Sonic All-Stars Racing 2 confirmed

Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed is the newest incarnation of Sega's own kart racer, with Sumo Digital at the helm and featuring input from ex-Bizarre Creations staff.

The latter comes in the form of lead designer Gareth Wilson, who worked on one the studio's last projects, the fantastic Blur, which gives us high hopes for increasing the gameplay calibre of the already quite-decent All-Stars Racing original.

The cast, built in Mario Kart fashion from all walks of Sega's history, is bulked further by entrants from RPG Skies of Arcadia and classic side-scroller Golden Axe, and also parallels the 3DS version of Mario Kart with transforming vehicles with flight and water capabilities.

Transformed will come with a single player Story mode plus eight-player online multiplayer, as well as split-screen options.

Release date for the racer has been pegged for sometime later this year - check out the first screens and trailer below.