Sumo Digital has crafted some of the greatest racing experience over the past twenty years. Their work with Outrun 2 and Outrun 2006 enabled that to be even more timeless an experience than the original Outrun was, while the Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing games were gems of the kart racing genre with top-shelf gameplay that topped even the Mario Kart series in many ways and inventive track design that got better as the series grew and evolved. Now, they’re back after a five year break from kart racing with Team Sonic Racing with a new free-to-play experience for PC users.
As the name implies, Stampede: Racing Royale is a kart racer blended with battle royal gameplay mechanics that works also a bit like Fall Guys with its multi-round setup. The core gameplay very much feels like the Sonic All-Stars games with fantastic controls and pitch-perfect drifting. Whether it’s Outrun 2 or Hotshot Racing, Sumo has always nailed drifting better than anyone else and that holds true here – which is even more impressive with this being a free-to-play title. LT controls your drift and the right stick allows you to lean into the inside track or outside track depending on if you press towards or away from it. It’s an intuitive control setup and feels natural in real-time.
As the name implies, Stampede: Racing Royale is a kart racer blended with battle royal gameplay mechanics that works also a bit like Fall Guys with its multi-round setup
Fast-Paced Finishes
The core kart gameplay is skill-based given the genre. There are still power-ups you can use like shields, attacks and boosts – along with the ability to send things backwards – but there aren’t a lot of power-up pads to work with. You can drift a lot at the expense of immediate speed, but bank that boost for when you might need it. Mastering that mechanic allows you to go from a later position finish into first place, which feels rewarding given the battle royal nature.
Fall Guys Brings New Life to Battle Royale
Dash and Drift
Within two sets of grand prix runs, I went from being at the end of the pack to the front of it with a first place grand prix win and it was all due to quickly learning the mechanics and ensuring that I didn’t get overwhelmed by enemies. The tracks thsemselves can pose a challege with things like water obscuring your view at points, but don’t get in the way of your progress outside of end-stages with things like compactors and laser beams out to get you.
Stampede: Racing Royale is available now for free viaSteamand is a must-play for anyone who enjoyed Sumo Digital’s prior work or just wants something new in a kart racer. We’ve seen a few free-to-play kart racers before – with Kartrider Drift being the most notable – and this succeeds in every way that fell short because its core gameplay is top-notch. It also has a generous free season pass with a lot of currency handed out with wins, so it’s not a predatory experience.
