When it comes to racing games, I like mine of the arcade variety. I don’t want to tinker with gears, I don’t want to worry about acquiring licenses;  I simply want roaring engines, insane jumps, crazy power slides, wacky characters, and, if possible, inane weapons that you can use to take out cocky foes that think they have their positions on lock.

Nintendo’s Mario Kart pioneered this genre on the SNES , which led to the eventual cavalcade of cute racers that rode the gamut from “inspired” to “damn, they didn’t even try to hide the rip off.” But occasionally a “kart racer” comes along with copious amounts of unadulterated fun and a compelling universe of its own, that it stands on its on four wheels and shines bright. Such is Sonic & SEGA All-Stars.

SEGA held a pretty righteous gaming showcase today in New York City where I got to game up and chat it up with Torrence Davis (the head honcho of the The Bitbag), the gents behind DualShockers, HipHopGamer, Jay Michaels (one of the men behind Counterpoint), and Valkor (the man behind The Other View). There were plenty of great titles to tackle ranging from Iron Man 2 to Yakuza 3, but for the scope of 2D-X, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars left the biggest impression.

First of all, let me say this: whatever screenshots that you’ve seen online or in print absolutely pale in comparison to seeing Sonic & SEGA All-Stars in motion. Blame it on shots of early builds, blame it on downscaling the images to fit publication pages, but playing the game on a HDTV made the environments and characters (both are pulled from a wide range of SEGA properties) absolutely pop. The colors are brilliant and there are lots of small character touches (such as taunt moves) that give each a distinctive personality.

And that character roster is deep. SEGA wrangled up familiar and obscure race contestants from the company’s rich history including Alex Kidd (!!!), Amigo (from Samba de Amigo), Beat (from Jet Grind Radio), Sonic, and over a dozen others. I went the totally wacky route and selected Billy Hatcher (from Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg) – - you know, the boy in the chicken suit. Oh, Japan.

The controls are tight, and quite simple to use. Right button gassed, left button power drifted, and “A” unleashed a special attack (which in Billy’s case was his giant egg that lets him get a huge speed burst ). Developer Sumo Digital did an excellent job of controlling the speed and handling. You can really start blazing across the various tracks, but you never feel as though you’re losing control of the vehicle (which is essential when jockeying for position).

All in all the hands-on time with Sonic & SEGA All-Stars elevated the title from one of mere consideration to one that I’m thoroughly looking forward to playing when it arrives on February 23rd. If you love wacky racing, or simply looking for something different from the Burnouts and Gran Turismos, this title deserves a strong consideration.