Screen tear has been added to both versions of the game via the latest patches. Perhaps the most impactful aspect of the comparison is the far more apparent screen-tearing on Xbox 360 - and this is where things get odd. Texture filtering also appears to be marginally superior on 360, though away from a frame-by-frame analysis there really is virtually nothing in it. While the latter adds more blur, this is not really an issue with this style of visual (and Sumo did the same thing in its SEGA Superstars Tennis game). Both games are anti-aliased, with 360 using the traditional 2x MSAA, while PS3 uses what seems to be a more selective implementation of Quincunx. Chief among these (at speed) is a muted but effective motion blur, but more obvious is a detail-sapping bloom.

On the face of it, it's clearly very much the same game, albeit with some additional visual refinements on Xbox 360. Let's start with the basic comparison footage, based on both versions featuring the latest game patches. PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360? That's where things get tricky. Sure, it lacks the attention to detail and basic genius of its Nintendo karting counterpart, but within the admittedly narrow parameters of what makes a really cool arcade-style SEGA game, it's lovely stuff. While it's difficult to argue with many of the points in Dan Whitehead's original review, there's something you can't avoid with Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing - it's simply great fun to play, with some lovely course layouts. It's just rather odd that it's Sumo Digital that is now seemingly the custodian of the SEGA heritage while the parent company itself has all but jettisoned its past and once again finds itself contemplating another period of transition. It's good to know that there's a talented developer team out there that still 'gets' what SEGA used to be about: the brilliant characters, the simple but hugely enjoyable gameplay, the sheer blue skies of it all.

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