May 8th, 2012

The flying parts in Mario Kart 7 are “falling with style”, says SEGA

101 Comments

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed was announced for the 3DS and people compared it to Mario Kart 7 as there are flying and underwater sections in the game. A more accurate comparison would be to Diddy Kong Racing, but based on the proximity of the releases, All-Stars Racing seems a little too inspired by Mario Kart.

But that’s not what I believe, and Jem Lee, the producer of the game doesn’t believe it either. When talking about the flying parts in Mario Kart 7, he said:

…although it’s kind of flying, it’s more falling with style because we’d discussed something similar to that in pre-production as we were trying to work out how to get these three modes in and we called it falling with style as you’re always falling but you have some choice. Whereas the driving under water… that’s not boating. So what they have is a kart game with additive options which are really well built on and add to the experience but we’ve gone away with that in what we were doing.

Of course, the producer of the game isn’t going to bad-mouth a game they’re producing. But even so, to those who were quick to dismiss the title, give it the benefit of the doubt. I think there’s something to it.

  • tappy

    AGREED! XD haha i am really looking forward to it. Not only is it a new Sonic title but i feel, upon first glance, that this builds on the ideas that Mario Kart 7 had. I do not think it is a mere duplicate but an expansion that will allow the user to have some great new experiences. Let’s just hope the 3d effect is not too coarse and harsh on the eyes and is done as well as Mario Kart 7 and other games such as Kid Icarus uprising.

  • dibbler

    Total copy of both MK7 and Diddy Kong racing.

    • KING Z

      FFFFFUUUU

    • http://news Billy★

      I don’t think so.

    • SonicHyuga
    • Green Reuben

      I don’t really want full on flying, it’s a kart game. I’ll stick with mk7

    • Hanko

      not at all. it’s way better than Mario Kart 7, if you haven’t played it, then you wouldn’t be calling it a rip off.

  • bmcj199

    Must….resist…Toy Story joke…ARGHRGAH!!

    • kelvin

      that’s what that reminded me of too

    • http://www.youtube.com/user/gilmaster63 gilmaster63

      LOL I was thinking of it too.

    • TheUltimateKoopa
    • mah boi

      I was thinking that same thing…

    • Total911

      Same here. XD

    • My name is NOT Earl

      Looks likei wasn’t the only one :D

    • Csaw

      Ya that was the first thing that went through my head to.

  • Cecil 64

    i believe diddy kong racing is better than both mario kart 7 and sonic & all star racing combined.
    wouldn’t you agree

    • KING Z

      Which One? DS Or 64?

    • the psvita is better

      i am sure he is talking about the 64 one
      that one is the best

  • Newah

    Well, it is true, I would have preferred it if they’d included actual flying in MK7, instead of just gliding. And this game actually sounds pretty good.

    • ChaosInvoker

      Actually falling in Mario Kart 7 was better in my opinion! Using a Mushroom at the right time while in the air to stay airborne long enough to cut a corner feels so much more rewarding.

      If everyone’s flying, then anyone can pull off the stunt…

  • japzone

    Ripping off Pixar now are we, Capcom? Shame on you :(

    • Infernite

      It’s actually SEGA. ^_^’

    • MM-Royalninja

      Duuuuuhhhhh !

    • Justin

      DERRRRRRRRP

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      It’s just a (epic) quote

  • Bewoulf2000

    And your other racing games aren’t household names because…oh wait, because there not as good.

  • Justin

    I just don’t like Sonic racing titles.

    • KING Z

      There Has Been 1 Besides This 1

    • Justin

      Sonic R, Sonic riders, and one other one I think.

      So Either I must be older than you or you just don’t know.

    • Ricardo

      Justin, he was talking about All Stars Racing 1 -___-

    • Justin

      That was probably the other one then.

    • Wichi

      You forgot Sonic Drift 1 and 2, they are karts based games so I think they fit better in this discussion

    • Tails the Foxhound

      In order of release:
      (Rad Racer, the first game Sonic appeared in, not an actual Sonic game), Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity, Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Sonic Free Riders, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

      Out of 10, 6 aren’t Mario Kart clones (R, Riders series, Rivals series). Honestly, I want another Sonic R, it’d be Sonic Unleashed/Colors/Generations without boost.

  • http://www.facebook.com/GetMeOffTheMoon Michael M

    That’s not flying. It’s falling with style.

    Sorry Just had to say it.

    • Justin

      You forgot the best part.

      AAAAA THIS IS THE PART WHERE WE BLOW UP!

    • George

      WTF BOOOOOOOOM

  • Theo

    Funny how ppl can criticize the “fun” and “gameplay” of a game before release.

    Can we stop being children? Let your balls drop:)

  • http://nintendo3ds.wikia.com J. Severe

    “THIS ISN’T FLYING! THIS IS FALLING… WITH STYLE!” – Toy Story

    Sorry; just had to.

  • Boosos

    Mario Kart 7 copy, And that is the truth

    • Ricardo

      Sad fanboy is sad.

  • Yoshinator

    I just really wish Sonic ran in this game. No reason for him not too. I hope Big the Cat is in it again, my favorite character here.

    • Donny

      “I just really wish Sonic ran in this game. No reason for him not too.”

      You know. besides the fact that he can’t freaking fly, can’t run on water for too long, and it’s ILLEGAL TO START RUNNING IN A FUCKING KART RACING CIRCUIT.

    • Xarreno

      He can’t fly (without the Chaos Emeralds), but he can RUN in the air.

      Times: 2:00 to 2:03 and 2:52 to 2:57
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssbknPnN1d4

  • Zaco

    Hmmm if it was a copy why was this in devolpment for 18 months and were shocked by mk7 http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/05/sonic_and_all_stars_racing_transformed_a_different_game_to_mario_kart_7 ps. Didy kong is by nintendo(hence the name didy kong)

  • Shoxir

    Well…. Genesis does what Nintendon’t.

    • Theo

      HAHHA:D

    • Oblivion comet

      Lol finally someone that watches those videos.

    • Luke

      And Nintendo IS what Genesisn’t.

    • Calztchi

      @Luke HAHAHAHAH

    • Theo

      @ Luke

      Yes a machine that don’t work:)

  • LittleMofreaky

    This game is lot like Playstation All-Stars Battle Royal because it’s an obvious rip off but I’m definitely buying it.

    • Ricardo

      Nice sarcasm! That’ll put people’s money where their mouths are!

  • Dinner Sonic

    All you claiming ripoff know that the game was in development before Mario Kart 7 was announced, right? The devs themselves admitted to having a heart attack when the first trailer was

    “Ripoff” of Diddy Kong Racing, perhaps, not that Rare will ever make anything like that after being gutted by Microsoft… but not Mario Kart 7, considering two out of the three modes in MK7 are the exact same style, simply giving more options for visuals/locations. And this is coming from someone who quite loved Mario Kart 7.

  • Theo

    Ok since we’re going that way lets get down to brass tax!

    Nintendo Copied Sony by implementing CD in their next gen, Sony Copied Dreamcast by making internet attachment, Sony copied nintendo for the wand…seriously what isn’t copying these days?

    Cod is a play off of Quake 3, Bf 3 is a play off of cod, Forza is a copy of GT…seriously….

    It’s called competing deal with it. Maybe if we see more of these Cod will stop milking their maps, and Nintendo will add more maps to Mario Kart!

    Step your game up!

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      Nintendo didn’t copy sony with that CD crap you talking about, all it it’s competers ps1, saturn, neo geo cdi, 3do, cdi THAY ALL HAD CD’s!!
      Nintendo had no choice.
      Sony Copied dream-cast with internet?!
      When there’s technology that can be used in a video game, THEY USE IT.

    • Theo

      My point is there:) Whether it’s skewed or not.

      When there is a good idea, THEY USE IT:)

    • Zaco

      Your wrong actually sony and nintendo teamed up… Sony want disc, nintendo cartidge. The birth if ps1 and 64 were from a team up!!!!

  • the psvita is better

    shut up about this being a copy of mario kart, i mean it obviously borrows some ideas, but it combines with something else to make it feel different

  • Tylos

    Well in mk7 it’s falling with style… Since its gliding… Also it wasn’t boating n mk7 either it was scuba diving… On a car… But if I read that wrong… Diddly kong racing had boating and flying so it’s a copy of one or the other or both… But that is only because they were released earlier… Itd be completely different otherwise.

  • mah boi

    Am I the only one that got the toy story refrence?

  • b2j135

    so now it’s Diddy Kong Racing Ripoff with Sonic and Sega characters?
    I’m sold ^_^

  • Jesse

    You guys need to stop saying this a ripoff of Mario Kart 7 or Diddy Kong Racing. Obviously it might have similar ideas, but don’t most kart racers. There is a key difference between the three, yet none of you are seeing this.

    In Mario Kart 7 you glide, not actually fly, and you dive under water (which is pretty much still driving).

    In Diddy Kong Racing you would drive, boat, or fly for each course, but not all in the same race. You would only have one form of transportation per race.

    In this game you actually transform mid-race to these different forms of transportation, so that one race might have a driving section, but then the next lap the course might become flooded or something so you would get a boat.

    • ChaosInvoker

      Thanks captain obvious!

      I don’t mind it being a rip off though! I like that it comes out for several platforms. I already have Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS. Now I’ll have Mario Kar… I mean Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed *takes a breath* for my Vita.

    • Jesse

      Your missing my point, I’m saying it’s not a ripoff. Though it might have similar ideas it is executed differently. Plus the game was in development and the developers had these idea prior to the announcement of flying and diving in mario kart 7.

  • Ricardo

    @Everyone who is STILL complaining:

    The author of this article did not put in the ENTIRE quote, and here’s what Jem said:

    “In an interview with GamesTM, Sumo Digital producer Jem Lee shares the moment that they saw the Mario Kart 7 reveal, and why its racers offer its own unique style.

    It was quite funny, right. We were sitting in a meeting room at work watching the E3 conferences and Nintendo came on and we all wondered if they’d be doing a new Mario Kart. Then they had a montage of things and you had a kart sprout wings, and we all looked around the room, and then you saw a car go into water and we were all like ‘no f***ing way!’

    But then they went into each one in depth, and although it’s kind of flying, it’s more falling with style because we’d discussed something similar to that in pre-production as we were trying to work out how to get these three modes in and we called it falling with style as you’re always falling but you have some choice. Whereas the driving under water… that’s not boating. So what they have is a kart game with additive options which are really well built on and add to the experience but we’ve gone away with that in what we were doing.

    There will be a few people who think we’re copying them but no, we’ve been making this game for 18 months. But that’s the nature of it and we feel confident from watching people play it and hearing opinions that people are really enjoying it, especially the freedom of flying and that the boating is actually quite challenging to do. It’s a different game.”

    There you have it, ladies and gentledicks(only for the Mario Kart fanboys) THE TRUTH, and I believe that All Stars Racing Transformed was in development far more than Mario Kart when E3 2011 came.

    • George

      so many words WTF BOOOOOOOOOM

    • Ricardo

      Sorry, the quotation starts at:

      “It was quite funny, right. …etc.

      Above that was just the author of that article.

    • uhga buga

      ur an idiot everything is inspired buy something which if not mk7 it was diddy kong racing quit trying to prove it’s not a copy because at the end of the day it is.

      also the use of copy is used to say inspireed 90% of the time.

      god dam fanboys of anything……….

    • Ricardo

      AWH, UHGA BUGA IS BUTTHURT.

      You just don’t want to believe what you hear and see about this game. Yes, copy is replaced instead of inspire these days, but SEGA themselves were surprised when they saw gliding and underwater in MK7, plus, Racing Transformed was IN development before MK7.

      Gosh, deluded fanboys these days. They just cannot except that there better racers than MK, i.e. Transformed. They still cannot get it through their heads(like you) that Sonic dominated Mario in the 90′s.

      Calling me a fanboy? Read your post again before you start judging.

      Btw, no one is going to take you seriously when you have a username like that.

    • uhga buga

      @ricardo

      u need to relax btw i didint defend mk at all im just telling u to quit making urself look like the biggest sega fagboy no life loser.

      w/e tho just gona skip reading comments when i see Ricardo.

      such a loser…..

    • Ricardo

      Call me what you want, but you know that I’m right. If you didn’t want to fight, you shouldn’t have commented in the first place.

      Sorry, but I win, making YOU the loser, not me. ;)

    • Ricardo

      Sorry, but the only loser here is you… :D Congrats.

  • Spi3000

    Me personally, fanboys can rant this game as much as possible because 1) I actually played the first Sega All-Stars Racing and I actually enjoyed it. 2) What cartoon based racer hasn’t been inspired by Mario Kart? Even Diddy Kong racing was like Mario Kart and people loved that game. And finally 3) people rant over everything, even if the so called “Best Game Ever” is released people would still knock it. The fact that people actually rant that a game includes similar parts in other games is just a little bit of an “Invalid Argument,” because just about every game currently is inspired over something, nothing these days is completely original.

  • SleepyGuyy

    I like how SEGA handled that comment they made. They didn’t bad mouth Mario Kart because they know they suck in comparison.

    • Ricardo

      Sad fanboy is sad. You dont like Sega, yet you capatalize SEGA. -_- weird fanboy is weird.

    • the psvita is better

      i think they dont
      to be fair mario kart 7 was rushed( and nintendo said it themselves)it was still god though
      anyways, this game has been in development longer so who knows, maybe this game might be better

    • Ricardo

      Are you getting this game for Vita?

  • Ricardo

    What platform are you guys getting this game for?!

    I’m getting it on the unconfirmed Wii U platform(if not, then on the 360)! I just know that SEGA will put this game on Wii U. The Wii U comes out during Fall, and so does All Stars Racing Transformed, so SEGA’s timing couldn’t be better!

  • My name is NOT Earl

    I kinda remembered of Buzz Lightyear with the “falling with style” phrase :P . Nevertheless it’s actually true, that did disappointme a bit on mk7

  • Carlinhos

    Sega should make Sonic Adventure 3(DS). Sonic adventure games were the best sonic games in over a decade.

    • uhga buga

      yea i havnt bought a single sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2 battle on GC although i would like to see it on wii u

    • Ricardo

      Despite me not liking you(but forgiving you), a leaked list of XBLA games (a while ago) appeared, and SA2 was on the list. The list seemed rumored, but shortly afterwards, 2 games on the leaked list were confirmed, so SA2 HD is legit. Sega just needs to announce it. Especially w/ SEGA losing A TON of money as of recently, I can see SEGA releasing SA2 with HD textures. SA2 was a “millions” seller for SEGA, and SEGA needs to gain a ton of money back, and the only way to do that, is to release SA2 HD.

      It will comr to XBLA and PSN, but will it come to Wii U? I think so! Sega would then make much more money.

  • Drew

    fuck you sega Making fun of a Nintendo game while your developing one to go on a nintendo device…..falling with style why are they stealing lines from other media ex toy story to insult mk7

    • Ricardo

      SEGA isnt making fun Nintendo. Its true, MK7 gliding sections ARE FALLING WITH STYLE. DEAL WITH IT.

  • http://hybrilynx.net/ Hybrilynx

    i still hate how this game is similar to what i invented maybe 8 years ago. i wish i had someone to make my games.

  • Drew

    And SEGA fanboys you wouldnt want Nintendo sayin that about your games so back off

    • Ricardo

      Sega did not bad mouth Nintendo, what is your problem?

  • austen

    the sonic riders one’s were pretty good actually i liked them

  • Danby

    I think what you do in MK7 is called gliding as apposed to “flying”

  • LadidaRdam

    You’ve got a friend in me…You’ve got a friend in me…Lalalalalala lalalalala…Oh you’ve got a friend in me ;)

  • Sillstaw

    They want the game to go to infinity and beyond.

  • Zeem

    Surprising to see SEGA react to the trolls like that. Everyone calls everything a ripoff of this and that.

  • Ty

    Diagnosis: Butthurt.

  • Tails the Foxhound

    Not buying the rhetoric, sure it was in development for a while (there were rumblings about it, I remember reading the rumors), but how long has the “Land, Sea, Air” mechanic been in there? By the way, its said that the game was in development for 18 months right? Mario Kart 3DS (as it was tentatively called) was announced with these mechanics at E3 2010, that’s 23 months ago, to the day now actually. I’m still planning on getting this game ’cause I love Sega and Sonic, but for the love of God, someone shut these idiots at Sumo up. Just make the damn game, we don’t need to hear your bullshit.

    • Ricardo

      Just because the mechanics for MK7 were announced, doesn’t mean that Sumo didn’t already have their plans for the game before MK7

  • Your_Buddy

    I’m still interested in it simply because it has Skies of Arcadia charecters in it,

  • Omarsonic9

    Saw the trailer..
    nothing like Mario Kart 7 -.-
    I might get this :) [if its good]

  • 3DSFan777

    This reminds of Toy Story
    When Buzz is flying and Woody said we are flying but Buzz saids No were falling with style