With a few exceptions, mascot kart racers are generally a phenomenon to approach with caution and trepidation. It may seem like fun when a well-loved company takes a bunch of their most beloved characters, outfits them with racing gear, special abilities and weapons and sends them on their merry way through a variety of themed tracks, but often these sorts of projects don’t reflect the same level of polish and care a fan might expect from company x’s flagship titles themselves.

Though the quality of their biggest games has arguably (often) dipped in recent years (Sonic is already no stranger himself to mixed bag of both platformers and racing-centric titles), Sega actually put together a pretty fun kart racer with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing when it was released for consoles last year. The iOS port has most everything you’d expect, and in spite of being somewhat watered down (as mobile parts typically are) it’s a surprisingly decent rendition of the game.

Eggman shoots off a remote-control missile, shakes fist at nothing.

The specifics about characters, tracks and weapon types are somewhat irrelevant. Sonic & Sega’s roster is made up of familiar faces as well as some more obscure Sega characters, with some IPs represented solely by tracks (House of the Dead, anyone?). What works is the game’s engine, a competent-if-not-flashy workhorse that keeps the framerate fast and animation running smoothly and relatively glitch-free. (Picture a handheld Dreamcast without some of the lighting effects and graphical depth, and you more or less have the idea of what Sonic & Sega looks like on Apple’s hardware.)

Sega & Sonic has an eclectic roster of characters from Sega's more obscure titles.

It’s also the simplest possible iteration of the game. Lacking the ability to accelerate, all the game asks you to do is decide when to drift (useful for gaining necessary boosts throughout a race), use items, gyroscopically turn your kart, or brake. This can be a little problematic: Since your racer will hit the redline threshold after just a few seconds, races can feel downright boring at times, meaning you’ll have to drift as much as possible (and take advantage of items) if you want to stay ahead of the pack in some unexpectedly challenging races.

Tails wouldn't be tails without his trusty bi-plane.

There’s a lot of give and take with this one. While the lack of an accelerator is regrettable, gameplay is still fairly enjoyable. Grand Prix mode only offers three different cups, but you can also race online or pick single races, time trial, and mission modes. There’s not as much content as the console version, but you have incentive to unlock new characters and tracks through a monetary system that rewards racing well -- and there’s plenty of Sega fan service to be had.

Characters can get All-Star moves to turn the tide of a race.

The bottom line. Sonic & Sega iOS may not have quite the same robust offering as its console brethren, but for a mobile racer, it’s pretty good.