It's no secret here at DualShockers that my favorite games are first-person shooters and racing games, as I've made abundantly clear with my various reviews and previews of those types of games in the past. By far, my two favorite kart racers however are Modnation Racers and, of course, Mario Kart.

But, a close second to those two games is Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. It's certainly not up to the level of pedigree as the previous two, but it was still a ton of fun to play and that's honestly one of the most important aspects that I find when it comes to this genre. That all makes me happy to see that so far, that quality is being carried over into its spiritual successor, Team Sonic Racing.

Recently I was able to play the upcoming Team Sonic Racing, and given everything I mentioned above, I jumped at the opportunity; in fact, it's been one of my most anticipated previews for some time. Unfortunately, I was able to only complete two races, so my time with the game was extremely limited. That being said, from what I played Team Sonic Racing will live up to its predecessor in that it will satisfy long-time kart racing fans with great gameplay, but I still have a few concerns.

[pullquote]"Team Sonic Racing will live up to its predecessor in that it will satisfy long-time kart racing fans with great gameplay."[/pullquote]

Let's start with the good stuff: Team Sonic Racing is a ton of fun to play. The controls are tight and responsive from what I could tell, and drifting, a staple in modern kart racers, is easy to execute but hard to master, if that makes sense. It's accessible enough to where it won't feel like a drag to get used to, but it's not easy enough to where you will be able to start turning corners like a pro on your first match (I should know since I only played a few races).

Of course, just like the other Sonic games, you're able to pick up items off each track as you're racing, which allows you to pull off some pretty fiendish tactics. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try out many weapons, so I can't really speak to their effectiveness in the game, although I was able to take out another player with a rocket, which was a ton of fun.

[pullquote]"One co-op experience I did come across was the ability to trade items to your teammates during races."[/pullquote]

One thing that was lacking though from what I played was the co-op/team experience that has been advertised so much with this game. Even though the name of the game has the word "Team" in its title, I barely experienced any type of team-based gameplay during my time with the game, and if it was there, it wasn't very apparent. One co-op experience I did come across, however, was the ability to trade items to your teammates during races. As expected, this can help out your opponents, and yourself, in various ways, but the biggest benefit this feature will bring is during online play, which will obviously encourage communication.

All in all, Team Sonic Racing may not do much for new fans. If you like Sonic but not racing, you probably won't find a lot here that will pique your interest. That being said, racing fans will have a ton of fun, and if you're a fan of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, you'll feel right at home here. I personally can't wait to get my hands on the full version when it releases later this year, and I hope that Sumo Digital will make the cooperative features more apparent in the full release.

Team Sonic Racing will release for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC later this year. If you have yet to pick up a copy of the game, you can head over to Amazon and pre-order the game now before its release.