When it comes to fantasy racing games, Mario Kart has the competition beat. They defined the genre of kart racing in 1992 with Super Mario Kart for the SNES. Then showed the world just how great kart racing could be with Mario Kart 64 on the Nintendo 64 in 1997. One of the things that made Mario Kart so great was the robust character library Nintendo pooled from to create the game. On the fantasy fighter-side, even if you didn't like the button-mashing Smash Brothers, you had to admit that there were a lot of noteworthy characters in the game begging to be mashed. Sega has made several attempts at diving into "character-franchise gaming." Over the past few years, they've partnered with Nintendo to take Sonic and Mario to both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Now, Sega has released Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing; this solid kart racing game filled with all the plusses of Mario Kart, minus the robust library of characters.

Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing for the Nintendo DS is a pure kart racing game. Gamers start a new profile, choosing from one of eight characters to be their avatar. Then they can play either single or multiplayer games. Single player games are comprised of the Single Race, the Grand Prix, Time Trial and Missions. There's almost no point in playing a single race. The real fun is in the Grand Prix mode. Since the DS goes into standby when you close the screen, you can always pick up your tournament later if your gaming-on-the-go. The only time you will be restricted to single race is during single-cart DS play. The restriction isn't there if both players have the cartridge.

The initial eight characters consist of five Sonic characters (Sonic, Tails, Amy, Dr. Eggman and Shadow) and three seemingly random characters from the Sega library (AiAi, Billy Hatcher and Amigo). There are 6 cups to plow through, featuring 24 landscapes based on scenes from the characters' worlds. For instance, Roulette Road will remind you of several casino-style Sonic boards you've played through in the past. Other settings will feature bumpers in the road for added obstacles. The settings are balanced out well with the toe-tapping music.

The basic gameplay of Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing bears a stark resemblance to Mario Kart. You can achieve added acceleration boosts by drifting with the R-button. There are also weapons you can pick up like a rocket to launch at your enemies, instead of the Mario Kart shell, or a Rainbow that will obscure your competition's vision. The Star item in Sega All Stars Racing raises the wow factor on invincibility racing. When you get a Star in Mario Kart, you hear the music and know you're invincible by the glow. In Sega All Stars Racing each character has a unique transformation. Sonic and Shadow will turn into Golden Sonic and fly. While Beat, from Jet Set Radio, will hop out of his gold "tricked-out" Civic and start rollerblading at super speed.

Playing through Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing requires more diligence than playing Mario Kart DS. If you get too over zealous while drifting you can easily fly off of a cliff. However, once you get used to making tight turns, you will be able to use this to your advantage. It's also easy to fall into the bad habit of keeping your finger on the R-button for prolonged periods of time. This will actually work against you because you need to press and hold the R-button only at the start of the drift, and not let go until you gain a full acceleration boost. Of course, the AI players can do this with ease. As you work towards mastering the gameplay, the five opponents behind you will constantly seem to get a quick boost just before the finish line to push you into fifth place.

Sega Miles are accumulated through races or by competing in over 50 challenge missions. Gamers can unlock new racecourses, characters and music by trading in Sega Miles at the Shopping center. There are 20 characters in total to play. I was a little disappointed by the character library offered. It feels very PG 13. Of all the characters to start off with, Sega decided to go with Billy Hatcher and Amigo. Where's Shinobi? How did Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue make it into the game and not Shinobi? My personal favorite character montage game from Sega was Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Sega could have used this game as a roadmap of what characters to include. Old school gamers would definitely get a kick out of seeing Altered Beast or Shinobi in the game. And, even though some gamers may not like Ecco the Dolphin, they have heard of Ecco. The dolphin easily trumps Amigo and Billy Hatcher in notoriety. Thankfully, Alex Kidd is included, which was an instant buy for this gamer.

Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing is an excellent cart racer to add to your DS library. The game trumps Mario Kart DS in its robust number of Cups and Missions. Hopefully, if Sega releases a new kart racer, they include more of their franchise characters. For now, Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing game is an overwhelming success.