As the years have passed, the Mario Kart franchise has slowly shifted its focus from being a wacky racing game to playing more like a party game, akin to Mario Party and its ilk. This has prompted a response from Sega in the form of All-Stars Racing, a game that attempts to blend the “wacky racing” vibe of earlier Mario Karts with gameplay that rewards skilled driving. Though it stumbles on a few minor details, the end result is a worthy adversary to the plumber's kart racing throne. For more information, please see the enclosed video review I have produced for the game.
(This review was originally written for TSSZnews.com, and was published there on April 2nd, 2010)