Pap the
Disney Gamer's Highlights:
Wreck-It Ralph in Sonic and SEGA
All-Stars Racing Transformed
If you love
Disney as much as we all do here
on Days of the Week, then you
know that Disney is now a
multimedia conglomerate that has
touched upon nearly all majors
form of entertainment. From the
theater to television, to theme
parks to, of course, video
games, Disney has lent their
expertise in storytelling in
ways never imagined before. Not
bad for a company that started
out making crudely animated
shorts based on fairy tales!
What I am getting at with all of
this is that with Disney having
a strong presence in pop
culture, there is a chance that
they will cross paths with
another company, often leading
to the creation that has both
the Disney touch and the unique
aspects of the collaborating
company.
Last year, when
EPCOT turned 30 years old, I wrote
an article about
how Sega, a veteran of the video
game industry, collaborated with
Disney to create an exhibition
on their Innovations pavilion.
This emphasis on how Sega and
Disney had a strong relationship
which lead to the creation of
various exclusive games (such as
the Castle of Illusion series
which will be remastered this
summer) and, eventually, the
appearance of its mascot, Sonic
the Hedgehog, in a major Disney
Animated Classic, last year's
Wreck-It Ralph. Today on
Gamer Tuesday, I will talk about
how Sega seemingly repaid the
favor with Sonic and SEGA
All-Stars Racing Transformed.
Racing
Transformed is the sequel to
2010's All-Stars Racing, a
racing title which took the best
Sega characters along with their
worlds and creating a rock solid
released that celebrated the
history of Sega while putting
its own spin on the mascot kart
racing genre. It was a fantastic
alternative to Nintendo's own
Mario Kart series. Its success
lead to the creation of
All-Stars Racing Transformed,
which included even more
characters from Sega's past and
present and added one very
important mechanic: the ability
to transform your vehicle. The
karts would be able to transform
into jets or boats depending on
the terrain they were at, which
made for some creative track
design and gameplay mechanics.
The focus of
this article, however, is not to
focus on the game itself. This
isn't a Disney produced game.
What I really want to talk about
is how Sega repaid Disney the
favor of including Sonic in the
movie. Months before Transformed
was released, Sega announced
that along with its roster of
classic Sega characters, there
would be one special character
making his debut in the game.
And that was our very own home
wrecker, Wreck-It Ralph!
Ralph has made
Disney history by being the very
first Disney character to appear
as a character in a major
non-Disney produced video game
release, further cementing how
Disney has a tremendous presence
in pop culture history. Many
questioned the inclusion of
Ralph in the game, though,
considering that Sega had far
more worthy characters to
include. But far more embraced
this notion. To many, like
myself, this meant that two
passions, Disney and videogames,
united to created something
really memorable.

In the game,
Ralph drives a wrecking truck,
complete with a wrecking ball in
the tail. When he acquires the
ability to perform an all-star
move, his theme song from the
game plays as he wrecks the
other racers. Unlike the other
characters, Ralph doesn't have a
track to call his own, which is
a shame. It would have been
awesome to have seen a Wreck-It
Ralph track, or even a Sugar
Rush track that would have tied
two racing games in a great way.

And that is
Ralph in All-Stars Racing
Transformed. Hopefully this
paves the way for more Disney
character cameos in other games.
Needless to say, if such a thing
happens ever, you bet Gamer
Tuesday will be there to cover
it.