Earlier games let you switch entire karts around. Mario Kart 7 onwards, I believe, have customizable parts for your vehicle that change your stats.
Mods and stats are new to the series, which I have mixed feelings about.
Going all-star is also more balanced it's still strange for someone in fourth place to get such a powerful item, but this occurs far far less frequently than in the first game, and the change is not to be taken for granted. The items are far more balanced than the shoddy job done in the prequel as well one particular perfect item is the swarm, as it can be dodged or avoided and is able to hit more than just the person in first place - as opposed to Mario Kart's blue shells, which hone in and almost always hit the first place driver. Mario Kart 7 would actually be second to this idea. Sumo actually innovated (unlike nearly anything else they've one before) and added vehicle transformations into their far more dynamic courses. Options with turning your direction while continuing a drift among other things, like boosting being more frequent and useful, makes racing more enjoyable and fast-paced. This review leans somewhat on comparing this game to its prequel.ĭrifting has been reworked to take a little longer to pull off, which can sort of be equated to a higher skill requirement for top-tier performance.
They had to make a sequel that could stand on its own without being too heavily compared to other games in the genre, and I believe they did an unusually fantastic job, given their track record.
After the poor showing that was Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, SEGA and Sumo had a lot to improve upon if they wanted to keep racing games alive.