Oh man, I just fell down a Sonic rabbit hole and found that old PC Gamer review of Racing Transformed, and you're going to love this because it captures exactly why this game is special in a way even modern racers can't. Think about what Sega did here — they built a four-player kart racer with a rotating roster (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow plus crossovers from Dig Dug to Pac-Man) and gave each character unique gameplay mechanics that Mario Kart doesn't have! Tails hoards energy cells for later use while your opponents waste theirs; Knuckles can literally bash through others with his melee attacks; Sonic is the speedster who gets punished for not drafting; and Shadow has this awesome defense meter where he absorbs damage when hit by special items. The racing itself feels different — looser physics than Mario Kart but tighter than Team Sonic Racing, plus a short-track format that makes every session quick and wild rather than a marathon slog, which I'd personally take over any day of the week!
And here comes the good stuff - the 'Transformed' mechanic is what sets this apart from everything else. You can switch between your team car mid-race with a single button press, which means you can play aggressively as Knuckles for half a lap and then swap to Tails when you need to stockpile energy during a quiet stretch! Each of the four cars has different handling and unique abilities too — Shadow's Chaos Emerald meter lets him ignore hits completely at key moments. The crossover elements are just pure Sega nostalgia porn, featuring Pac-Man as Sonic's rival and even old Wii characters that show off how deeply connected this game is to their history! It's not trying to be Mario Kart; it's something else entirely because of these mechanics, making it one of the best kart racers I've played in years. You really need to play it if you haven't yet!
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/sonic-and-all-stars-racing-transformed-review-2018/
And here comes the good stuff - the 'Transformed' mechanic is what sets this apart from everything else. You can switch between your team car mid-race with a single button press, which means you can play aggressively as Knuckles for half a lap and then swap to Tails when you need to stockpile energy during a quiet stretch! Each of the four cars has different handling and unique abilities too — Shadow's Chaos Emerald meter lets him ignore hits completely at key moments. The crossover elements are just pure Sega nostalgia porn, featuring Pac-Man as Sonic's rival and even old Wii characters that show off how deeply connected this game is to their history! It's not trying to be Mario Kart; it's something else entirely because of these mechanics, making it one of the best kart racers I've played in years. You really need to play it if you haven't yet!
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/sonic-and-all-stars-racing-transformed-review-2018/