Following on from last week's announcement of the Wii U UK launch details, which revealed we could expect the new console as of the 30th of November, we were beginning to wonder when the confirmation of the launch line-up would start rolling in. After all, officially, the only real stand out games that'll be launching on day one, alongside the Wii U, seemed to be New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land, with other huge games, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and LEGO City Undercover retaining a vague launch window date. But as the days go by, it seems the publishers are starting to come out of the woodwork, as more and more commit to having games on the shelves come day one - with Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed leading the pack.
Much like Mario Kart, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has you racing round a whole load of wacky, over-the-top tracks in a car driven by your favourite Sega character - whether that's the iconic Sonic, maraca-shaking ape Amigo or Ulala the alien dance-off champion. Littered around the place are various boxes containing all manner of power-ups to smash, bash and confuse your opponents, letting you slide into first place - but when things aren't going well, you can rely on a secret weapon, known as your All Star Move. Letting Sonic transform into golden Super Sonic, and race on foot, Billy Hatcher leap atop a giant egg or hot-swap to a fork-lift truck as Ryu 'Do you know where I can find any sailors?' Hazuki, the All Star moves help keep games feeling fair, and mean a race is literally anyone's to take, until the final seconds.
Welcome to Samba De Amigo-ville - land of the world's happiest sun.
With support for four player split-screen races, and the ability for racers to transform their vehicles from cars into boats and planes at the a moment's notice, Sonic and All Stars Racing: Transformed will also come with a variety of Wii U exclusive features, including, as you may imagine, the ability to drive by tilting the Wii U GamePad, and a number of minigames, which pit the player with the GamePad, and the advantage of its tablet screen, against other players using regular controllers.
If it's even half as much fun as the last SEGA All-Stars Racing, though, Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed is going to be something very special indeed. Set to launch on November the 16th on over consoles, the game is now confirmed to be sitting on the shelves next to the Wii U on day one, the 30th of November. Best start saving your pocket money up now - and be sure to check out the latest screens from the Penny Arcade Expo in the US by clicking the screens below!
