one.)

Some people just want to fling "rip-off" at the slightest sign of similarities. If it was a rip-off, it would literally have much more in common to Mario kart and Diddy Kong Racing, in and out all with barely anything of it's own other than an identity change. And from all the previews I read, we aren't getting that.

Not lashing out at you, I'm just saying what I think here... And yes, more gameplay would be good in more ways than one. Though nothing like that can be inferred from a cutscene no matter how similar it seems. You can probably take a educated guess -- and could be right -- but it's just a cutscene.

[MoldyClay]

So apparently the team behind the game literally were watching E3 stuff last year and were like "NO WAY" when Nintendo beat them to the idea they were coincidentally already doing:
http://www.nowgamer.com/xbox-360/xbox-3 ... eview.html

Apparently they were adding the boat/plane stuff in an attempt to differentiate from Mario Kart. So of course, Nintendo had the same idea to try freshening things up at the worst time.

@patjuan32

For what it's worth, Mario Kart 7 didn't reveal that it had flying/underwater driving until E3 2011.

If Sonic Kart 2's been in development for 18 months, that means the idea for flying/boating could have been thought up as early as late 2010. Which would put it before MK7's stuff was announced, meaning it's entirely possible it *wasn't* influenced at all.

But we don't know, really.

And regardless if it draws inspiration from MK7 or DKR or not, it's still inspiration. Not a rip-off.

If it were a rip-off, then the cars would grow propellers and drive underwater like MK7 and have little gliders on them, as opposed to actually becoming a boat race or a plane race.

And I didn't play Diddy Kong Racing, but it is my understanding that you don't dynamically transform between kart, boat and plane in the races, you are just able to pick between them instead of just a kart.

[Chosenoneknuckles]

And I didn't play Diddy Kong Racing, but it is my understanding that you don't dynamically transform between kart, boat and plane in the races, you are just able to pick between them instead of just a kart.

You would be correct.

[Nintoddler]

"So we basically saw that Nintendo made a Mario Kart game where your kart transforms and lets you race on land, water and in the sky.... and we decided to rip that off less than a year later."

Not exactly, my jaded li'l Timmy.

Seems they saw the kiddy pandering crap Nintentard been barfing up and passing off as kart racers since... well, SNES days, and have decided to break this infantile mould.

In other words, Mario Tricycle fans should stay well away, if what Sumo are saying is true. No waggle wands here, I'm afraid

"Sumo's understanding of Mario Kart's recent follies allowed me to relax quite a bit. Haters of the Mario Kart's ever-growing reliance on rubber-banding nonsense and fickle weaponry can rest easy knowing that Sumo Digital shares in your disdain. Producer Joe Neate lamented the fact that the Mario Kart series continues to cater more to people who have never touched a video game controller and less to fans who have been power-sliding for the past two decades. He assured me that Transformed is a game that rewards skill and knowledge of your environment -- two things that have become less and less important in recent Mario Kart outings." (1up.com)