Note: Portions of this review is snatched from our initial hands-on with Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing.

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 Racing.

Consider Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing a kart rider that could’ve graced the late, great Dreamcast (or, in a perfect world, one of the launch titles of the Dreamcast 2). And that character roster is deep. SEGA wrangled up familiar and obscure race contestants from the company’s rich history including Sonic the Hedgehog, Amigo (from Samba de Amigo), Beat (from Jet Grind Radio), Ryo (from Shenmue), Ulala (from Space Channel 5), Jacky Bryant and Akira Yuki (from Virtua Fighter), Chuih, ChuBei, ChuPea and ChuBach (from Chu Chu Rocket!), and several others.

Each character rides in an appropriately themed vehicle (the fact that Sonic isn’t on foot in this game is beyond the scope of this reviewer) that each has its own strengths and weakness. On top of that, each character has his or her own super special “All-Star Move” that is activated when they are lagging behind in the race (it allows them to bowl through opponents toward the front of the pack).

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.

The two dozen tracks, like the racers themselves, are plucked from various SEGA franchises. They’re wonderfully designed, too, as the roadways reflect the nature of the games in which they originated. Amigo’s levels are Crayola-colored psychedelia; Sonic’s levels are twisty loops. Each track has shortcuts so there’s also some variety. Scattered across the tracks are boxes that you run over that grant power ups that either grant offensive or defensive weaponry.

The soundtrack is comprised of remixed music lifted from past SEGA games, which explains why it contains the late ’90s/early 2000′s fun, arcadey style (not the “I’m a wannabe John Williams” tracks you hear in many contemporary titles).

The controls are tight, and quite simple to use. Right button gasses, and left button power drifted. 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 or power-sliding through turns which gives you Boost). Various game modes keep the replayability high.

My only real beef with the game happened randomly: while powersliding during a speed boost, the game froze. I had to power off the Xbox 360 and fire it up again. Although it was a one-time event, in the back of my mind, I wonder if it will happen again if the action gets fast and furious either in the split-screen local multiplayer or online.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is a must-have title for kart racing fans,  those looking for something different from the Burnouts and Gran Turismos, or SEGA diehards who simply live and breathe on the classic quirky and cool characters. Racing just became fun again.