New ASR Preview Claims Sonic Adventure Track

It all makes sense now…maybe.

Remember last week when we told you exclusively about an as yet unannounced track coming to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing?  There had been speculation that Whale Lagoon may have been Holoska.  While Holoska’s daytime does have a bunch of whales, the named stage may be from Sonic Adventure–a nice 3D blast from the past.

Sonic’s first true foray into 3D platforming may have representation in ASR.  That’s according to a Digital Spy preview, where reporter Matthew Reynolds let the cat out of the bag:

Both the track selection and character list drip with nostalgia. There’s a strong representation from Sonic, from the opening Whale Lagoon from Sonic Adventure and a giant casino stage with upside down elements, to the inclusion of Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik and Shadow as playable characters.

We should note that SA’s Emerald Coast did include an area where a giant whale was tearing up boards, all the meanwhile with Sonic trying to not get swallowed up.
If it holds, it will be nice to see Emerald Coast again.  Even nicer are all the positive points Reynolds made in his preview, where he tips his hat to Sumo Digital and their experience with the OutRun franchise:

It’s prevalent that OutRun‘s arcade influence certainly shines through in All-Star Racing. It adopts a very fast and frantic play style, with courses filled with considerably relaxed corners and subtle yet powerful drift mechanic. Much like Mario Kart, longer drifts yield better boosts, which will undoubtedly be an important part of gaining an edge on the competition, and although it doesn’t feel as twitchy as Nintendo’s franchise, it completely works with nature of the tracks on offer.

There are doubts about the SA representation, more specifically with whether the article incorrectly cites an alternate track for Seaside Hill toward Emerald Coast.  If Emerald Coast is in, whether it will go back any further than that remains to be seen. Do you think ASR would be even better if a few classic 2D Sonic environments were recreated in 3D?  Tell us in our comments area.