Games Reviews: Sonic & Sega All-Stars

£29.99 - £49.99

Format DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

Publisher Sega

It’s a strange world where a publisher will happily release an identikit clone of a successful franchise despite knowing their product is inferior. Take Sega’s All-Stars Racing, a karting game which draws heavily from Nintendo’s sublime MarioKart Wii but fails to capture either its charm or frenetic energy. Sega’s offering at least looks the part, with Sonic andchumsvividly recreated within vibrantly colourful tracks, but the lacklustre handling, dull weapons and deficient multiplayer modes of Sega’s racer lack the je ne sais quoi ofNintendo’s classic. Fun at times but ultimately disappointing.