10 MUST-PLAY Video Game Spin-Offs
8. Sonic And SEGA: All Stars Racing
Sonic's efforts at spin-offs have been mediocre at one moment and miserable failures the next, particularly with the likes of Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic: The Fighters and Shadow The Hedgehog. One translation that did work however was Sonic and Sega: All Stars Racing. The blue blur had attempted racing games many times before, most notably with Sonic R on the SEGA Saturn and the Sonic Riders series on the sixth gen. It took many tries but in 2010, Sumo Digital finally got it right.
Ironic that it took an external dev team to make Sonic work in racing, but as one of the better competitors to Mario Kart, putting the blue Hedgehog and his pals into karts made for a very fun experience. It uses the same tried-and-true formula as its kart racing contemporaries; arcade-style courses with item combat thrown in.
Fairly predictable, but with more obscure characters like Shenmue's Ryo making it in alongside their super attacks, the game was able to carve out a slot in the genre. While it didn't set the world on fire, All-Stars Racing could be the best spin-off Sonic has ever starred in. It also spawned a sequel in 2012, Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed.