Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed mobile gets Shenmue character

Sega's holiday teases regarding Shenmue have turned out to be for a new character in the mobile version of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. You weren't really expecting Shenmue 3 for Chrimbo, were you?

Destructoid reports Shenmue protagonist Ryo Hazuki is playable in the Android and iOS versions of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which becomes available tomorrow following the PC and console versions in 2013.

Ryo's vehicle is a classic Sega arcade cabinet. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed's central conceit is that the karts can traverse water and air, and change their form as they do; Ryo's arcade cabinet switches between Out Run, Space Harrier and Hang-On, which is pretty cute.

To access Ryo, you'll have to complete a full streak of weekly challenges, a new feature introduced with the mobile version.