Whilst Mario Kart has some extremely popular characters, the Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing roster is not that impressive. However, that doesn't mean there aren't many characters, because there are a lot. All the main characters from the Sonic universe are there, as well as Ryo from Shenmue, and a couple from the Virtua Fighter and Super Monkey Ball series. There are also a few characters you've never seen or heard of before which you can buy later on.

Each character has a level from their universe, totaling 24, and each level has several different layouts. Each level also has multiple paths, and although some are designed better than others, they all look superb with vibrant colors and textures. There are boost pads and power-ups located along each track, as well as obstacles specific to each level. There is also a running commentary during races, which is surprisingly good and not as repetitive as you may expect. The characters, karts and levels are all well-designed, with a complexity that will attract older gamers.

The control scheme is simple, the right shoulder buttons are used to accelerate, whilst the left shoulder buttons are used to break/reverse as well as slide around corners. Power-sliding around corners for a certain period of time without hitting anything will give you a boost. You can also perform tricks whilst in the air, and provided that you don't land before finishing the tricks, you will again get a small boost.

There's no story to speak of at all, you are thrown straight into the game with a lot of the characters already available at the beginning. There are several modes available; Grand Prix, a tournament mode; Time trial, which is pretty self explanatory and Mission mode. Mission mode is by far the best feature of the game, as it is a set of over 60 levels where you must fulfil a certain criteria to unlock the next mission.

Each mission is graded on a scale from E to AAA, the minimum requirement for each mission is to obtain a "A" grade, but there is a trophy incentive to try and get "AAA" in all of the missions. The great thing about this mode is that each mission is unique, for example, for one mission you may have to break some pots whilst driving and getting to the finishing point, whereas for another you may have to pick up power-ups to kill a giant zombie whilst trying to avoid smaller zombies.