Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing potential Tier List (Not 100% Certain)

[SuperSonicStorm]

I love this game so much that I bought it 9 times and would gladly start over from scratch unless that save file has important time trial records.

I have 4 DS, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mobile (IOS).
Java is emulated and would have to emulate Arcade as well.

I'd like to see a competitive scene out of this game like Transformed though there would have to be some rules set, how tracks are picked, how to deal with no dittos (except for Mii and Avatar they can do dittos), setups would be Xbox 360s and Wiis, would Aracde be its own mode for console/ DS or emulate it to have its niche competitive scene, but let's start it simple with who is potentially a good pick.

This ranking doesn't have enough of a thorough examination and has mostly been tested by my time trials, some multiplayer experience, and feedback.
Unfortunately, the Big Meta may not exist for console.

This game thrives on the Handling and Boost stat followed by Acceleration and Speed which could determine how strong the character is especially if using the drift chain technique.



(Placement may change by feedback)
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Potential Tier List (Console)
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S: Sonic, Shadow

A: Amy, Mii, Bonanza Bros, Ryo in Forklift, Avatar, Billy Hatcher Amigo, Knuckles, Ryo,

B: Tails, Ulala, B.D. Joe, Beat, AiAi, Opa-Opa, Alex Kidd,

C: Metal Sonic, ChuChus, Big, Zobio & Zobiko, Jacky & Akira, Eggman, Banjo & Kazooie


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All-Star is counted as an afterthought here but I know certain All-Stars are better than others but this is based on stats and stunt duration. I know that the Bonanza Bros may steal first.

I'd consider Sonic as the potential strongest in the with his high turbo stat so he may just run away from the pack.

Ryo on the Forklift is viable so yes you can see a Forklift race.

Tails is a fine pick but may struggle to keep the lead, especially with Sonic and the other high tiers behind you.

I love using Shadows All-Star and apparently, he's a good pick too. if you know how to boost chain.

AiAi is just a weaker version of Sonic but since the Turbo stat is that high he's not as great.

Opa-Opa is funny and fun to use even though Alex Kidd is better for his stunts.




The DS meta (Mobile is grouped here too) is similar but over here the speed stat matters which gives Eggman and others a buff aside from that.

Also All-Star doesn't exist in multiplayer but their meta is defensive since you can so much speed and get smacked by a rocket and two people proceed to pass you.
However, the Big Meta may exist here thanks to the Speed stat mattering so Big may be a viable pick here.

From my testing in DS Sonic and Eggman could be interchangeable since Sonic you would need to do crazy red dashes if you want to outrun everyone but Eggman is an easy free pass for beginners. he overtakes Sonic if he can't catch a break.

Some characters don't appear in Mobile


(Placement may change by feedback)
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Potential TierList (DS) (Mobile)
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S: Sonic, Eggman, Zobio & Zobiko, Jacky & Akira, Big, ChuChus,

A: Shadow, Ryo, Amy, Bonanza Bros, Billy Hatcher, Tails, Ulala,

B: B.D. Joe, Beat, AiAi

C: Opa-Opa, Alex Kidd, Amigo, Knuckles


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The Java meta doesn't have multiplayer so probably only a speedrun scene there but I would guess that Tails is the best there for his speed stat.


(Placement may change by feedback)
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Potential TierList (Java)
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S: Tails

A: ??

B: ??

C: ??


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It would be appreciated to gather research into how certain characters would function in a full four-player race competitive scene.




Bonus Tier List

If you're wondering which RC toy is the most practical in general here's my list of what I think are the best so you can have your money's worth.

(Placement may change by feedback)
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Potential Tier List (NKOK RC Toys)
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S: Tails (TSR), Knuckles (SASASR)

A:

B:

C: Sonic (TSR), Shadow (TSR)

D: Sonic (SASASR), Sonic (SFR), Jet (SFR), Sonic (Mini SASASR), Amy (Mini TSR), Silver (Mini TSR), Shadow (SASASR)

F: Sonic (SAASRT)


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Tails and Knuckles are top tiers for the tire size which makes them way too fast for others to complete and how high they are off the floor makes them good for bumpy terrain.

Shadow would be good if the floor wasn't bumpy

Transformed Sonic is way too low to the floor and he WILL struggle if it's not a smooth surface.




I would have provided an image but I don't know how to yet.

This post has been patched. Sorry Shadow you're good now.

[Mischievous]

Hello, Time Trialer with nearly a decade’s worth of high level experience and countless records under their belt here.

There are way too many quirks and nuances to create a definitive tier list for this game, every character approaches each course completely differently so one may be amazing on one course but awful on the next. I will be completely honest and say despite that fact this tier list is very bad and is clear it’s made by a casual player with little experience. You may have played this game a ton, but it is obvious to me you do not have a great understanding of how the game works mechanically. 8/9 of the characters in your S tier are absolutely not deserving of S tier, statistically speaking they are good, but in the context of a race and especially a time trial they fall behind quickly because of how the mechanics work, such as boost chaining. If a character sucks at boost chaining they are immediately worthless, ironically this means that handling is the most important stat, as if you can’t charge drifts fast enough you can’t chain for long. Amigo for example has super low speed and boost but extremely high handling which means he can chain boost forever, he isn't super fast but because of this he is endlessly better than half the roster. The order of importance is as follows: Handling > Boost > Acceleration > Speed.

The ONLY correct thing in this whole list is Sonic being the best, he is the fastest in the game by a mile thanks to boost chaining but does struggle very hard on a handful of courses. Statistically yes Eggman and Banjo seem better but that is completely nullified by the fact they are heavy weights and have painfully low handling and acceleration. In this game being a heavy automatically makes you very bad, because it actually causes you to drift in slow motion, meaning it takes twice the amount of time to charge up drifts on top of the already low handling stat. At the beginning of the game’s life in 2010, people actually thought Eggman was the best because of his stats and amazing traction, but it was quickly realised that with boost chaining Sonic and Shadow were infinitely faster.

Lumping all other versions into a single list isn’t a good idea because DS and Java are entirely different games. Courses are different, character stats are different, and the way things work in general are completely different. Big is very bad in the console versions but quite literally the best in DS, along with Eggman and Zobiko.

I promise I do not mean to be too rude with my words here, I am just extremely passionate about this game and have played it at a very high level for so many years and it bothers me when people come along with lists like these that are very misinformed. I seriously don’t understand where you could have possibly gathered that Shadow “isn’t the best according to the early days of the game from what people said”, he is by far one of the best in the game and has been recognised as this since the very beginning. On day 1 he had most of the WRs because he was the simplest to use, then shortly after people learned boost chaining Eggman took the torch for a few weeks, then finally Sonic was realised to be infinitely better so he took the torch and we never looked back since. Sonic and Metal Sonic hold the majority of the WRs in this game, however I would rank Metal Sonic very low on a hypothetical tier list because statistically he is very bad despite his speed and boost. Given his very low handling, he relies on extremely high level boosts (level 4, 5 and 6) to do even a reasonable amount of boost chaining, which makes him pretty much exclusively good in Time Trials where you can set up ways to get those boosts without losing a ton of time. It’s a lot of extremely technical and confusing stuff that would take me many hours to properly explain to you. Fortunately, sometime this year I will be creating a huge guide on how the mechanics and all the little quirks of this game work because 99.9% of people don’t understand these things, even fellow players with thousands of hours aren’t fully informed.

If you are interested in learning more about this game at a higher level, I would suggest getting involved with the speedrun community which is still thriving after 14 years. Even if you have no interest in actually speedrunning the game you can learn a ton from it, you can learn more through this link: https://www.speedrun.com/ssasr
which contains plenty of videos so you can see what I mean by boost chaining in case that’s an entirely new concept to you. Don’t feel bad if it is, the game does a terrible job at mentioning its existence as there’s only a single Sonic Says tip that even mentions it and it’s pretty vague. But it is an intended mechanic. There’s also a Discord linked if you wish to ask questions, we would be very happy to answer them for you.

[SuperSonicStorm]

OK, this is informative and sorry if it seemed like misinformation since there was no clear list of how characters are ranked.
I just wanted to get something started as a base that could roll into something bigger.

I see what you mean, and it's why I said it's a potential tier list, not an official one since I'm certain there would be a stronger or weaker character than I thought it would be. I do know about the Chain Boost thing for Console from seeing a Metal Sonic time trial. DS has something similar but it's not the same.

My thoughts for Shadow being lower is because yes he has good acceleration and can chain boost. Still, I felt that the average turbo and average speed were holding him back compared to Sonic's Stats which could result in Shadow falling behind but thanks to your knowledge it seems like I got that wrong.

I'll update the list according to your feedback to the best I can and make different categories for Console, DS, and Java although I would still need to examine Java more.

[Mischievous]

Statistically Shadow (and Ryo) are amazing, they definitely fall behind against the likes of Sonic but in general Shadow (but not Ryo due to other factors like his physics and being a super light weight) is actually the “jack-of-all-trades” character, he is not the fastest but he is definitely the one character who is reliably great on every course (except one, being Dark Arsenal). I usually hear people talk about how bikes are super OP in this game, and it holds some merit, but it is basically just Shadow carrying everyone else. He has abnormally high traction which keeps him grounded almost everywhere, and him riding a bike actually results in him gaining speed in locations where cars would lose speed, for instance the 90° inclines on Bingo Party - cars lose a ton of speed there and vehicles which hover don’t lose or gain any. In an online setting you want to choose Sonic or Shadow and it’s a guaranteed win. Quite literally anyone else will struggle in some capacity, it’s pretty crazy.

Shadow does hold quite a lot of the 3-lap WRs as a matter of fact, but in Time Trials it is mostly the Sonic and Metal Sonic show. He does have the Monkey Target WR at least. He has most records because of his really high traction, it means he doesn’t have to worry nearly as much about going airborne on small pieces of geometry and having the boost die, resulting in the chain boost needing to be restarted which loses a lot of time. Sonic is super jank to say the least, so he’s used way more in Time Trials because you can charge much higher boosts (level 4, 5 and 6) to mitigate any potential loss of boost from going airborne and can just brute force through everything. The shoe item you get is a huge lifeline for him and Metal Sonic.

As for DS and Java I am quite limited, I am involved in the speedrun space for all games in this series but don’t know much. Tails is the fastest for Java by a mile however, that much I do know. Like it’s not even fair how much better he is than everyone else, lol.

Sorry again for coming off as harsh as I did in my initial response, I am really glad you interpreted it as constructive criticism instead of arguing, however. I don’t believe a definitive tier list can be made for the console version of this game because of the aforementioned reasons, but I do think there’s a very obvious group of “best” and “worst” characters, it’s just the ones in between that makes this extremely difficult. If this list was on a per-track basis it would be easier, albeit tedious. As for DS and Java, I’m sure something could be done as there’s significantly less to consider.

[SuperSonicStorm]

Ok, but even though it may be challenging to make a definitive list I do have an idea of how data could be gathered in a competitive rules set which I propose as followed taking ideas from Super Smash Bros and SASASR Arcade


4 Players select their racers but if players main the same character and if they really want to use them they can rock paper scissors for it or agree to Avatar or Mii to decide on the second round (If PC/ DS then players pick either Amy, Bonanza Bros Billy Hatcher, or AiAi to decide on the second round)

Rule set: No CPUS, All Items (DS uses simple items despite all items turned on), 3 Laps, No catch-up, Hazards on.

Easy tracks will be picked first and then locked in the second round which medium and hard tracks are open, Easy tracks are open in the third round and on. Everyone rocks paper scissors until the is one winner. The winner bans two tracks and the rest of the loser bans one each and the winner picks the track and starts the race.
Egg Hangar is considered a hard track.
All player may agree to one track.

Repeat the character select step unless the player who wanted their main got the highest rank will get to pick their character

Repeat the second step except the player in last bans 5 tracks and the rest ban one track each and the player in last gets to pick the track.

Repeat until one winner reaches two points.

For 1 VS 1 it's the same however the winner needs to reach three points and the loser of round one bans two tracks and on round two the non-winning player bans 3 tracks.


Also, I took Amigo for a spin and he's way faster than I remember.
Definitely a fun pick to use.

[SuperSonicStorm]

You know now that I think of it I could create a test tournament to see what changes would be needed from my proposed tournament setting rules if people like the idea of competitive Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing though I’d probably host it on Wii as the test space.